Government Pamphlets on the War

Abstract

In a democracy, understanding is an essential ingredient of intelligent action. We the people cannot be expected to play our proper rôle in the drama unfolding before us today if we are not kept informed about the why and the how of the war. We ought to know our enemies, and their mad dream of world conquest. We ought to know our Allies and the sacrifices they are making to win a war which we could never have won without their help. We ought to know what we as individuals can do to bring our enemies to their knees more quickly. And finally, we ought to know something about the things we are fighting for. In the words of Mr. Elmer Davis, director of the Office of War Information, “This is a people's war, and to win it the people should know as much about it as they can.”To help “facilitate the development of an informed and intelligent understanding … of the status and progress of the war effort”—according to the executive order creating the OWI—the federal government has utilized five main media: motion pictures, the press, radio, graphics, and face-to-face discussion. While reaching a more limited audience, government pamphlets have served as an invaluable sixth medium. A review of a select list of the pamphlets about the war on the world front may be of particular interest to political scientists for two reasons: (1) the publication and distribution of such pamphlets is one important phase of the wartime activities of our government; and (2) they are an excellent source of information for teachers and other community leaders upon whose shoulders has fallen much of the responsibility for keeping our people informed about the war.