What was the difference between public's perception and real front lines '39-'45?

Out of the Foxholes Questions
1

Maybe it is to early to ask this kind of question yet in 1941 plus this part of propaganda is probably enough content for a whole special episode. Just in case I’m not the only one wondering:

Which news created an exaggerated change in the general public expectation (that was untrue or not yet fullfilled) and which major changes where reported lately or never at all? In short: How did the front lines differ between propaganda and reality for the major war parties’ public on Axis, Allied and Soviets side?

€ (quick edit): I see my question was already partly asked & answered more generally for Germany here.

side note here: I followed Indy’s weekly episodes 'bout Unternehmen Weserübung’s episodes on the assault on Norway and compared to German propaganda show (Deutsche Wochenschau 1940 Der Kampf um Norwegen). Of course, written newspaper articles are missing in the picture and the movie was released month after the invasion. I bet detailed reporting changed with things turning on the eastern front at least, didn’t it?

3 Likes
2

For Romania, 1941 was a major turning point and a major propaganda victory. The main objective was to recapture Basarabia (Bessarabia / Moldova) which was lost in 1940. Once this was done the newspapers were full of stories about the daring of the Romanian Army, followed by the battle of Odessa, Sevastopol & Rostov.

Plus now the territory of Transdnistria was into Romanian administration.

However, Odessa was an absolute disaster for the Romanian troops but this was covered up rather efficiently. Censorship in the Romanian state was rather strong but a lot of news filtered down from the front and the censors were not really making significant efforts to stop it. It was a bit of a smoke show.

On the other hand, by 1943, the Romanian public knew very well the writing on the wall. By the time King Michael took the fateful decision on the 23rd of August 1944, the Romanian public kind of expected it to happen for a while now, at least some sort of disengaging from the war.

4 Likes