Create Your Own Propaganda Poster
Below are examples of propaganda posters that were used in World War II , some by the Nazi party to spread ideas and slowly change the minds of German civilians and some by the United States to encourage civilians to support the war effort. Propaganda was vital to keeping the home front's hopes and spirits up and assuring them that the war was going in their favor, even if it was not. While many Nazi propaganda posters were usually hurtful and tried to spread hate across Europe, not all propaganda posters are negative.
Nazi Propaganda Posters
American Propaganda Posters
Now that we have looked at different posters from World War II, it’s your turn to create your own propaganda poster. You can choose whatever type of propaganda you want to base your poster on. It can be bandwagon, scare tactics, transfer, or name-calling.
This assignment aligns with the NCSS Thematic Strand 1 (Culture). This strand deals with the beliefs, institutions, traditions, and values that all come together to create culture. By studying propaganda posters from World War II, students are given insight into the culture of that time. They can examine what each poster shows and speculate on why these posters were created. Viewing and analyzing propaganda posters show what society during WWII valued (Did they value the military? Did they value civilians? Did they value minorities?). These propaganda posters also shed light on what people believed. For example, a Nazi poster depicting a dirty and selfish Jew shows that the Nazi culture does not approve of Jewish people. The assignment also aligns with SC standard...
MWH-7.1 Analyze the relative importance of economic and political rivalries, ethnic and ideological conflicts, social class, militarism, and imperialism as underlying causes of World War I and World War II, including the role of nationalism and propaganda in mobilizing civilian populations around the world to support the two world wars
Source:
National Curriculum Standard for Social Studies: Chapter 2 - The Themes of Social Studies. National Council for Social Studies. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands.
- Start with deciding what you want to influence people to believe.
- Do you want them to believe that the war is a good/bad thing?
- Do you want them to sign up to be a soldier?
- Do you want to convince the women to help?
- Do you want them to be afraid of the enemy?
- Or something else you want them to believe about the war.
- Then try to think of a catchy slogan or saying or a symbol for your poster.
- Then draw out a picture to represent what you want people to believe that goes along with your slogan, saying or symbol.
- Make sure your picture is colorful and pretty!
This assignment aligns with the NCSS Thematic Strand 1 (Culture). This strand deals with the beliefs, institutions, traditions, and values that all come together to create culture. By studying propaganda posters from World War II, students are given insight into the culture of that time. They can examine what each poster shows and speculate on why these posters were created. Viewing and analyzing propaganda posters show what society during WWII valued (Did they value the military? Did they value civilians? Did they value minorities?). These propaganda posters also shed light on what people believed. For example, a Nazi poster depicting a dirty and selfish Jew shows that the Nazi culture does not approve of Jewish people. The assignment also aligns with SC standard...
MWH-7.1 Analyze the relative importance of economic and political rivalries, ethnic and ideological conflicts, social class, militarism, and imperialism as underlying causes of World War I and World War II, including the role of nationalism and propaganda in mobilizing civilian populations around the world to support the two world wars
Source:
National Curriculum Standard for Social Studies: Chapter 2 - The Themes of Social Studies. National Council for Social Studies. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/strands.