The role of radios in WWII

World War II marked the first time in world history that media was being mass distributed and, many times, electronically produced. With the advent of electronically distributed media, it became easier to directly manipulate the content that people were consuming. All countries involved in WWII used radio propaganda.

Fire Side Chats

During his entire presidency (1933 to 1945), FDR conducted “fireside chats” via radio. In the US in 1940, 82.8 percent of households owned a radio (according to the US census). We already got a glimpse at how he used this to inform the public about his plans to combat the Great Depression and assure the public that better times were coming. He continued using the connectivity of radios during WWII to communicate directly with the people. The fireside chats made the public very trusting of FDR, who had great communication skills and a soothing voice. 

Check out a recording of the FDR fireside chat broadcasted two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor:

Music

The widespread use of radios provided the perfect platform for music propaganda. Songs had been used as propaganda for a long time before World War II, but with radios in every house and local disk jockeys playing ‘Top 40’ hits, it became easier for songs to be mass broadcasted without a change in lyrics. In the US, songs like “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition” were incredibly popular. Here are some lyrics from “Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition”:

“Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition
And we'll all stay free

Praise the Lord and swing into position
Can't afford to be a politician
Praise the Lord, we're all between perdition
And the deep blue sea”

The lyrics of this song reflect the idea that America had joined the war to fight for FDR’s four freedoms. This song calls on Americans to forget about whether they agree with the war politically and focus only on helping the war effort. The song likens not helping the war effort to being sinful.

The Nazi’s also commissioned propaganda songs to be made in English. These songs aimed mainly to make Americans blame Jewish people for the war. I wasn’t able to find any evidence that these songs had much of an effect on American public opinion (if anyone wants to challenge me on that feel free to look and let me know) but nonetheless these songs were broadcasted in Germany, Britain, and the US via radio.

Nazi propaganda broadcasters in Allied countries

Nazis used radios for internal propaganda. There were also a number of broadcasters in both England and the US who were spreading Nazi propaganda. Some of the most famous ones were William Joyce, an Irish-American broadcaster who came to be known as “Lord Haw-Haw.” Joyce had been living in England, but due to his reputation as a fascist, the British authorities had been tipped to detain him at the start of the war and so he fled to Germany. He spent the war creating pro-Nazi propaganda that was broadcasted in England through radios. After the war, he was executed on charges of treason by the United Kingdom.

Mildred Gillars, aka “Axis Sally,” was an American broadcaster who worked for Nazi Germany during WWII. She was living in Germany when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurred, during which time she stated her loyalty to her home country. However, this meant she would not be able to find work in Germany and would probably face prison time, so she signed a contract expressing her loyalty to Germany and worked as a radio broadcaster. Many of her listeners were American troops and their families. Her programs were used to spread fear in American troops by casting doubt on the abilities of the US government officials, and to spread fear in the families of the military by focusing specifically on horrible wounds and deaths sustained by American troops.  After the war, Gillars was tracked down by a US attorney and charged with treason. She served time and jail and paid a $10,000 fine.

These cross-national propaganda machines used during World War II were direct results of the technology of radios. Radios were the cool new technology of the time, and it was easy to talk to the people directly.

Today, what form of communication does the public use most often? Could social media site like Facebook and Twitter be used as propaganda machines? Is radio still an effective method of communicating with the public, or have social media sites and apps completely blown radio's use in communicating information out of the water? Let me know what you guys think.