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How Propaganda Swayed the Public Opinion During World War I
Rachel Corona
Abstract
World War 1 proved America to be the nation producing the highest amount of propaganda. Through his use of propaganda President Wilson was able to draw American Support for the war. Despite his being elected as the “peace” president. Many Americans believed he’d keep them out of the war, especially after he stated that, “so far as I can remember, this is a government of the people, and this people is not going to choose war.” Before his election, Wilson promoted American neutrality. He pushed for what he believed his Americans wanted. However, through his employment of propaganda, Woodrow Wilson was able
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Before his election, Wilson promoted American neutrality. He endorsed what he believed his Americans wanted, for this would get him elected into office. However, after his election, Wilson had a change of heart. A few events, such as the German sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman telegram swayed President Wilson’s stance on the war. He started a movement toward war. A large variety of pro-war propaganda was produced and American troops were sent to Europe to fight. Through his employment of propaganda, President Wilson was able to: 1. Convince the American people to join the ranks, 2. Persuade Americans into accepting rations for food, 3. Involve women in the war effort, and 4. Sway Americans into buying government bonds (liberty bonds) to fund the war. We will discuss four main propaganda posters, which depict these four main themes of President Wilson’s push for war. In the end, President Wilson’s use of propaganda was ironically able to change the popular American opinion and convince them to support World War I. Convincing Americans to Join the Ranks: In order to support the war effort, President Wilson needed to ensure he had an adequate amount of troops available. This involved enlisting large quantities of men and training them to march, to shoot, and to be in the military. From there, men would be deployed
While the war raged on into 1916, the United States transitioned from a “debtors nation” into a “creditors nation”. Between 1913 and 1916 American exports rose from 2 billion dollars annually to 6 billion. (Zieger, 16) While it was clear that the Allies were greatly indebted to the United States Wilson saw the opportunity to the U.S. influence to provoke peace between the warring nations. As American sentiment began rising about expanding an American army, most Americans believed that the United States had a responsibility to bring both sides together and resolve the war.
President Woodrow Wilson’s “War Message” addresses the momentous event of breaking neutrality and declaring war on the German government. Wilson explains that America can no longer remain stagnant. He calls his audience to action, through a tactical combination of both structured logic and emotional inclusion. Wilson begins his deduction with several points, starting with the details of the submarine warfare and the “wholesale destruction of men, women, and children” endured not only by the American people but various other countries (2). Wilson asserts that neutrality is no longer possible since peace and the freedom of the individuals of the world were under a direct threat (5). He reassures the audience that although his intentions were the same and he fully intended on keeping the American people safe, avoiding the war and remaining uninvolved was no longer a reality (4).
Woodrow Wilson was the president of the United States of America at the time during WWI. The U.S was content with staying neutral during the first world war and it proved to be extremely beneficial for them as they became rich. The economic surplus that came with being neutral was enough reason for the U.S to stay out of the war. They were eventually pushed into participating in the war and played a key role in the allies victory. The reinforcements from the U.S helped tip the scales in the allies favor in the battle against Germany in the western front. Despite the great impact that the United States made by entering the war, it took many unfavorable events to push them out of neutrality. Some of those events are detailed in the first image
No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence .” President Woodrow Wilson could not maintain neutrality after a series of events that threatened the interests of the US. Wilson knew that he would not have the support of a diverse American public upon entering the war, so he came up with a plan. He designed the Committee on Public Information to advertise pro-war propaganda. He needed to convince the people that an involvement in the war was needed “to make the world safe for democracy .” Propaganda was heavily used to mobilize the public opinion of a united war effort, and it was also an attempt on homogenizing a pluralistic nation. The positive effects of this use were it unified a heterogeneous society, and it was able to get the Americans to invest their time and effort on the war. The negative effects of this were it caused hatred to those who were of the enemies’ ancestry, and false advertising lead to a loss of many innocent lives.
At the start of World War One president Woodrow Wilson announced to the people and the world that the U.S. will be in a state of neutrality in which the U.S. will not get involved in this conflict. But tension started to rise as the German army announced the quarantine of the British isle and when U.S. ships were sunk by German mines. Many ships kept disappearing and many of them were by the Germans. As tensioned rose president Woodrow Wilson was afraid he would not be able to keep the people of the U.S. out of the war for
In the early 20th century, the United States found itself on the brink of entering World War I, following repeated German attacks against maritime vessels traveling near England and France. President Wilson originally known as the peace candidate, soon found himself asking Congress for a Declaration of War against Germany and moved quickly to engage the emotion of the American people and organize war production by forming the Committee on Public Information (CPI) as a means of publicizing the war (Devine 794). Frederick Strothmann, a cartoonist of the era, created the poster “Beat back the Hun with Liberty Bonds” for the Treasury Department as one of many effective propaganda tools used to promote the war and mobilize hatred against the enemy.
Link explained that Wilson believed he was chosen by god to protect and preserve democracy. Wilson fought tooth and nail to keep America out of the war and remain completely neutral, however due to unavoidable foreign aggression and loss of American life and economic despair, Wilson declared war in April 1917. Throughout the entire war Wilson campaigned for “Peace without Victory” and “self-determination” amongst the belligerent countries. As the war progressed it seems less and less likely that Wilson would get his wishes until finally in November 1918 World War I came to a halt. As peace negotiations began Wilson still had high hopes that the Allies and Germany could still work things out peacefully. Unfortunately things didn’t run as smoothly as planned. Wilson ended up sacrificing many principals for overall peace. Though international issues were eventually settled there was much criticism towards Wilson during and after the negations were settled.
During the early 1900s a new era of warfare emerged as governments began to employ all economic, technological and psychological resources available to defeat their enemies. This concept of Total War altered the direction of humanity and governments understanding in their allocation of resources. This essay will examine the relationship between propaganda used during World War I, its effect on the masses and the absolutely essential need for the success of such campaigns in obtaining military victory. While leaflet propaganda used during the war will be the main focus, considerations will be given to other forms to illuminate the necessity of understanding and utilizing the tools of this very powerful
they had no where else to go. The men were happy to receive this break
During the 1920s, the United States was forced into war by the Germans. Germany, attacking and violating with the use of submarines, gave President Woodrow Wilson, who was president during World War I, no other option but to go into war. “We enter this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending our rights.” (Wilson, 1917). He was a neutral person. Even though he wanted
When war broke out in Europe, President Wilson pledged to the American people that the country would stay neutral. This was a position that many at the time favored, due to the feeling that this was a European problem and not an American problem. America would isolate itself from the rest of the world, but inevitably this tactic failed.
During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.
Propaganda was used in 3 main types of ways in the First World War. It
There were many citizens, members of congress, and senate who opposed entering World War I. These people were attacked for stating their opinion which brought about the question of how well our democratic government was upholding specifically our rights to free speech. Some took their argument further than others and caused a lot of unnecessary danger. Many things happened that could have caused us to enter the war, Wilson tried to avoid but eventually saw it to be inevitable.
Wilson had been drawn into foreign affairs because he felt a personal responsibility for American foreign policy. He felt that he had learned some valuable lessons in dealing with the revolution in Mexico and the Caribbean republics. The outbreak of the World War in Europe came with many new and difficult problems for the president. Wilson and the American people