The Cold War was between the United States and the Soviet Union, it occurred from 1947 till 1991. The war was a non-combative situation where the two powers fought for nuclear dominance almost resulting in a nuclear catastrophe. (Cold War History). “The “space race” was a Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop aerospace capabilities, including artificial satellites, unmanned space probes, and human spaceflight” (The Start of the Space Race). The United States created propaganda in attempt to show their superiority over the Soviets. Propaganda is defined as, “a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position by presenting only one side of an argument. Propaganda is usually repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the chosen result in audience attitudes” (Propaganda Texts, 1). There were many forms of propaganda, however cartoon propaganda and radio were very popular. There are three different classes of propaganda white, black, and gray. White propaganda is one with an easily identifiable source, uses nicer persuasion, and presents a single side to the argument. Black is propaganda that is seemingly from a certain source but it is actually from a different one. This type is used to hide the message and origin from the enemy. Gray propaganda has no identified origin. Gray propaganda works to mislead the enemy into believing a certain piece of information. For example, fact two will be sent out and then quickly “debunked” causing the enemy to believe fact one is true (Propaganda Texts, 5).
The following is a summary of major events in the Space Race. The Space Race began with the United States trying to catch up to the Soviets and ended with the US achieving the victory. The Soviets launched the first artificial satellite called Sputnik I in October 1957. This event kickstarted the Space Race. The United States was already given the opportunity to showcase their power during World War II; the Soviets wanted to prove their strength. Once Sputnik I was launched the United States president Eisenhower grew weary of the Soviet’s development and questioned if it had surpasses the United States. However, Sputnik I orbited and transmitted for only twenty-one days before burning; a month later Sputnik II was launched with Layla, a dog, inside. In May 1959 Sputnik III, weighing three thousand pounds was launched. “Continuing their run of successful launches, the Soviets in 1959 sent a space probe, Lunik III, to photograph the dark side of the moon”(The Start of the Space Race)(Wright, 1). The same year Sputnik III was launched, 1958, the US created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA. This was a government or federal agency that specialized in aerospace research. NASA’s main aim was to beat the Soviet Union in launching a manned vehicle into space. The Soviets however, won this battle when Yuri Gagarin was successfully launched inside the Vostok I. The US quickly bounced back and Alan Shepard was launched into space and in 1962 John Glenn orbited the earth. Afterwards, John F. Kennedy promised a man on the moon before the decade ended through the Apollo Program. On July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong walked on the moon after landing in Apollo 11. This solidified the US’s power and in turn caused them to “win” the Space Race (Wright, 1)
It was vital for the US to have its citizens understand the quickly developing space program. With understanding comes acceptance of the change and progress. The public understanding the need for space exploration was necessary to gain the correct response. The goal was to further the excitement about the US’s progress while simultaneously painting a negative landscape of the Soviet Union. By describing the Soviets as negative communists it was more likely people would want to win the conflict. With this in mind the United States government backed the propaganda efforts. The government aligned itself to support the propaganda as it helped to show the citizens “who the enemy was”. With the government’s backing the propaganda was able to produce the given effect. The citizens were able to get perspective of the conflict as a whole and given the opportunity to form an opinion, no matter how biased. The public was able to support the efforts with more certainty than before. When handed the information and presented the opportunity to understand it the citizens were less likely to disagree with any government decisions. The government allowed media propaganda to grow a following. Images supporting the U.S.’s side were printed in every available media source. They used eye-catching colorful images to ensure the messages would be noticed and absorbed. Media was able to reaffirm and defend the government’s national, political, and economic allegiances (Stafford). The media was able to reach a large range of people and connect to the audience easier then still images. People were more likely to be persuaded by a voice or moving picture.
Cartoon propaganda was usually drawn or animated. It could be sent out in flyers or newspapers. The United States created images with strong negative wording towards the Soviets. The cartoons were made to inspire emotions such as fear or enthusiasm. Some cartoons were more eye catching than others. In both of the examples below the US victoriously presented their aim of showing the Soviet Union as a failure or evil. In this cartoon image the United States depicts their victory over the Soviets.
(Paola Casoli, Space Race Propaganda: USA vs URSS. A Matter of Posters)
In this cartoon poster the United States successfully beat the Soviets to the moon. The poster shows three space marines standing in “war-like” poses. One astronaut is holding the US flag, two hold guns, and the middle man is crushing the Soviet Union’s flag under his boot. The Earth is visible in the background with focus on North America. The words on the poster state “Clean the communist filth off the moon – join the U.S. space marines today”. This poster causes the receiver, in this case American citizens, to view the US as a strong world leader and to see the Soviet Union as a threat to their anti-communist opinions.
The next cartoon picture shows what would result from the previous image.
(Paola Casoli, Space Race Propaganda: USA vs URSS. A Matter of Posters)
This poster shows six people saluting the US flag as in waves in the background. Of the six figures there is a founding father, identified from his clothing and hairstyle, as well as an astronaut, children of different race, and a soldier. These people represents America’s past, present, and future. It is clear that the figures see the future as bright due to their gazes upward. It shows hopefulness and trust in the NASA programme and their certain victory. This poster is more friendly and warm then the previous: the reasoning being it is staged in the era after victory from the communists was achieved.
Radio propaganda was able to be sent further and reach more people. The United States main propaganda radio network was the “Voice of America”. During the Space Race period there was a radio show called ‘Space Show’ in which educational information about space was shared. This increased curiosity of space so people wanted to explore it. White, gray, and black propaganda were used occasionally on the ‘Voice of America’. Mainly white propaganda “clean” propaganda with clear cut sources was used and less important channels used gray techniques.(Propaganda Texts, 20)
Due to the fact that propaganda was able to spread information about the details of the Space Race the US was able to receive widespread support throughout the country. The United States felt the need to win as the Soviet Union wanted to prove and showcase their power. Without the help of propaganda it would have been hard to win the public’s support for the space program. The United States use of propaganda during the space Race of 1957-1975 was a very important factor in coming out victorious. The cartoon propaganda was able to show the US as a strong power and demene and villainize the Soviet Union. This allowed the American citizens to support the race enabling this outcome.