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#Post#: 31495--------------------------------------------------
Re: Western Revisionism of WWI and WWII
By: christianbethel Date: November 29, 2025, 1:41 pm
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American historians readily accuse National Socialist Germany
for 'brainwashing' their citizens with propaganda, yet they
ignore the fact they had this:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Office_of_War_Information
[quote]The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a
United States government agency created during World War II. The
OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio
broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other
forms of media, the OWI was the connection between the
battlefront and civilian communities. The office also
established several overseas branches, which launched a
large-scale information and propaganda campaign abroad. From
1942 to 1945, the OWI reviewed film scripts, flagging material
which portrayed the United States in a negative light, including
anti-war sentiment.[/quote]
You will remember America entered ground combat against Germany
in 1942 with Operation Torch:
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Torch
[quote]Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allied
invasion of French North Africa during World War II. Torch was a
compromise operation that met the British objective of securing
victory in North Africa while allowing American armed forces the
opportunity to begin their fight against Nazi Germany and
Fascist Italy on a limited scale.[/quote]
About the OWI:
[quote]
At the onset of World War II, the American public was in the
dark regarding wartime information. One American observer noted:
"It all seemed to boil down to three bitter complaints...first,
that there was too much information; second, that there wasn't
enough of it; and third, that in any event it was confusing and
inconsistent". Further, the American public confessed a lack of
understanding as to why the world was at war, and held great
resentment against other Allied Nations. President Roosevelt
established the OWI to both meet the demands for news and less
confusion, as well as resolve American apathy towards the war.
The OWI's creation was not without controversy. The American
public, and the United States Congress in particular, were wary
of propaganda for several reasons. First, the press feared a
centralized agency as the sole distributor of wartime
information. Second, Congress feared an American propaganda
machine that could resemble Joseph Goebbels' operation in Nazi
Germany (facepalm). Third, previous attempts at propaganda under
the Committee on Public Information/Creel Committee during WWI
were viewed as a failure. And fourth, the American public
favored an isolationist or non-interventionist policy and were
therefore hesitant to support a pro-war propaganda campaign
targeting Americans.
But in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the need for
coordinated and properly disseminated wartime information from
the military/administration to the public outweighed the fears
associated with American propaganda. President Roosevelt
entrusted the OWI to journalist and CBS newsman Elmer Davis,
with the mission to take "an active part in winning the war and
in laying the foundations for a better postwar world".[/quote]
About Davis:
[quote]In 1928 he [Davis] published the novel Giant Killer, a
retelling of the Biblical story of David.
...
As Director of the Office of War Information, Davis recommended
to Roosevelt that Japanese-Americans be permitted to enlist for
service in the Army and Navy and urged him to oppose bills in
Congress that would deprive Nisei of citizenship and intern them
during the war. He argued that Japanese propaganda proclaiming
it a racial war could be combated by deeds that counteracted
this. Davis has been termed one of the "unsung forefathers" of
the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, an all-Nisei combat unit in
the war.
...
Davis was also instrumental in loosening censorship rules that
forbade the publication of images of dead GIs on the
battlefield. Until late 1943, the U.S. Office of Censorship
permitted the media to publish only images of blanket-covered
bodies and flag-draped coffins of dead U.S. soldiers, partly for
fear that Americans would be demoralized if they had any graphic
understanding of the human price being paid in the war. The
government also restricted what reporters could write, and
coverage was generally upbeat and bloodless.
[/quote]
Wow, they even had a literal Office of Censorship (more on that
later):
[quote]The Office of Censorship was an emergency wartime agency
set up by the United States federal government on December 19,
1941, to aid in the censorship of all communications coming into
and going out of the United States, including its territories
and the Philippines. The efforts of the Office of Censorship to
balance the protection of sensitive war related information with
the constitutional freedoms of the press is considered largely
successful.
[/quote]
Moving on:
[quote]In conjunction with the War Relocation Authority, the OWI
produced a series of documentary films related to the internment
of Japanese Americans. Japanese Relocation and several other
films were designed by Milton S. Eisenhower to educate the
general public on the internment, to counter the tide of
anti-Japanese sentiment in the country, and to encourage
Japanese-American internees to resettle outside camp or to enter
military service. The OWI also worked with camp newspapers to
disseminate information to internees.[/quote]
What a slap in the internees' faces. They probably sanitized the
footage to make it look like the inmates were living well.
Davis has some words about his methods for propaganda:
[quote]The OWI Bureau of Motion Pictures (BMP) headed by Lowell
Mellet worked with the Hollywood movie studios to produce films
that advanced American war aims. According to Elmer Davis, "The
easiest way to inject a propaganda idea into most people's minds
is to let it go through the medium of an entertainment picture
when they do not realize that they are being propagandized."
Successful films depicted the Allied armed forces as valiant
"Freedom fighters", and advocated for civilian participation,
such as conserving fuel or donating food to troops.[/quote]
The Americans even had their own Gleiwitz Incident:
[quote]One of the most astounding of all OWI operations occurred
in Luxembourg. Known as Operation Annie, the United States 12th
Army Group ran a secret radio station from 2:00–6:30 am every
morning from a house in Luxembourg pretending to be loyal
Rhinelanders under Nazi occupation. They spoke of Nazi
commanders hiding their desperate position from the German
public, which caused dissent among Nazi supporters. Further,
they led Nazi forces into an Allied trap, and then staged an
Allied attack on the Annie Radio office to maintain their
cover.[/quote]
Of course, the OWI was not without controversy:
[quote]From 1942 to 1945, the OWI's Bureau of Motion Pictures
reviewed 1,652 film scripts and revised or discarded any that
portrayed the United States in a negative light, including
material that made Americans seem "oblivious to the war or
anti-war."
...
Some of the writers, producers, and actors of OWI programs
admired the Soviet Union and were either loosely affiliated with
or were members of the Communist Party USA.
[/quote]
All in all, it is reminiscent of the great lengthss taken by
Herr Minister Goebbels to disseminate propaganda, though this
propaganda (like all Western propaganda) is false.
#Post#: 31622--------------------------------------------------
Re: Western Revisionism of WWI and WWII
By: christianbethel Date: December 10, 2025, 8:31 pm
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The title of this thread says 'Western Revisionism of WWI and
WWII', but I will be posting articles that cover events outside
of the conflict to illustrate the Western double standard when
it comes to historiography. That being said, is there a thread
where I can post about, say, the numerous colonial genocides?
Edit: Nevermind, I found it!
#Post#: 31924--------------------------------------------------
Re: Western Revisionism of WWI and WWII
By: christianbethel Date: January 10, 2026, 4:44 pm
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New blog post:
HTML https://unitythroughnobility.blogspot.com/2026/01/double-standards-in-wwii-historiography.html
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