While watching the second round of EOTO presentations in this class, I was most fascinated by the topic of propaganda. Defined as the "information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view," by the Oxford dictionary. Propaganda comes in all different shapes and sizes, and can be posters, videos, radio broadcasts, movies, live speakers, etc. It was used heavily during World War II on both sides, but negatively used for the Nazi Party to further their political agenda during the 1930s and 1940s. The Nazis utilized this form of persuasion to manipulate Germany into an anti-Semitic climate.
The Reich Ministriy of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was established by Hitler in 1933. This institution was founded with the purpose of pushing a multitude of propaganda, portraying Jewish people in a negative light and thereby persuading the German population to stand behind the Nazis. Many posters were produced with the intent of showing Jewish people as conspiracists, like the one below.
The Nazi party also used other media categories than just print to further their agenda, like film. In 1944, Germans at home had begun to wonder why vulnerable people like Jewish veterans, the elderly, and children were being moved for labor. A film depicting the Theresienstadt camp was released from the Nazis, showing the public what the Jewish campus were like. This may have been one of the most influential pieces of propaganda created by the Nazis, which came out during a period of "international awareness" as the world came to realize the atrocities that were being committed. In the video, we see a Jewish audience watching an orchestral performance. The video was also published right after the Red Cross was permitted to view the Theresienstadt camp, where the actual camp was hidden and fake niceties were on display.
While these are extreme detrimental examples of propaganda, the media also has a positive history. Uncle Sam's poster quote "I want you for U.S. Army" and Rosie the Riveter's "We Can Do It!" are both very famous cases of uplifting propaganda, used to increase patriotism during WWII and aid in the war effort.
The Rosie poster has transformed from propaganda to a popular feminist image. Originally, the Rosie the Riveter movement was created to encourage women of the 1930s and 40s to enter the workforce while their husbands and sons were off at war.
These women stepped into roles as factory workers, army office clerks, nurses, mechanics, and some were even on the frontlines. Rosie's poster was revived in the 1980s to promote feminism and female empowerment.
Propaganda still has heavy influence today, and is used by countries like Russia to further political agendas and promote tolerance within those nations. Latin countries who have fought against communist regimes in the past, like Cuba, also used propaganda, on both sides. We may even see an increase in propagandistic advertisements with the new age of AI.
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