Question

How did the opposing sides use propaganda to gain support in their country?

Answer 1

During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union used propaganda to gain support in their respective countries. They employed various media, such as literature, visual imagery, films, and broadcasting, to spread their messages. They also used propaganda posters and cultural exchanges to influence public opinion.

Step-by-step explanation:

During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union used propaganda to gain support in their respective countries. The U.S. propaganda focused on touting the benefits of capitalism and democracy, while warning about the lack of freedom under communism. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, boasted about the productivity of its citizens and ridiculed the softness of capitalists. They also emphasized the lack of freedom for people of color in the United States.

Both sides used various forms of media, including literature, visual imagery, films, and broadcasting to spread their propaganda messages. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty were established by the U.S. government to broadcast news and information to Eastern Bloc countries and the Soviet Union. The government-funded Interactive 7.23 Why We Fight campaign was also launched in the United States to encourage voluntary participation in the war effort through various media.

Propaganda posters and cultural exchanges were also used to sway public opinion. Each side showcased their athletes to display the superiority of their system during Olympic competitions. Cultural exchanges included Soviet ballet dancers touring the United States and American jazz musicians and symphony orchestras visiting Eastern Bloc countries.

Answer 2

From the beginning of World War One, both sides of the conflict used propaganda to shape international opinion. Curator Ian Cooke considers the newspapers, books and cartoons produced in an attempt to influence both neutral and enemy countries.

Governments during the First World War devoted massive resources and huge amounts of effort to producing material designed to shape opinion and action internationally. The efforts of states to justify their actions, and to build international support, resulted in some of the most powerful propaganda ever produced. They also shaped attitudes towards propaganda itself in the years following the end of the War.

One of the first actions carried out by Britain at the start of the war was to cut Germany’s under-sea communication cables, ensuring that Britain had a monopoly on the fastest means of transmitting news from Europe to press agencies in the United States of America. Influencing the reporting of the war around the world, with the aim of gaining support and sympathy, was an important objective for all states. In Britain, a secret organisation, Wellington House, was set up in September 1914, and called on journalists and newspaper editors to write and disseminate articles sympathetic to Britain and to counter the statements made by enemies. As well as placing favourable reports in the existing press of neutral countries, Wellington House printed its own newspapers for circulation around the world. Illustrated news, carrying drawings or photographs, was viewed as particularly effective. By December 1916, the War Pictorial was running at a circulation of 500,000 copies per issue, in four editions covering 11 languages. The Chinese-language Cheng Pao had a fortnightly circulation of 250,000 issues, and was described as having ‘such a powerful effect upon the masses that the Chinese government were able to declare war against Germany’

Step-by-step explanation: