The Museum of International Propaganda, newly opened in San Rafael, offers an important reminder of a deadly instrument that helped foster great tragedies across the globe during the 20th century. But the museum is more than a collection of artifacts that illustrate the past; it also offers a wakeup call to Americans witnessing the use of propaganda in the United States. Hopefully, by offering insight into the power of propaganda, the new venue will equip visitors with weapons of awareness to counter the current barrage of disinformation.
First, what is propaganda? The museum defines it as “the calculated manipulation of information designed to shape public opinion and behavior to predetermined ends, as desired by the propagandist.” Often it includes false statements or even accurate information that is purposely distorted to negate its meaning. In fact, there are seven components of propaganda that the museum identifies: idealization of the leader; the threat of fear and intimidation; glorification of the nation; overstated promotion of the common people; vilification; veneration of the military; and, post-1989, ridicule, criticism and commercialization of past political systems, leaders and ideas that subjugated people.
Posters from Russia, China and other communist countries offer clear examples of these components. A poster of Stalin in full uniform holding aloft a baby waving a red flag with a hammer and sickle demonstrates the first principle. In other posters, Chinese children appear with Chairman Mao and North Korean youngsters surround Kim il-Jung and Kim il-Sung. Other principals are illustrated by the impressive Marxist collection and the somewhat fewer Nazi posters, which are worthwhile to see all together.
The American propaganda might be more surprising, and most viewers will feel it served important causes. For instance, a 1942 poster called “This is the Enemy” features of a caricature of a Nazi officer with a swastika embellishing his hat; an oversized monocle on his eye reflects the image of a hanged man. Below the poster, the museum explains in a note that “At the start of the U.S. involvement in WWII, the Roosevelt Administration felt the need to counter powerful antiwar messages of media personalities such as William Randolph Hearst, and Father Coughlin… [The] portrayal of a sinister Nazi officer echoes Roosevelt’s characterization of the Axis powers as gangsters, bandits and criminals.”
In another poster, from 1914, Kaiser Wilhelm II is depicted as a mad gorilla carrying “Europa,” a helpless woman in a gown. The messages on the poster are “Destroy the Mad Beast” and “Enlist in the U.S. Army.” It is unlikely that visitors will find the messages in these posters objectionable; nonetheless, the posters are propaganda. Far more questionable is a nongovernmental 1879 poster, “The Chinese Must Go,” produced by a movement pressing to prohibit Chinese immigration.
What relevance do these examples of visual propaganda have in the 21st century? For the most part, posters are less significant in today’s world. The Internet has become the source of virtually instantaneous communication with millions, even billions, of people. Coupled with both cable news and iPhones found among people who live in the poorest neighborhoods of the most deprived countries, the extent to which propaganda can be circulated is nearly infinite.
Here in the United States, we are witnessing the triumph of propaganda. Donald Trump has emerged as the likely Republican nominee with a good chance of becoming the next president. The principal skill he has exhibited in his campaign is not an ability to understand and analyze issues or to organize and manage government programs; rather, he has attracted a mass following due to propaganda skills he honed during his last 14 years on television. Although many who oppose him have objected to the strategies he employs to spread his opinion, propaganda as a term is seldom evoked to describe his efforts.
In a sense, nearly all people running political campaigns use propaganda to enhance their message. Bernie Sanders has been accused of substituting appealing slogans for a critical analysis of issues. And if Hillary Clinton has been more measured in what she says, it does not seem to have worked to her advantage.
What can be done? The Museum of International Propaganda is planning to hold free speech forums on Thursday evenings that will include lectures, debates and discussions about propaganda. In the fall it hopes to open a Free Speech Café, where museum visitors will be encouraged to discuss these issues throughout the week. The museum, located at 1000 Fifth Avenue in San Rafael, is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For information, visit propagandamuseum.net.
Herb Kutchins is a professor emeritus at California State University, Sacramento. During his teaching career, he attempted to observe the fine line between propaganda and unbiased information, not always successfully.