The Art of Propaganda, Part One

The year was 1941. Canada was sending troops by the thousands to fight in the Second World War. CBC Radio, spurred on by seeing the propaganda coming out of Nazi Germany, decided to create its own in order to rally Canadians and encourage support for the troops.

John Grierson, head of the National Film Board, was a visionary. His counter-propaganda aimed to undo the glory of the Reich as portrayed by German film makers like Leni Riefenstahl. Grierson used Nazi films and amended them to make the enemy look as ridiculous as possible. Grierson: "the Germans were having victories and we had to make the victories look like less." One of his most famous achievements, which was shown multipe times around the world, made it look like Hitler was jumping for joy when he learned France had fallen. In fact, Grierson, had manufactured the clip after noticing that Hitler raised his leg while stepping backwards. He looped it repeatedly so it looked like Hitler was doing a jig. 

"The biggest opportunity was when Hitler did his great jig of triumph at Compiègne. I've never been so amused in all my life! All we did was slow-motion it. It was a great moment."

                                                                 The head of CBC Radio, Gladstone Murray, felt the enemy had entered the war with a far better understanding of radio than our side. He planned a series of new programs to strengthen Canadian unity. Their purpose was to create links for Canadian families and soldiers overseas as well as being a bit of a laugh. One show was Carry On Canada, which every week persuaded Canadians to do their bit. It first aired in August 1941. 

Nazi Eyes on Canada imagined a dramatically changed Canada if the Nazis won the war. Each of the five segments focused on a real life Canadian family. Two of the actors featured on Rewind were stars from a popular American radio serial called The Aldrich Family. There were other big name actors in the other segments: Orson Welles, Vincent Price, Helen Hayes and Lorne Greene. 

Visit the Canadian War Museum website to view an online photo exhibition of Canadian Wartime Propaganda with posters that promoted recruitment, military production and donations.
 

Next time on Rewind, The Art of Propaganda Part Two features segments from CBC Radio's Comrades in Arms and War is Everyone's Concern as well as a discussion on radio as a particularly effective propaganda tool in the 1940s.