The United States was involved in numerous conflicts throughout the 20th century. Countries throughout this time developed anti-American intervention propaganda campaigns to paint the US in a negative light. Common themes from Nazi to Communist propaganda demonstrate what opponents of the United States used to influence their peoples. For example, the common theme of capitalist greed and the obsession over money can be found in the examples above. Organizations like the Soviet Union and anti-war movements within the US itself depict the gruesome wars that the U.S.was fighting in with powerful death symbolism. The American individuals illustrated in the posters also protrude a dangerous and conniving appearance that seeks to scare audiences. United States intervention policy resulted in countries throughout the 20th century creating anti-American propaganda. This propaganda combined the common stereotypes through the illustrations of a greedy and warmongering nation, while also painting a bleak outlook on what the U.S. stands for.
American greed was adopted into anti-American propaganda due to the U.S.’ deep roots in capitalism. Enemies to American interests commonly portrayed greed to show that the country was immoral and only cared for the allocation of money. The idea or “capitalistic greed” can be found in Nazi and Soviet state propaganda (Gienow, 1077). In the poster labeled “Kultur-Terror,” the monstrosity of anti-American symbols are combined to create an individual. The monster of American values is holding a money bag to symbolize the systematic greed of the nation. Hitler developed an intricate propaganda machine that was largely under the control of Goebbels and he “despised the [United States] as weak and unmilitary, a nation driven by Jews, African Americans, and the almighty dollar” (Gienow, 1076).
Greed and anti-capitalism are also found the Soviet poster and anti-war movement in the U.S. flyer. These symbols are all found on the individual on the poster and greed is one of the major themes highlighted. The 1980s Soviet Union poster that calls for the end of American chemical weapons also shows an greed theme. The person in the gas mask is holding a container of a chemical has money signs on the eyes of his mask.A clear reference to American greed and it relates to the common anti-American sentiment that even through death and destruction, America cares only for money. The Soviets developed countless propaganda campaigns that “state directed anti-Americanism concentrated on liberalism and American capitalism” (Gienow, 1086). Even from a young age, people in the USSR depicted “the average American… as an individual driven by material interests and an indifference to culture and community values” (Gienow, 1086) This feeling is also evoked by the anti-war poster developed in America during the 1980s. It depicts skeleton soldiers with money signs on their clothes that even blends in with their camo. It provides another example of how groups criticized the U.S.in their efforts to stop American interventionism. Clearly the posters above prove that capitalism and greed were major targets of anti-American propaganda that came from extremely different nations and groups with different ideologies.
Death and destruction are motifs located in the anti-American intervention posters. The Nazi propaganda facilitated by Goebbels represented campaigns that focused on fear. The Nazi government needed to get to a point of war preparedness and fear was the ideal tool to use to stir up support, “fear was to be the major component of home propaganda” (Power, 106). The use of death and fear are directly shown by the monster-looking individual full of stereotypical American symbols in the Nazi poster. It appears to be destroying a German town with many Germans fleeing for safety. The monster is holding a Tommy Gun and has a bomb as a leg to depict the war capabilities of the United States. The poster demonstrates America as an aggressor and causes death through destruction in efforts to dominate.
Soviet and the Polish Communist posters reflect a similar position of death due to U.S. intervention. The Polish poster from the 1950’s shows an skeleton-looking American and Nazi drinking the blood of victims. This clear relationship of Fascism and capitalism to death is felt by the two individuals’ appearances and actions. It is also ironic that the Communist Polish images depict the United States in relation to Fascism, while Hitler’s propaganda sought to attack the U.S. for the very same reason as what is shown through the poster. Another example of how the same motifs of ant-Americanism are shaped throughout different organizations and eras in time. Soviet propaganda continued this trend of destruction and death by creating darkly toned campaigns. The lower half of the poster illustrates an uncountable number of skeleton remains from U.S. chemical warfare. The powerful murder images reflect “the utter cynicism of their campaigns.” (Delfiner, 106). Soviet propaganda aimed against the United States focused on the destruction of people through U.S. policy.
The themes of death and destruction similarly show up in the propaganda from anti-American war intervention groups. The example above of the flyer with the images of American skeleton soldiers displays a field of crosses that symbolize the numberless dead buried in U.S. foreign intervention. It provides a truly gruesome scene with powerful destructive imagery that establishes an extremely strong message against war policy. The flyer tries to demonstrate that the soldiers are dying in great numbers while they commit war atrocities in places that America should not mess with. These demonstrations were especially common after the atrocities of the Vietnam War and the subsequent backlash was immense (Brewer, 220).
The ghostly and dark depictions of individuals in the anti-American propaganda developed a position that the U.S. was a warmongering nation. Countries and organizations opposed to the United States’ strategy abroad tend to exaggerate the problems that the United States inflicted. For example, the Soviet Union established a propaganda initiative that created a “peace campaign depicting the Soviet Union as the peace-loving nation beset by imperialist Western foes” (Delfiner, 106). It is advantageous for a group that seeks to create the notion that the aggressor is their enemy and this sentiment is confirmed through the propaganda examples above. In the Nazi poster, the combination of American values creates a grotesque monster that gives the basic look to a person. With KKK, military equipment, a noose, and other symbols, the poster gives the idea that America is willing to vanquish ruthlessly. Even in the poster, the individual is wiping out a German town and using its bomb-leg to step on German lands. The Polish poster mirrors the warmongering concept by showing a skeleton-looking Nazi and American sharing a bloody drink to evil intentions. Combining the Nazi expansion history and the United States, shows a deliberate connection to the audience that the U.S. will conquer viciously, just as the Nazis did in World War Two.
The other propaganda pieces effectively add to the bleak tone found in the Polish and Nazi posters. The anti-American intervention in Latin America piece illustrates a terrible scene, full of murder and war zone. The three American Soldiers are skeletons in military garments and their gruesome depictions are reminiscent of the other propaganda examples. U.S. propaganda tried to spread information that their foreign policy was the right course of action for the safety of the nation but this began to break down after the Vietnam War (Brewer, 220). Instead, many groups convinced the American public that the United States was only interested in fighting wars. The USSR poster continues the grim feel of the other the other illustrations. The poster is completely dark except for the American flag on the American individual dealing with the chemicals. The message is advocating for an end to U.S. policy on chemical warfare, while depicting America as a nation that will freely commit atrocities in war and will continue to fight unopposed unless the USSR steps in. The audience would receive fear from the way the individual is dressed and by what task he is completing, further proof that anti-American propaganda focused on the warmongering problem.
The United States foreign policy during the 20th century left many opponents of the nation to generate anti-American intervention propaganda. Often these nations used similar themes and almost identical images to create a negative image of U.S. intentions. Different eras and nations both tied American values to greed through capitalistic obsessions over money. The audiences of these propaganda campaigns felt fear through the horrific depictions of death and carnage by American policy. Many of the individuals highlighted in the propaganda illustrate a bleak and exaggerated look on what America represents. The warmongering theme can also be traced through the imagery of soldiers and weapons in the propaganda pieces. Anti-American propaganda existed extensively throughout the 20th century and beyond with organizations using the same themes, despite ideological and time differences.
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Delfiner, Henry. “A legacy of Hate.” Society, vol. 44, no. 6, 2007, pp. 106-108.
Gienow‐Hecht, Jessica C. E. “Always Blame the Americans: Anti‐Americanism in Europe in the Twentieth Century.” The American Historical Review, vol. 111, no. 4, 2006, pp. 1067–1091.
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