Without the cooperation of the United States and the USSR, the Germans would have almost certainly conquered Europe and eventually the world. Luckily, these two nations brought their citizens together and fought back. Propaganda and drafts were utilized to gain support and forces to fight back. The U.S. government produced the advertisement below have the immediate purpose of bringing the people together from different countries to create one large force against evil.

U.S. propaganda provided by the government.

Source: Pinterest

The idea behind this poster is to have all Americans drop their hatred for the USSR. It is their duty to protect their country and to do so they must work together with other countries. Before the war had started, the United States had laws put in place to prevent them from getting involved in future conflicts. This policy was called isolationism, which many Americans were behind after the great depression had taken place. When Germany started to take over more and more of Europe, however, bits and pieces of these laws were repealed. Eventually, in December of 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, killing thousands of people. The entry into the war was inevitable at this point, and the USSR was already pressuring the United States into entering the battle beforehand. They already had a superpower as an ally. The United States immediately started having drafts and getting every civilian involved to aid in the effort. The main idea behind the poster is that if you are not a Nazi, then you are against them. That was the shared opinion of most of the world at the time.

The United States and USSR soldiers joining forces in an operation.

Source: History.com

The USSR could have also used this propaganda. When the Germans launched a surprise attack, that broke the peace agreements that they had before. Enraged, the USSR started to execute prisoners of war from Germany. The poster could argue that the Soviet citizens should side with the Americans even though they share different political views. If they want to avenge their people, then it is necessary to side with a lesser enemy to take down this universal evil. Even more so, there are countries like Britain in the picture, countries that also share different views than the Soviets. Infrastructure was immediately created to start forming a more massive army to aid them and to make weapons at a much faster rate than usual. Scorched Earth took place, which took millions of people changing their way of life to adjust for these plans. Engineers trained, people evacuated, and manufacturers moved their factories to the center of the country, all while the Nazis were actively invading.

Not to mention the combined efforts of the U.S. and the USSR together. Operation Frantic was one of many operations that involved the combined bombing of critical targets in Germany and Poland. The U.S. was allowed to use the air space in the USSR to plan their attacks. Imagine letting a sworn enemy into your household to do whatever they please. That takes an immense level of trust on the USSR’s part. The bonds of shared hatred for the killing and expansion of the Nazis had set aside the differences between the two superpowers.

The reason I am drawn to this propaganda is that it reaches more profound than just joining forces with other countries. It says that we are strong if we stick together. It might seem like two separate battles were being fought in Europe, with the U.S. attacking the western front and the USSR taking the eastern front, but this was all one coordinated attack. One attack from different sides to corner the Germans in their own country. I am intrigued that the lights coming out of every pipe is clearing up some of the dust in the air, with more light clearing more darkness. The symbolism of the artifact is there, and that could be a whole essay on its own. When it comes down to gathering people, propaganda is the way to go.