World War II

Totalitarianism & Propaganda


The following resources will help you in your research of totalitarianism and the propaganda
of  World War II.

 

 Print Resources

 

Propaganda - The Art of Persuasion: World War II (OS 940.548 RHO)
Presents a visual compendium of all forms of propaganda used by the Allied and Axis powers in World War II and in the period that led to its outbreak. Here are the posters of Shahn, Hohlwein, and Fougasse; the cartoons of Fitzpatrick, Low, Seppla, and Kukriniksi; stills from the films of John Huston, Noel Coward, and Leni Riefenstahl; photos of Tokyo Rose and Fritz Kuhn; comic books, magazine covers, paintings, leaflets, newspapers, postcards, sheet music; all the artifacts of the art of persuasion, more than 500 photographs, over 270 in full color, culled from government archives and private
collections in the United States and abroad.
 
   
Selling the War - Art and Propaganda of World War II (OS 940.548 ZEM)
Provides over 100 examples of the most effective wartime posters - Allied and Axis alike - and analyzes what the posters reveal about the political, military and moral conditions which inspired their creation. Posters served a wide variety of uses on both sides between 1939 and 1945. There were appeals to patriotism in aid of recruitment, warnings to preserve national security against spies and saboteurs, pleas to aid the war effort by stepping up production at home, morale-boosting posters portraying the nation's allies and emphasizing the international character of the crusade, and warnings of the atrocities committed by the enemy or consequences of defeat and occupation.

 

 Online Databases

AP Multimedia Archive
The Associated Press has won more Pulitzer Prizes than any other news agency, and is the most credible source for non-biased reporting. Now you can search the AP's  over one million photographs dating back to 1826 and as current as a few moments ago.


Biography Resource Center
Covering the core curriculum areas, including history, literature, science, social studies, and more, DC provides a selection of reference, primary sources, creative works, and multimedia, including hours of video and audio clips.

History Reference Center - Articles from magazines, journals, and reference books; biographies, documents and speeches; maps, photographs, film and video clips.

Student Research Center Contains thousands of online  primary documents, biographies, topical essays, 
and much more.


 Internet Sites
 

General

Absolute Power - What is totalitarianism: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/def_tota.html

 

BBC - World War II: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/

 

Features of a Totalitarianism State: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/cechya.html

 

Interactive Maps of WWII:
http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/lessons/ushistory/ww2/ww2maps.htm

 

PHS Social Studies Department - Totalitarianism and World War II:  http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/articles/col-totalitarianism.htm

 

Totalitarianism and Human Nature - How and Why Communism Failed:
http://documentos.fundacionfaes.info/document_file/filename/474/00052-05_-_totalitarism_and_human.pdf
 

Italian Fascism

Benito Mussolini: What is Fascism (1932)

 

Benito Mussolini (1883-1945): http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/mussolini_benito.shtml

 

Benito Mussolini: What Is Fascism? (in Mussolini's own words): http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/mussolini-fascism.html

 

Fascist Propaganda: http://specialcollections.library.wisc.edu/exhibits/Fascism/Propaganda.html

 

Il Duce (Mussolini):  http://specialcollections.library.wisc.edu/exhibits/Fascism/Mussolini.html

 

Italian Fascism: http://specialcollections.library.wisc.edu/exhibits/Fascism/Intro.html
 
Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf (1923)

 

Adolf Hitler: The Fuhrer Principle

 

Adolf Hitler 1889-1945: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/hitler_adolf.shtml

 

Hitler's Speeches: http://www.hitler.org/speeches/

 

Mein Kampf: War Propaganda (Hitler's own view of propaganda as a tool): www.hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/mkv1ch06.html

 

National Socialist Posters: http://www.hitler.org/posters/

 

Nazi and East German Propaganda: http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/

 

Map of Fascist Expansion: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/mapy_na.html

 

Photo Gallery - Nazism: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/galeriana.html

 

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum - Nazi Propaganda (posters): http://www.ushmm.org/propaganda/\

 

What is Nazism? http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/def_fasa.html
 
Russian Communism

The Development of the Soviet State & The Stalinist Period: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/komunizma.html

 

Joseph Stalin (in Stalin's own words): Liquidation of the Kulaks (1929)

 

Joseph Stalin (in Stalin's own words): The Hard Line (1931)

 

Joseph Stalin 1879-1953: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml

 

Map of Communist Expansion: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/mapy_ka.html

 

Photo Gallery - Communism: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/galeriaka.html

 

Russian Propaganda Posters: http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/

 

Soviet Posters - Revolution by Design:
www.internationalposter.com/country-primers/soviet-posters.aspx

 

What is Communism?: http://library.thinkquest.org/C004169/def_koma.html
 
Propaganda Techniques Argument, Persuasion, or Propaganda - Analyzing World War II Posters: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=829

 

PBS Reporting America At War - Propaganda Techniques: http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/teachers/pdf/propaganda.pdf

 

Propaganda Critic: http://www.propagandacritic.com/

 

Recognizing Propaganda and Errors of Faulty Logic:
http://academic.cuesta.edu/acasupp/as/404.htm

 

Teaching with Documents: Powers of Persuasion - Poster Art of World War II: http://archives.gov/exhibits/powers_of_persuasion/powers_of_persuasion_home.html
 


If you don't find what you're looking for in any of the sites above, try your 
own keyword search using the following tips...

 Internet Search Tips

  1. Type the URL (web site address) of a search directory/engine in the address box: ex: www.yahoo.com, or www.google.com, etc.
     
  2. (Be sure to type the address exactly the way you see it, including any uppercase letters and punctuation).
     
  3. Type in keyword(s). (If your keyword has two parts such as: "World War II", be sure to put quotes around it so that the search engine only finds the Internet sites about the World War II as opposed to all of the sites containing the word World plus all of the sites containing the word War.
     
  4. If you would like to search for something specific about a the World War II, try a combined keyword search by adding a comma, followed by a space and you other search term.  For instance; if I wanted to find out about totalitarianism and propaganda of World War II, I would enter the following:
     

     "World War II", totalitarianism, propaganda
     

  5. Hit Enter on your keyboard, or click on Search, then scan the description of the "hits" (entries) and click on the links that sound best.
          Be sure to critically evaluate Internet sources.  UC Berkley Library's Evaluating Webpages: Techniques to Apply and Questions to Ask is an excellent source to help you critique the quality of websites in the following areas:
  6. Remember: if you choose to use any information (text or graphics) found on the Internet, online databases, or print material, you must cite every resource you used.  Use the Works Cited Guide to access MLA format.
  7.  

Created by Liza Zandonella, Library Media Specialist.

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