Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines propaganda as the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause. Propagandists, just like advertisers, try to influence opinion and create or strengthen certain attitudes or induce specific actions.

During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of people around the world. Both sides had substantial experience with propaganda. Propaganda had been an important weapon for the Communists before they took power; Lenin, in fact, called propaganda the Bolshevik (Communist) Revolution’s main weapon. Immediately after the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks organized  propaganda trains which traveled around the countryside, promoting the new government and trying to win support for its vision of the future. Propaganda played an important role in the 1920s and 1930s, with the origins of the Cult of Lenin, the founding of Radio Moscow, and other activities. Soviet propagandists became experts at air-brushing people out of photographs as they fell into disfavor, especially with the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. During World War II, propaganda was critical in rallying the Soviet people to resist German invasion. Meanwhile, the US government ventured into propaganda during World War I, as the Committee of Public Information engaged in propagandistic activities at home and abroad. During World War II, the Office of War Information served a similar role, and the Voice of America joined the British Broadcasting Corporation in broadcasting to occupied countries.

When the Cold War began, it was natural that both sides would look to propaganda as a means of waging a nonviolent war. Vladimir Pozner, Soviet journalist and television commentator, observed, “The Cold War was really a propaganda war; it was not a hot war, in which all sides participated very, very actively. It was a struggle for people's minds. That's what propaganda is about.”  The Soviets got a head start in the struggle as they spread revolution in eastern and central Europe. President Harry Truman in 1950 reacted to these revolutions by calling on Americans to “make ourselves heard around the world” in  a great campaign of truth for the purpose of countering “deceit, distortion and lies used in a deliberate campaign by our adversaries.”  The United States government funded Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to broadcast to the Soviet bloc, for the express purpose of promoting democratic values and institutions and free-market economics, while the Voice of America broadcast around the world. Unlike the Soviet Union’s Radio Moscow, however, these US-funded stations normally adhered to the highest journalistic standards. At home, the Federal Civil Defense Administration engaged in efforts to prepare the American people for nuclear war.

Assignment 9.07 - Propaganda Films from the Cold War

In this assignment you will be analyzing some propaganda film clips that were used by both the United States and the Soviet Union.

Part A - Use the site below to access propaganda techniques that are used to sway people’s thinking about any issue:

http://www.propagandacritic.com/

Read the Introduction: “Why Think about Propaganda?”

Next: Read through the common propaganda Techniques that are listed on the site.  You should print them out before moving on.

Common Propaganda Techniques

Word Games

Name-calling

Glittering generalities

Euphemisms

False connections

Transfer

Testimonial

Special Appeals

Plain Folks

Bandwagon

Fear

     Logical fallacies

Bad Logic or propaganda?

Unwarranted extrapolation

Next: Download worksheet  into one word processing document. Copy the worksheet and paste it 3 times you should end up with 4 pages in your document, each page has a copy of the worksheet.

Type your responses.  Remember you will need 4 copies of the worksheet in one word processing document.  Copy and paste the document into the answer box and submit.

Part B  Propaganda films from the Cold War

Using your worksheets, you are now ready to analyze four (4) film clips from the Cold War. 

Watch them all the way through the first time.  Then, for each clip, use the Propaganda Analysis Worksheet below and fill out the worksheets for each of the (4) clips.

Directions:  The films are stored on a server at :

http://www.archive.org/index.php

Click on “Moving Images” at the top menu.  In the Search window, type in Cold War and hit “Go.”  There will be about 92 film clips and short movies to choose from.

When you click on the Movie title you will be given instructions on how to download the movie (preferable is MPEG2 for Windows Media Player) or how to watch the movie as a “streaming video” (Need RealPlayer).  The Movies vary in running time.  From the long list your instructor recommends the following:

Watch the Movies all the way through the first time.  As you watch them again fill out your worksheet and then submit as one word processing document.