Propaganda

• Is the spreading of ideas and beliefs to influence people’s thoughts and feelings

• Popular during WWI- recruitment, funds, farming, rationing, public service announcement

• Many messages and targets with the agenda of drumming up support for war

• Uses national symbols, children for effectiveness• Appeals to our most basic feelings• Dehumanizes the enemy

1. RECRUITMENT

2. Home Front Work

What Canadian workers produced for the war effort • 16,000 aircraft• 741 naval vessels• 410 cargo vessels• 800,000 transport vehicles• 50,000 tanks• 148,000 heavy guns• 2 m tons of chemicals and• explosives• 133 million rounds of heavy ammunition• 5 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition• Uniforms and supplies for the entire Armed Forces

Women play a key role in factories

• By 1943 more than 25,000 women working in aircraft factories, and another 25,0000 in munitions factories, shipyards and construction sites

• shortages so severe that married women with children working

• women also operated farms when farmers joined armed forces, grew and harvested crops, fixed farm machinery

Arsenal factory in Quebec during WWII

3. Saving Materials for War Supplies

•Canadians were encouraged to save metal, paper, glass, rubber, bones and rages that could be used by factories.

4. Victory Bonds • Helped the government pay

for munitions, food, uniforms, truck, tanks, planes, fuel, and ships.

• Bonds like a loan to the government.

• Public buys bonds from Government and cashes them for a profit after the war.

• During the war Canada with its population of 11.5 m people bought 9 billion dollars worth of bonds.

5. Women• Posters emphasize traditional

"female" attributes, including wisdom, spirituality, caring, and motherhood.

• Propaganda balancing public perceptions of women's traditional roles with the growing wartime requirement for non-traditional forms of activity and employment.

• Women allowed to serve military by 1941, although not allowed in combat

• 17,000 serve air force, 7100 serve navy, 4500 work as nurses

• 50,000 serve by end of the war

6. German Spies• Few German spies

operated in Canada, but the threat was real

• During the war there were German submarines operating in Canadian waters and at least one spy that was known on the east coast

Recent Canadian Forces Posters