American and German Propaganda

After watching the start of both Triumph of the Will and Why We Fight back to back, I was struck by one key difference: Triumph of the Will was a clearly nationalist "documentary" about the government that created it, while Why We Fight was a subtly nationalist "documentary" that promoted its government by placing itself in opposition to the enemy. While the Nazi Party was trying to rile up support for a way by loudly declaring that Germany was in the right, the American government simply pointed out faults in its opposition. 

That's a key difference because, while the Americans were clearly implying that they knew the "real" way to affect change in the world, that "rightness" was supposedly demonstrated by the "wrongness" of other doctrines. This is an important part of American identity. From monarchy to communism, the US has debated and fought against forms of government that it saw unfit for the modern world. You'll hear the names of these systems of government casually thrown around on the political stage. The worst thing you can be called is a fascist, or a Nazi, or a communist. 

So Why We Fight was, as the title suggests, an explanation for the American people. While completely condescending and without acknowledging the damage the Allies did at Versailles, the movie did a pretty goof job of outlining what was wrong with recent developments. I don't think there are many people who would be comfortable saying that 1930's Japan was moving in a good direction. I think that's true for 1930's Germany and 1930's Italy as well. But who knows. Maybe we've all been raised on propaganda.