Thesis

World War II Propaganda Posters: the Key to Understanding Our Complicated Past

Thesis

This poster, for the thirteenth Naval District, depicts the Japanese as rats, with a mousetrap on Alaska. Source: Ohio History Connection.

Elmer Davis, Director of the American Office of War Information. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Joseph Goebbels, German Reichminister of the Ministry of Propaganda. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

This poster shows a white couple sneering at a physically exaggerated Black man near an army recruitment poster. One remarks to the other, "Look darling, that's the solution to the n***er problem!" Source: Calvin University.

 Thesis: The Allied and Axis powers in WWII used the same fundamental techniques in their propaganda to shape public will to increase patriotism.