Group Essay
Nationalism surged during the 20th century. The reemergence of nationalism brought about different methods of propaganda. Propaganda ranged from movies to radio to posters. Each decade provided a new propaganda campaign. Every propaganda campaign joined in together on promoting nationalism throughout the country.
By nationalizing the film studios in Russia during the mid-1920s, Stalin ensured the “socialist” regime and created propaganda that was meant to evoke revolutionary feelings from the audience. Silent films like Battleship Potemkin were proletarian forms of socialist realism, meaning it was art that glorified the communist ideals in a way that was relevant to the proletariat class. The government employed these techniques in order to create a Russian nationality that was driven by the same values. The audience of these silent films was mainly the average working class, as the government controlled theatre and displayed it in communities around Russia. When the audience viewed silent films, specifically Battleship Potemkin, they felt important and saw the old regime, based off totalitarian ideology, as destruction, so they empathized with the new politics at the time. Russian nationality was centered on sharing the same political values.
With the emergence of radio, nationalistic ideologies were spread throughout households. As a quick and efficient way of delivering news, radio was utilized throughout the war. Radio became a type of propaganda, used by many countries. The United States and European countries would spread their messages through radio broadcasts. Instead of propaganda posters, radio was a way for countries to get their “pro-nationalism” messages throughout households, for everyone to hear. There was now easy access to news that was open to the public. Listeners were able to hear up-to-date news about the “Blitz” as it happened. Radio became a new and efficient way to spread nationalism in the 20th century.
The Blitz challenged the British people’s resilience as Germany literally attacked England by trying to destroy British artillery factories and crush the spirits of civilians. While Germany’s lack of success in the destruction of factories was a result of technological failure, their inability to destroy the morale of the British people was indirectly the result of the British Ministry of Information’s propaganda campaign. Though the British government produced specifically-designed propaganda posters to compel a sense of duty and a respect for secrecy in war times in citizens, such propaganda was largely rejected by the people who considered it insulting as it either unnecessarily created fear and suspicion or portrayed the sacrifices of the people as contributing only to the benefit of the government. Fortunately, such rejection of the propaganda led the British to unify in a sense of nationalism by defining their British identity as they persistently continued societal life in light of the Blitz.
As nationalism spikes, so must hatred. Nationalism finds efficacy exclusively on the principles of exclusion, and this exclusion generally finds efficacy when predicated on perceived cultural flaws or racial inequalities. In the case of the American propaganda targeting the Japanese, both statements hold true. The Japanese were treated as animals, portrayed with exaggerated physical features, and portrayed as ruthless. And with the advent of informative radio broadcasts, so too came increased opportunity for propaganda. Broadcasts spoke of the Japanese as wasting nothing, and watching as Americans lost the war through wasteful behavior at the home front. Every broadcast was but more soil in which to plant the seed of American nationalistic hatred. Video recordings such as Our Enemy--The Japanese exemplified this new tool for spreading nationalist feelings, portraying the Japanese as ruthless, mindless drones, wanting nothing more than to see America burn to the ground. Propaganda provided the 20th century with new forms of nationalism. Throughout the century, nationalism hit a high with the film Battleship Potemkin, The Blitz, America's propaganda campaign against the Japanese, and radio broadcasts. Each source contributed to the growth of nationalism.