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An Analysis of War Propaganda

World War II took place between 1939 to 1945 and affected every other part of the world, including those who did not participate in the active fighting. The key belligerents were the Axis power entailing Italy, German, and Japan. On the other hand, Allies forces entailed Great Britain, U.S. as well as the Soviet Union. Most of these warring nations have almost equal powers, hence the need for devising new ways of winning against their rivals. During the period, every group was determined to win, which led to propaganda either to tarnish the name of their rivals or to motivate their warriors. According to Hook & John, WWII was about assessing military ability and securing economic advantages and political ideologies to a greater extent.

One key theory applicable in the war propaganda analysis is the one spearheaded by Jacques, who believed that the doctrine of the rational theory entails choices that communities made during WWII and led to great and long-term entanglement in war. One of the main causes of the use of war propaganda can be traced to WWII origin. First, World War II came to be due to the need for revenge, mainly by the Germans. The German fighters felt uncomfortable following the armistice's signing, hence used any form of active aggression and propaganda to get back what they believe they had lost. Secondly, the economic downturn has a critical role to play towards the emergence of war. During the Great Depression, it was evident that a significant level of the population, mainly in the entangled communities, lost their jobs and were willing to do anything to ensure what they had lost was recovered, either by taking it from prosperous countries or by moving to places that can secure them jobs.

The rational theory can be imposed in the analysis of propaganda images to understand people's liberty in decision-making and how they applied their free-will in making choices that later affected the entire world. The rational theory can be applied to determine the immediate and secondary causes of World War II and leaders' responses, mainly those controlling the two main divides, the Axis and the Allies. In this analysis, the main focus will be on three propaganda posters that were used to gather support, consolidate, as well as encourage people to take part in the active and inactive position during WWII.

Image 1

Source: National Archives. “Power of Persuasion.”

The image is labeled “Man the Guns Join the Navy.” One of the main...