The Churchill Series – Nov. 17, 2006

(One of a series of weekday posts on the life of Winston S. Churchill.)

A while back a post included a link to a Nazi propaganda cartoon intended for a British audience. It was produced in 1940 when America was still officially neutral and Britain “stood alone.”

The cartoon depicted "piggish" President and Mrs. Roosevelt seated at a table eating with their hands food overflowing large bowls. A few scraps had fallen to the floor. Churchill, in formal attire, stood in a doorway, bowl in hand, begging for the scraps. The Roosevelt’s were ignoring him.

The cartoon brought questions from some readers regarding other forms and topics of propaganda the Nazis used when targeting the British people.

One form was radio. It’s all but forgotten now but there were daily propaganda broadcasts from Germany to Britain throughout the war. The Churchill government could have “jammed” them but decided to let them through. Here’s one Brit's recollection of those broadcasts:

.Most people found the broadcasts humorous and entertaining although many took them seriously and were alarmed by them.

The hard news presentations were generally factual, quite accurate and often "scooped" the BBC in announcing important wartime events. The propaganda commentary was wickedly clever and aimed at demoralizing the British Home Front -- mostly seeking to foment public unrest, distrust of the British Government, a sense of hopelessness in opposing the Nazi war machine -- and anti-Semitic at every opportunity. Letters from captured British soldiers were frequently read at the conclusion of the broadcasts which generated a substantial listening audience.

You can read more about Nazi propaganda in general and propaganda aimed at the British at this Wikipedia site and this BBC site.

I hope you all have a nice weekend and are back on Monday.

John