MetaFilter posts tagged with propaganda and Nazi Posts tagged with 'propaganda' and 'Nazi' at MetaFilter. Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:12:25 -0800 Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:12:25 -0800 en-us 60 Use the enemy's own films to expose their enslaving ends. Let our boys hear the Nazis and the Japs shout their own claims of master-race crud—and our fighting men will know why they are in uniform. <em><a href="">Why We Fight</a> is a series of seven documentary films commissioned by the United States government during World War II whose purpose was to show American soldiers the reason for U.S. involvement in the war. Later on they were also shown to the general U.S. public to persuade them to support American involvement in the war.</em> Each of them is in the common domain having been produced by the US government, available online, and linked below the fold: <em>Most of the films were directed by <a href="">Frank Capra</a>, who was daunted yet also impressed and challenged by Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda film</em> <a href="">Triumph of the Will (Complete with subtitles in English)</a> <em>and who worked in direct response to it. The series faced a tough challenge: convincing an only recently non-interventionist nation of the need to become involved in the war and ally with the Soviets, among other things. In many of the films, Capra and other directors spliced in Axis powers propaganda footage going back twenty years, and recontextualized it so it promoted the cause of the Allies.</em> <blockquote><a href="">Prelude to War</a>| (52:21) <em>Chapter</em> I <em> describes World War II as a battle between the "slave world" of fascism and the "free world" of American liberty. In the "slave world," the entire populations of Germany, Italy and Japan have been hoodwinked by madmen, opportunists who capitalized on their people's desperation and weakness to rise to power. These demagogues promised revenge for past losses, and in the process convinced their people to give up their rights and accept dictatorship. In the "free world," the principles of equality, freedom, and liberty characterize the greatest leaders, embodied in the works and words of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln. This freedom is a threat to the fascist dictators of the Axis powers, who claim that democracy is weak and must be eradicated. The film claims that the ultimate goal of the Axis powers is to enslave the nations of the "free world," a desire made manifest in the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and Mussolini's destruction of Ethiopia.</em> <a href="">The Nazis Strike</a>| (42:32) <em>Chapter</em> II <em> summarizes Adolph Hitler's plan for world conquest and Germany's full scale preparation in pursuit of this end. While the Nazis plead poverty and pacifism, they spend incredible amounts of money to prepare a war machine of unparalleled strength and destructive capability. While Hitler assures the other leaders of the world he has no interest in promoting National Socialism, he begins "softening up" future target nations by sponsoring local Nazi organizations in other countries. The film explains that the key to Germany's world conquest is the occupation of central Russia, a heartland rich in natural resources. Hitler begins his march in this direction by annexing Austria and part of Czechoslovakia. With these new territories, he now possesses a massive front against Poland, which he invades and conquers within three weeks. After the invasion of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany, which then signs a non-aggression pact with the Soviets so Hitler can re-focus his energy against his enemies to the west.</em> <a href="">Divide and Conquer</a>| (56:23) <em>Chapter</em> III <em>begins with Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany after Hitler's invasion of Poland. The film covers the Nazi capture of Denmark and Norway, steps necessary to mount a future attack on Britain, then describes in detail Hitler's strategy as he conquers Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. Special attention is paid to Nazi atrocities. Dead and injured children are shown en masse and the film explains how the bombing of Rotterdam leads to "thirty thousand men, women and children killed in ninety minutes." The narrator tells how the Luftwaffe bombs small villages so that refugees clog the highways, and how it uses precision machine gun fire to herd the survivors toward the allied armies, who find their progress severely constrained as a result. An American military officer details the Nazi plan for an invasion of France, which Hitler conquers in just over a month. The Germans bludgeon the French armies into surrender, then "enslave" much of the local population to service the German military regime.</em> <a href="">The Battle of Britain</a>| (52:12) <em>Chapter</em> IV <em>begins after Hitler's conquest of Western Europe. Once firmly in control of the parts of France and Norway closest to Great Britain, the Nazis commence their massive air assault on the British isles. Outnumbered six to one, the fighters of the Royal Air Force defend their skies against the Luftwaffe for close to four months. Capra embellishes the British successes, for example the film claims the RAF fought 200 dogfights in the first thirty minutes of the battle alone, and that by the end of the first month they had destroyed 900 German planes. (In truth, the number is closer to 260). However, the success of the British defenses forced the Germans to change strategies, switching to more frightening night raids that terrorized London. But the British resolve won the day, in grand fashion. The film claims total German losses of more than 2,700. The real number is closer to 1,600. The number of downed British planes equaled approximately half that of Germany.</em> <a href="">The Battle of Russia</a>| (1:22:57)<em>Chapter</em> V <em>follows the beginning of the end for Adolph Hitler. In Part Two, the German army falls victim to the Soviet scorched-earth strategy. The Russian forces flee from the start, retreating deep into their homeland, drawing the Nazis farther and farther away from the German border. As the Red Army falls back, it destroys infrastructure and natural resources, making it difficult for the Nazi army to live off the land. Once the famed Russian winter sets in, Germany is doomed. The film focuses on the stalwart defense of Leningrad. After the Nazis surround the Soviet metropolis in an attempt to starve out its residents, the Russians outsmart them by constructing a fully operational railroad across a frozen lake to get supplies to the beleaguered citizens. The Battle of Russia ends up as a disaster for the Germans, who lose more than 800,000 men.</em> <a href="">The Battle of China</a>| (1:02:50) <em>Chapter</em> VI<em> explains why the Empire of Japan possessed such a strong interest in ruling the disparate lands of China. In an attempt to break the will of the Chinese people in one massive assault, Japan invades Nanking and massacres forty thousand civilians. The attack results in an opposite effect, galvanizing the Chinese resistance and unifying the separate lands into a single Chinese identity. While the Japanese take control of all Chinese ports, hoping to cut off all resources from its victim, China's allies effectuate an engineering miracle. They construct the seven hundred mile long Burma Road over the mountains of Myanmar, and set up a constant caravan of trucks to ship food and materiel to the Chinese armies, keeping them alive. Frustrated by their inability to conquer China, the Japanese turn their attention to the islands of the Pacific, and the United States.</em> <a href="">War Comes to America</a>| (1:02:11) <em>Chapter</em> VII <em>begins by celebrating the American values of liberty and freedom that are threatened by the aggressive forces of Germany and Japan. The early years of the war are seen from the perspective of the United States, with particular focus on the reluctance of the American people to get involved in a European or Asian conflict. As the German army rolls across Europe, Nazi organizations spring up across the United States. The film attributes the rise of such groups to Hitler's policy of softening up future targets with political sympathizers, and shows one surreal Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, where paintings of George Washington hang alongside the swastika. Eventually the American government realizes that war is inevitable and cranks up the production of weapons and drafts the largest army in its history. The film ends with the war's beginning for the United States, the surprise attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.</em></blockquote> Other War Films also made by Capra <blockquote><a href="">The Negro Soldier</a>| (41:02) <em>The army used this film as a means of propaganda to convince African Americans to enlist in the army and fight in the war. Most people regarded the film very highly, some going as far to say that The Negro Soldier was "one of the finest things that ever happened to America". Due to both high reviews and great cinematography, The Negro Soldier proved to be a breakout film that influenced army members and civilians of all races. In 2011, it was chosen to be preserved in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. During World War II, Nazi Germany threatened to take over Europe, North Africa and the Near East. The United States Army was looking for men to enlist. Although the U.S. army was officially committed to practicing segregation, they looked to African Americans to add manpower to the group. Social scientists of the time argued that films and television were the best method of instilling a message within people and pushing them to act towards a common goal.</em> <a href="">Analysis</a> <a href="">Two Down and One to Go</a>| (9:30) A short propaganda film produced in 1945; as its title might suggest, its overall message was that the first two Axis powers, Italy and Germany, had been defeated, but that one, Japan, still had to be dealt with. Presented by the Secretary of War (Henry Stimson) and narrated by Army Chief of Staff George Marshall, the film is notable for its heavy use of animated graphics, spliced with stock footage. Opening with a fasces being splintered over Italy, and a swastika being exploded over Germany, the film cuts to a Arthur Szyk caricature of Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler and Hideki Tōjō, an X being superimposed on the respective dictators, then turning to Tojo. Gen. Marshall informs the audience why the United States had chosen a Europe first strategy for the war, noting the supply lines where far shorter for Europe, and that the US simply did not have the material, in the early stages of the war, to launch an invasion of Japan. He also notes that in the European theatre the US had strong fighting Allies and airbases in England which could help them launch an attack on Germany, while in the Pacific theatre we had "no airbases near Japan, and no strong allies, however brave". The general ends the film by reminding the audience that the war cannot be won until Japanese military might is "completely crushed". <a href="">Tunisian Victory</a>| (1:15:50) An Anglo-American propaganda film about the victories in the North Africa Campaign. The film follows both armies from the planning of Operation Torch / Operation Acrobat to the liberation of Tunis. Interspersed in the pure documentary format are the narrative voices of an American and a British soldier (voiced by Burgess Meredith and Bernard Miles respectively), recounting their experience in the campaign. The British and American talk separately until the end of the film when they have a dialogue, agree to co-operate after the end of the war, with the other Allied nations to create a more just and peaceful post-war order. <a href="">Know Your Enemy: Japan</a>| (1:00:08)<em>The original intention of the film was to prepare U.S. soldiers for war before deployment in the Pacific, though ultimately it never realized this purpose due to the war’s abrupt end soon after its completion.</em></blockquote> Inspired by the name of the films, a new documentary <a href="">Why We Fight (2005)</a> <em>describes the rise and maintenance of the United States military-industrial complex and its involvement in the wars led by the United States during the last fifty years, and in particular in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The film alleges that in every decade since World War II, the American public has been told a lie to bring it into war to fuel the military-economic machine, which in turn maintains American dominance in the world. It includes interviews with John McCain, Chalmers Johnson, Richard Perle, William Kristol, Gore Vidal and Joseph Cirincione. The film also incorporates the stories of a Vietnam War veteran whose son died in the September 11, 2001 attacks and then had his son's name written on a bomb dropped on Iraq; a 23-year old New York man who enlists in the United States Army citing his financial troubles after his only family member died; and a former Vietnamese refugee who now develops explosives for the American military.</em>,2012:site.119978 Sun, 16 Sep 2012 09:12:25 -0800 Blasdelb Pay taxes. Kill Nazis. Keep Democracy on the March. Donald Duck wants you to <a href="">pay your taxes to fight Nazism</a>, when he's not <a href="">dreaming he's a Nazi</a>. Of course, Disney didn't need Donald Duck in <a href="">every propaganda film</a>.,2012:site.113601 Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:24:55 -0800 hoyland Nazi Propaganda <em>During a recent visit to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., I was reeducated in the power of branding — especially as applied to poster design — at the special exhibition,</em> <a href="">State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda</a><em>, which demonstrates how the Nazi party used carefully crafted messages, advertising and design techniques, and then-new technologies (radio, television, film) to <a href="">sway millions</a> with its vision for a new Germany.</em> <small>(<a href="">related</a>)</small>,2012:site.112360 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:33:10 -0800 Trurl March of Time From 1935 to 1951, Time Magazine bridged the gap between print &amp; radio news reporting and the new visual medium of film, with <i>March of Time</i>: award-winning newsreel reports that were a combination of objective documentary, dramatized fiction and pro-American, anti-totalitarian propaganda. They “often <a href="">tackled subjects and themes that audiences weren’t used to seeing</a> — <a href=",32068,29759791001_0,00.html">foreign affairs</a>, <a href=",32068,46069707001_1932140,00.html">social trends</a>, public-health issues</a> — and did so with a combination of panache and subterfuge that today seems either absurd or visionary.” <small>(Previous two links have autoplaying video.)</small> By 1937, the short films were being seen by as many as 26 million people every month and <a href="">may have helped steer public opinion on numerous issues,</a> including (<a href=",32068,30862130001_1915520,00.html">eventually</a>) America’s <a href="">entry to WWII</a>. Video samples are available at <a href=",,,00.html?cmd=tags&q=March%20of%20TIME">,</a> the <i>March of Time</i> <a href="">Facebook page</a> and the entire collection is available online, <small>(free registration required)</small> at <a href="">HBO Archives.</a> Two pages at the March Towards War site are linked above. The <a href="">full site thoroughly examines March of Time as a propaganda effort</a>. <small>(Autoplaying video.)</small> Also includes a quiz: <a href="">Spot the Fake</a>. Some <em>March of Time</em> clips were subject to <a href="">censorship</a>. Most featured reenactments, faked photos and footage. They are a look into <a href="">how the editors of Time wanted people to think about the news</a>. More about the series <a href="|0/75th-Anniversary-of-The-March-of-Time.html">at TCM</a>. In 1938, <em>March of Time</em> produced a sixteen-minute short film entitled “Inside Nazi Germany,” one of the most controversial films ever released into American theaters. (Available in two parts on YouTube: <a href="">1</a>, <a href="">2</a>.) The CBC documentary series about the history of news media, "Dawn of the Eye," <a href="">discussed</a> the film and its impact.,2011:site.106741 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 08:33:39 -0800 zarq Achtung! Dinosauriergruppe To promote the launch of <a href="">Dino D-Day</a>, an FPS where you fight Nazis and their resurrected dinosaurs, Steam created a line of WWII-style <a href="">propaganda posters</a> that are pure win. (<a href="">Via</a>),2011:site.104345 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:06:48 -0800 gottabefunky Der ewige Jude The day after <em>Kristallnacht</em>, Hitler said: "It was necessary not to make propaganda for violence as such, but to explain certain matters of foreign policy to the German people in such a way, that <a href="">the inner voice of the people all by itself gradually would call for violence</a>." Towards that end, Goebbels commissioned and closely supervised the production of a propaganda documentary titled <a href=""><em>Der ewige Jude</em></a> - "The Eternal Jew". Few if any of the inhabitants of the <a href="">Ł&#0243;dź Ghetto</a> who appear in its footage survived the war. Though it was exhibited throughout Germany and occupied Europe, popular audiences avoided the film's gruesome images of swarming rats and animal slaughter - preferring instead the anti-Semitic melodrama <a href="">Jud S&#0252;&#0223;</a>. In 1958, the film was still considered so dangerous that it required the intervention of the Customs Department to permit <a href="">Amos Vogel</a> to show it at his <a href="">Cinema 16</a>. Today, the film can be seen at the Internet Archive <a href="">here</a>. <small>(<a href="">previously</a>)</small>,2009:site.84680 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:33:04 -0800 Joe Beese Say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos. The <a href="">Corn Refiners Association</a> has created a series of commercials to <a href="">counter the increasing sentiment against high-fructose corn syrup</a>. One commercial presents <a href="">a lovely tableau of a couple in a park on a sunny day discussing how HFCS is not much to worry about</a> <small><small>(<a href="">previously</a>)</small></small>. A filmmaker reuses the technique to sell something <a href="">a little bit less sweet</a>.,2009:site.84088 Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:15:35 -0800 grouse NIOBY <a href="">In Our Own Backyard: Resisting Nazi Propaganda In Southern California 1933 - 1945</a>, a digital exhibition from the Oviatt Library at Cal State Northridge.<em> "The Nazi Propaganda period, 1933 to 1945, chronicles a crucial twelve years in American history. This exhibit's story about the local threat to American ideals demonstrates how European events reached across the ocean and affected people in Southern California -- in our own backyard."</em> <a href="">Magazines</a>, <a href="">pamphlets</a>, <a href="">newspapers</a>, <a href="">stickers</a> and <a href="">more</a>. The site navigation, especially as pertains to the digital materials, leaves a good deal to be desired, but it's still a fascinating look at an aspect of the Depression era most people don't think about. [<a href="">via</a>, which is in itself one of the best link blogs out there, from (formerly?) Metafilter's Own™ <a href="">plep</a> ],2009:site.80745 Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:26:03 -0800 dersins Horst-Wessel <a href="">Propaganda.</a> The death of Horst-Wessel . A clip from a documentary about the rise of the Third Riche and how it used <a href="">Horst-Wessel's </a>song "The flag on high" and his death as a tool of propaganda. Then ending with a clip about propaganda from the film <a href="">Network</a>.,2007:site.59082 Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:01:39 -0800 nola The Wacky World of Comic Book Propaganda <a href="">An official comic book adaptation of the 9/11 commission report</a> is due to <a href="">hit bookstores this month</a>. The U.S. Army seeks <a href="">an Arabic-speaking comic book creator</a>. Meanwhile, an Israeli blogger <a href="">suspects a Kuwaiti company of misusing Marvel and DC comics</a>. These are just the latest incidents in a long-running history of using comic books for propaganda purposes, ranging from <a href="">Mussolini</a> and <a href="">Hitler</a> to <a href="">Captain America</a> vs. the Nazi-affiliated <a href="">Red Skull</a> to <a href="">anticommunist comics for Catholic parochial schools</a> to <a href="">a phony Black Panther comic book</a> created by <a href="">COINTELPRO</a> to <a href="">a comic book of the American invasion of Grenada</a>. However, my <a href="">favorite site of comic book propaganda</a> tends to focus on more innocuous domestic issues such as <a href="">bicycle safety</a>, <a href="">USDA nutrition standards</a>, and <a href="">fighting crack cocaine</a>. <em>(OK, that last issue isn't so innocuous, but comic book propaganda about health &amp; safety issues still generally blows.)</em>,2006:site.53577 Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:59:57 -0800 jonp72 Hitler's hit parade <a href="">Nazi swing music from the 30s.</a> FMU's terrific blog presents mp3s of songs by Charlie and His Orchestra, a big band assembled by Hitler's minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to spread the Nazi message abroad even while trying to stamp out jazz and swing domestically. "Leave it to Goebbels to take the music of The Andrews Sisters, Paul Whiteman and Irving Berlin and fill it with venomous rants against Jews, America and the British." <a href="">Vol. 1 is here.</a> Some <a href=",1564,1124275,00.html">history.</a> And now I want to see <a href="">this movie</a> about the band. <small><a href="">via BB</a></small>,2005:site.47471 Sat, 10 Dec 2005 07:06:41 -0800 CunningLinguist Legendary film maker, photographer, alleged Nazi sympathiser <a href="">Leni Riefenstahl, dead at 101</a> In response to her film making for the Nazi regime, she said "It reflects the truth as it was then, in 1934. It is a documentary, not propaganda." (more inside),2003:site.28159 Tue, 09 Sep 2003 04:31:28 -0800 tomcosgrave <a href="">The virtuous image of the Bertelsmann media empire</a> has been destroyed by a devastating historical study into the company's Nazi links that exposes its post-war success as built on a lie. The report, published this week, not only details the company's role in the Nazi propaganda machinery, but provides evidence of the company's use of forced labour during the war.,2002:site.20656 Wed, 09 Oct 2002 00:53:44 -0800