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Mobilizing Women for War: German and American Propaganda, 1939-1945
To discover how war can affect the status of women in industrial countries, Leila Rupp examines mobilization propaganda directed at women in Nazi Germany and the United States. Her book explores the relationship between ideology and policy, challenging the idea that wars improve the status of women by bringing them into new areas of activity.
Using fresh sources for both Germany and the United States, Professor Rupp considers the images of women before and during the war, the role of propaganda in securing their support, and the ideal of feminine behavior in each country. Her analysis shows that propaganda was more intensive in the United States than in Germany, and that it figured in the success of American mobilization and the failure of the German campaign to enlist women's participation. The most important function of propaganda, however, consisted in adapting popular conceptions to economic need. The author finds that public images of women can adjust to wartime priorities without threatening traditional assumptions about social roles. The mode of adaptation, she suggests, helps to explain the lack of change in women's status in postwar society. Far-reaching in its implications for feminist studies, this book offers a new and fruitful approach to the social, economic, and political history of Germany and the United States.
Originally published in 1978.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Using fresh sources for both Germany and the United States, Professor Rupp considers the images of women before and during the war, the role of propaganda in securing their support, and the ideal of feminine behavior in each country. Her analysis shows that propaganda was more intensive in the United States than in Germany, and that it figured in the success of American mobilization and the failure of the German campaign to enlist women's participation. The most important function of propaganda, however, consisted in adapting popular conceptions to economic need. The author finds that public images of women can adjust to wartime priorities without threatening traditional assumptions about social roles. The mode of adaptation, she suggests, helps to explain the lack of change in women's status in postwar society. Far-reaching in its implications for feminist studies, this book offers a new and fruitful approach to the social, economic, and political history of Germany and the United States.
Originally published in 1978.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
258 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
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April 14, 2024In Leila J. Rupp’s book Mobilizing Women for War, she compares the German and American methods of creating and distributing propaganda to encourage women to participate in the war effort. She acknowledges the complexity of comparing the German and American strategies and results, differentiating the motives behind the two countries’ propaganda. Rupp argues that while Germany promoted the need for sacrifice for one’s country, the much broader American propaganda machine encouraged women to work only for the duration of the war. Because another purpose of her research is to “shed light on the effects of war on the status of women in industrialized societies,” Rupp analyzes the motives and long-term goals of the enemies’ differing propaganda strategies to aid in explaining the populations’ response (3).
Though Rupp acknowledges the importance of “prescriptive history,” or the historical study of beliefs about women, she turns to a newer form of history which looks to the specific life experiences of women instead of general beliefs about women. To accomplish this goal, she relies heavily on primary sources such as newspaper articles, actual propaganda, and first hand accounts, while also using graphs, academic journal articles, and academic books.
Rupp argues that though the nature of the two countries’ propaganda addressing women was similar, the “scope of propaganda and the results of mobilization efforts were different in the two countries” (167). She does so by first separately examining both America and Germany’s ideas of women, differentiating between sex roles, which are “deeply rooted beliefs about male and female nature,” and public images, which can change more rapidly based on economic or social need (5). The public images of women changed quickly throughout the war in America and Germany, but Germany had been preparing for war for years — in contrast, American women were mostly unemployed in 1941 due to the lingering effects of the Great Depression. Rupp explains that this forced a quick change in the perception of women’s duties, an expansion of the duties of a wife and mother to also contain their duties to support their men overseas by joining the workforce. In contrast, German women had been trained to embrace the slogan “Gemeinnutz vor Eigennutz,” or the common good before the individual good, for years.
Though Nazi confusion and Hitler’s reluctance to allow women to join “the world of men” lessened the potential impact of women in the workforce, Rupp argues that Germany’s emphasis on childbearing and duty to the Fatherland could have lent itself well to propaganda. However, the Third Reich did not create and distribute propaganda proclaiming the need for women in the workforce nearly as widely as the United States did. As she shows, this resulted in Germany’s female labor force increasing by “only 1 percent from 1939 to 1945” while America’s increased by 32 percent over the same period (75). Rupp concludes that, if looking only at the effect of propaganda on mobilization, Germany failed where the United States succeeded.
The point of Mobilizing Women for War is to compare the German and American methods of creating and distributing propaganda and to record its effects. However, Rupp’s thesis extends beyond that; she studies the pre-war public image of women and the war’s effects on women in the workforce. Rupp argues that both countries focused on creating in women a determination to help their country win — but more than that, a determination to do everything they could to “bring [their men] home sooner” (138). Both countries could view this as an extension of a woman’s duties as a wife and mother. Germany did not focus on women’s duties after the war, but it was clear to American women that their new position in the workforce was temporary, and would end at the war’s conclusion.
Rupp’s thesis is compelling and her writing is never dry — though those not interested in her topic might disagree — but the book is too short to fully examine the creation, distribution, and effects of propaganda on women in the workforce in World War II. So as a result, her thesis is simple and extremely defendable. Yet she demonstrated it well, providing numerous pieces of historical evidence to back up her points. This book is well-suited to a student or scholar studying the topic, especially because of the excellent and extremely long bibliography. Since Rupp’s subject has not received much attention, particularly scholarly attention, Mobilizing Women for War makes an excellent starting point, especially when studying Germany and America’s different approaches to propaganda and mobilizing women in the workforce for war.
Though Rupp acknowledges the importance of “prescriptive history,” or the historical study of beliefs about women, she turns to a newer form of history which looks to the specific life experiences of women instead of general beliefs about women. To accomplish this goal, she relies heavily on primary sources such as newspaper articles, actual propaganda, and first hand accounts, while also using graphs, academic journal articles, and academic books.
Rupp argues that though the nature of the two countries’ propaganda addressing women was similar, the “scope of propaganda and the results of mobilization efforts were different in the two countries” (167). She does so by first separately examining both America and Germany’s ideas of women, differentiating between sex roles, which are “deeply rooted beliefs about male and female nature,” and public images, which can change more rapidly based on economic or social need (5). The public images of women changed quickly throughout the war in America and Germany, but Germany had been preparing for war for years — in contrast, American women were mostly unemployed in 1941 due to the lingering effects of the Great Depression. Rupp explains that this forced a quick change in the perception of women’s duties, an expansion of the duties of a wife and mother to also contain their duties to support their men overseas by joining the workforce. In contrast, German women had been trained to embrace the slogan “Gemeinnutz vor Eigennutz,” or the common good before the individual good, for years.
Though Nazi confusion and Hitler’s reluctance to allow women to join “the world of men” lessened the potential impact of women in the workforce, Rupp argues that Germany’s emphasis on childbearing and duty to the Fatherland could have lent itself well to propaganda. However, the Third Reich did not create and distribute propaganda proclaiming the need for women in the workforce nearly as widely as the United States did. As she shows, this resulted in Germany’s female labor force increasing by “only 1 percent from 1939 to 1945” while America’s increased by 32 percent over the same period (75). Rupp concludes that, if looking only at the effect of propaganda on mobilization, Germany failed where the United States succeeded.
The point of Mobilizing Women for War is to compare the German and American methods of creating and distributing propaganda and to record its effects. However, Rupp’s thesis extends beyond that; she studies the pre-war public image of women and the war’s effects on women in the workforce. Rupp argues that both countries focused on creating in women a determination to help their country win — but more than that, a determination to do everything they could to “bring [their men] home sooner” (138). Both countries could view this as an extension of a woman’s duties as a wife and mother. Germany did not focus on women’s duties after the war, but it was clear to American women that their new position in the workforce was temporary, and would end at the war’s conclusion.
Rupp’s thesis is compelling and her writing is never dry — though those not interested in her topic might disagree — but the book is too short to fully examine the creation, distribution, and effects of propaganda on women in the workforce in World War II. So as a result, her thesis is simple and extremely defendable. Yet she demonstrated it well, providing numerous pieces of historical evidence to back up her points. This book is well-suited to a student or scholar studying the topic, especially because of the excellent and extremely long bibliography. Since Rupp’s subject has not received much attention, particularly scholarly attention, Mobilizing Women for War makes an excellent starting point, especially when studying Germany and America’s different approaches to propaganda and mobilizing women in the workforce for war.
August 13, 2016
A comparative study. Discusses the pre-war image of women, in both Nazi ideology and American imagery (noting that American imagery would be, in fact, more comparable to German imagery than Nazi imagery in particular). Both center about maternity and the home, although the Nazi image was more public oriented. The Nazis conceded that some forms of work were womanly -- such as teaching girls or health care for women, or agricultural labor on the family farm -- and the healthy young athletic woman were to sacrifice for their Volk.
Then war hit.
Both countries tried to mobilize women as war workers. Only the American effort succeeded. Goes into detail about the efforts on both sides to propagandize it -- both aiming it at women who had not worked and appealing to motives to help the individual soldiers they were related to -- considerably more extensive on the American side -- and some of the other issues. Like, say, the Nazis calling for sacrifice from the moment they ascended to power, and the Americans having it as a novelty for wartime. And how American soldiers' wives got small allowances, which were not cut if they worked, whereas the German ones were more generous but cut if they worked.
Interesting study of effects.
Then war hit.
Both countries tried to mobilize women as war workers. Only the American effort succeeded. Goes into detail about the efforts on both sides to propagandize it -- both aiming it at women who had not worked and appealing to motives to help the individual soldiers they were related to -- considerably more extensive on the American side -- and some of the other issues. Like, say, the Nazis calling for sacrifice from the moment they ascended to power, and the Americans having it as a novelty for wartime. And how American soldiers' wives got small allowances, which were not cut if they worked, whereas the German ones were more generous but cut if they worked.
Interesting study of effects.
February 24, 2019
Very informative read if you are interested in WW2 history.
February 1, 2008
Okay, this book is really dry reading but the at the same time it's got a lot of really interesting information.
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