Nationalism in USA, Great Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union

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Nationalism
Geoffrey Blainey once told this, “Nationalism is both a vital medicine and a dangerous drug.” Nationalism is defined as an ideological movement that aims to achieve and preserve the independence of a nation and unity among its people. Furthermore, most of the time, nationalism is used interchangeably with patriotism, a term that describes a person’s love for his own country. However, according to Charles de Gaulle, patriotism involves love of your own people while nationalism promotes hate on other people than your own. Indeed, historical accounts narrated some of the dark sides of nationalism—where some people abused their power and some had suffered.[Peri Pamir, Nationalism, Ethnicity and Democracy: Contemporary Manifestations, n.d., /programs/icar/ijps/vol2_2/pamir.htm?fbclid=IwAR3cI9Hd2q3dBKHqSES6Y6Xg4Rw6lqTx6YtE8vBwOzIwMs7Vi1DAAPbAr7Q (Accessed April 30, 2019).2“Nationalism,” Def. 3, Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2019, (Accessed May 1, 2019).3Jane Rosenberg, Degrees of Truth: Propaganda During WWI and WWII, 2008, http://uh.edu/honors/Programs-Minors/honors-and-the-schools/houston-teachers-institute/curriculum-units/pdfs/2008/great-films-and-politics/rosenburg-08-film.pdf (Accessed May 2, 2019) 42.]
One of the ways by which countries spread nationalism was through the use of propaganda. Propaganda is defined as ideas or facts that were purposefully disseminated to promote one’s cause or to damage its opponents2. These propagandas could be in the form of posters, flyers, radio broadcasts and films3. Countries who played major roles in the two world wars utilized this as a strategy to manipulate their citizens to join their initiatives and as a weapon to despise their enemies. This paper aims to discuss how propaganda was used on different nations to promote nationalism and how it had influenced the people during the times of war.
Great Britain
During World War I, the British Army was only composed of few professionals and mostly volunteers. To strengthen their force, the British government relied on propaganda to mobilize its people on participating in the war. One of their famous posters appealed to their people by using the image of serious Lord Kitchener with a pointing finger stating that ‘Your country needs you.’ Additionally, there were also propagandas that employed images of family members to urge their men to join the war. One poster illustrated young children asking their father this, ‘Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?’ Another poster commanded women, ‘Women of Britain Say—GO!’ As a result, men braved the war despite of inexperience, to avoid the shame and to bring pride for themselves, their loved ones and their nation.[David Welch, Propaganda for patriotism and nationalism, 2014, /world-war-one/articles/patriotism-and-nationalism?fbclid=IwAR1lWVOrWiW9bK_ofCRd7lGNfS4H1L43c6VKs2SkSCijIQp-sjLfysuA9ms (Accessed May 2, 2019).2Elizabeth Tate Goins, “Promoting Unity Through Propaganda: How the British Government Utilized Posters During the Second World War,” Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects, 2011, https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/340 (Accessed May 2, 2019) 4.]
With this success in recruitment, the British government led by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was known as the bulldog of propagandas, continued the utilization of posters and other media during World War II. The government established the role of Ministry of Information in persuading the people to unite against Hitler’s Nazi regime2. They disseminated posters and pamphlets and published articles on newspapers that aimed to control the lives of the people during those times. They pushed men and women to do hard labor both in agriculture and factory work to support the continuity of the war. They also instilled disgust towards their enemies by depicting the cruelty of Germans, gutlessness of the Italians and savageness of the Japanese[Roy Greenslade, How wartime Britons were easily persuaded by the propagandists, 2016, /media/greenslade/2016/aug/10/how-wartime-britons-were-easily-persuaded-by-the-propagandists (Accessed May 2, 2019).2Caner Caki and Mehmet Ali Gazi, “The Use of Nationalism Discourses in the Soviet Propaganda in the Second World War,” International Journal of Social Science Research, 7(2), 2018, 291-306, (Accessed May 2, 2019) 303.3Anna Bryan, “Introduction to Soviet Propaganda,” The Soviet Poster Collection Wright Museum of Art, n.d., /wright/assets/soviet_posters.pdf (Accessed May 2, 2019) 4.]
Soviet Union
Even though Communism prevailed in the Soviet Union during the period of wars, Joseph Stalin used nationalistic propagandas to muster the nation’s troops against the Nazi Germany. He utilized historical elements of Russia by showing pictures of their past heroes such as Suvarov and Alexander Nevsky, who defeated German soldiers in 1242. Stalin reminded the people of the past victories of Russia against invaders and implied that it could still happen through unity in protecting their homeland2.
Meanwhile, Stalin also used positive propagandas in advancing his Communist policies which include agricultural collectivization, heavy industrialization and military regulations. In this way, he justified his brutal ways and was even considered the beloved father of his country3.
United States of America
When the war between Americans and Germans broke out during the Great War, President Woodrow Wilson immediately created Committee on Public Information (CPI), an agency that would control press coverage and persuade young men to leave behind their neutrality and get involved in military service. CPI, which was headed by George Creel, monopolized public short speeches that would only include Wilson’s aims for wars. Films and newspapers were released solely to highlight the heroism of their fellowmen and the barbarity of Germans. Similar to the British propaganda of recruitment, they also had an image of a pointing Uncle Sam stating this: “I want you for U.S. Army.” As their government manipulated ma...