Download Analysis of Existing Propaganda

Chandler Hood
Period 1, 3
12-13-07
Analysis of Existing Propaganda
Example 1
1
In the picture I see a German officer holding two men by the necks and resting his
foot on another man. The man he is resting his foot on seems to be an American sailor
and the two men he is grabbing seem to be French and British officers. The German
officer is much larger than the others and is in control of the situation. The German
officer seems to be relaxed and calm; blowing smoke out of a pipe, while the other men
appear scared. There is some writing in German that says “Lieb' Vaterland magst ruhig
sein,” which translated into English means something along the lines of defending your
native country or keeping your native country calm.
1
Propaganda Postcards of the Great War, Mocking Cards of the Central Powers Germany versus the "Triple
Entente," http://www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com/te007slide.html, 12-9-07
The techniques used in this image are direct order and demonizing the enemy.
The direct order technique is when the audience is being told to do a specific action that
is commanded by whoever is presenting the propaganda. The way they are using direct
order as a technique is that they are telling the audience to defend their country. The
demonizing the “enemy” technique is when a person or a group of people is portrayed in
a negative manor so that the intended audience seeing the propaganda thinks less of that
person or group of people. They use the demonizing the enemy technique by making the
American sailor, the French officer and the British officer seem weak and helpless
against the German officer. This propaganda is clearly directed towards the German
public because of the presence of the German officer and how much more powerful he is
than the British, French, and American forces. It is telling the German public how much
more powerful Germany is than the allies. This propaganda occurred during 1917-1918
due to the fact that the United States didn’t enter the war until 1917 and there is an
American sailor in the picture. This may have persuaded the German public that
Germany was staying strong in the war and it also may have convinced some German
men to join the army. This propaganda hurts the allies because they are portrayed as weak
and helpless, while this image benefits the German public by assuring them that
everything is fine.
Example 2
2
In this image George W. Bush and the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
are playing a game of Rock’em Sock’em robots. One of the robots has Hezbollah written
on its chest and the other has Israel’s flag on its chest. The Hezbollah robot is being
controlled by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and is losing the fight. The Israel robot is winning
on its own without George W. Bush controlling it. This cartoon depicts the proxy war
where Iran is fighting the U.S. indirectly by funding Hezbollah and the U.S. is using
Israel; but Israel is not being funded by the U.S. The Israel robot is turning to George W.
Bush and saying “Feel free to jump in…” This image is saying that the President of Iran
is helping or controlling the actions of the organization Hezbollah, which is an example
of the name-calling propaganda technique and gives us a timeframe from 2005 to present.
The name calling technique is when a person or a group of people is depicted so
that they are connected to a largely perceived negative image. This image also says that
George W. Bush is not helping Israel fight Hezbollah which is an example of demonizing
the “enemy,” because this is saying that although the President may stand out against
2
Public Secrets: from the files of the Irishspy, “Rock’em Sock’em,”
http://irishspy.typepad.com/public_secrets/war/index.html, 12-9-07
Hezbollah, he is not helping Israel. The demonizing the “enemy” technique is when a
person or a group of people is portrayed in a negative manor so that the intended
audience seeing the propaganda thinks less of that person or group of people. This tells
the American public that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is playing a key role in Hezbollah’s
actions against Israel and the Israel robot that is saying “Feel free to jump in…,” that
George W. Bush is doing nothing to help Israel. This hurts George W. Bush’s reputation
and also hurts the reputation of Iran. It is telling the American public that their President
isn’t doing his job to keep peace in the Middle East.
Example 3
3
In this image I see a picnic basket overflowing with vibrant vegetables, along with
cavalry with an American flag in the background. The text in this picture says “Food is
ammunition- don’t waste it.” It also says at the very bottom “United States Food
3
Fairchild Memorial Gallery Georgetown University Library, FIRST CALL American Posters of World War One
from the collection of Roger N. Mohovich, http://library.georgetown.edu/dept/speccoll/amposter.html, 12-9-07
Administration.” It is obvious that this picture was produced by the United States
sometime during 1917-1918 because those were the only years that the United States
participated in WWI. The techniques that this uses are direct order and flag waving. The
flag waving technique is used by incorporating a largely viewed symbol or aspects of that
symbol into the propaganda. The flag waving technique tries to support an action so that
the audience believes that by doing this action; it will benefit an idea, group or country.
The American flag in the background is what delivers the flag waving technique. The
direct order technique is when the audience is being told to do a specific action that is
commanded by whoever is presenting the propaganda. By saying Food is ammunitiondon’t waste it,” the picture is implying that Americans should limit the food they eat so
that the soldiers fighting the war could have more to eat so they could defend their
country. This propaganda caused many American families to limit the amount of food
they bought. The American soldiers fighting in the war benefited from this propaganda
because as a result of families limiting the amount of food they bought, more soldiers
could be fed, giving them more energy to fight. This propaganda told the American
public that they had a moral obligation to support their soldiers however they could. This
told the American public that even though they weren’t the ones fighting on the
battlefield, they could help determine the outcome of the war.