During World War II, anti-Nazi propaganda was used to help the United States during the war.\u00a0 Some specifically, to persuade Americans to conserve resources so they could be utilized in war.\u00a0 One propaganda poster states, \u201cWhen you ride ALONE you ride with Hitler!\u00a0 Join a Car-Sharing Club TODAY!\u201d\u00a0 It shows a picture of a man driving a car, and an outline of Hitler in the passenger seat.\u00a0 Weimer Pursell created it in 1943 to help conserve oil.<\/p>\n
Although here it seems the United States was extremely involved in the war, it did not start out that way.\u00a0 America was referred to as isolationists, as they did not want to get involved in international affairs, according to America: A Narrative History<\/em>[1]<\/a>\u00a0 In Germany, Italy, and Japan, there were fascist dictators, and President Roosevelt did not want to get involved.\u00a0 Fascism is a radical government that controls every aspect of the country.\u00a0 Roosevelt did agree to \u201coffer all possible assistance to Great Britain, France and China,\u201d American citizens were split between isolationists and interventionists, those who wanted to get involved in war and those who did not.\u00a0 Once Japan attacked the U.S Military base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the country was forced into another world war.\u00a0 An issue they were faced with was a shortage of supplies including gasoline.<\/p>\n At the same time as World War II, owning cars and driving became very mainstream.\u00a0 Sarah Frohardt-Lane, the author of Promoting a Culture of Driving: Rationing, Car Sharing, and Propaganda in World War II, <\/em>states \u201cAt first glance, propaganda that implored Americans to alter their driving habits during World War II appears to undercut the importance of driving to Americans\u2019 daily lives.\u201d[2]<\/a>\u00a0 During this time, many people found the ability to drive to be free and independent, so having this freedom taken away most likely angered many Americans.\u00a0 The reality of it was, the government just wanted people to change the way they drive in order to help the war effort, by rationing gasoline.\u00a0 This included a speed limit and car sharing.\u00a0 It did influence the driving culture at the time as it put a halt to the popularity of cars.\u00a0 Propaganda convinced Americans that if they did not ration gasoline, they were siding with Hitler.<\/p>\n As citizens began to change their way of living through car sharing, the saved gasoline is used for automobiles on the battlefield.\u00a0 The Jeep played a significant role during World War II.\u00a0 Lance Cole, author of The Jeep: Second World War<\/em>, stated, \u201cThe Jeep was the first true, mass-produced four-wheel-drive multi-purpose vehicle,\u201d[3]<\/a>\u00a0 Gasoline was not the only thing rationed, as The Food Rationing Program was also present.\u00a0 According to John Wright, the author of The Second World War and the Americas 1933-45,<\/em> \u201cThe Food Rationing Program was introduced in the spring of 1942\u2026 Coupons were needed to buy goods such as meat, cheese, butter, sugar, milk, coffee and canned goods,\u201d[4]<\/a>\u00a0 Rationing also led to the black market.\u00a0 This was how people would secretly purchase goods that they would not be able to through the program.<\/p>\n The \u201cRide with Hitler\u201d propaganda poster shows that during this period it was important for American citizens to work together to support the US military because otherwise they would be supporting Hitler.\u00a0 The man in the driver seat is a white male, wearing a suit and a hat, displaying the typical consumer of a car during this time.\u00a0 The words \u201calone\u201d and \u201ctoday\u201d are capitalized for emphasis, along with the use of exclamation points.\u00a0 The outline of Hitler also portrays how serious the government was about rationing, as they truly believe not joining a car sharing club is going against the country.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Shi, David Emory. America: a Narrative History<\/em>. W.W. Norton & Company, 2019, 1055 November 9, 2020<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Frohardt-Lane, Sarah. “Promoting a Culture of Driving: Rationing, Car Sharing, and Propaganda in World War II.”\u00a0Journal of American Studies<\/em>\u00a046, no. 2 (2012): 337-55. Accessed November 2, 2020. doi:10.2307\/23259140.<\/p>\n