The Arm Behind the Army
Encyclopedia
The Arm Behind the Army is a propaganda film
produced by the US Army Signal Corps in 1942 to encourage the home front to participate in war production.
The film begins with a short outline of American military history, noting that each war has advanced military technology a little further, from the muskets of 1776, to the tanks and airplanes of the First World War. The various arms of the US Army are introduced: infantry, artillery, air corps, signal corps. These are Uncle Sam
's fist, the narrator notes, and behind it is American labor "Uncle Sam's muscle" the arm behind the army.
The narrator notes "Behind the desks, behind the drawing board, behind the benches, on the assembly lines, American industry is making the greatest production effort in history to supply our armed forces with the weapons of war."
The film briefly explains how dissention among Austria
n and Czech
management and labor led to the ruin of both, and how French factories were left idle while France
fell. It noted the terrible working conditions in Axis-occupied territory, the coerced labor, the ending of old-age benefits, unions and "all the advances that labor every made." The film ends with a picture of a soldier and a picture of an industrial worker superimposed on a battle field, noting that wherever the soldier is, the worker is there too.
Propaganda film
The term propaganda can be defined as the ability to produce and spread fertile messages that, once sown, will germinate in large human cultures.” However, in the 20th century, a “new” propaganda emerged, which revolved around political organizations and their need to communicate messages that...
produced by the US Army Signal Corps in 1942 to encourage the home front to participate in war production.
The film begins with a short outline of American military history, noting that each war has advanced military technology a little further, from the muskets of 1776, to the tanks and airplanes of the First World War. The various arms of the US Army are introduced: infantry, artillery, air corps, signal corps. These are Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a common national personification of the American government originally used during the War of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly man with white hair and a goatee beard...
's fist, the narrator notes, and behind it is American labor "Uncle Sam's muscle" the arm behind the army.
The narrator notes "Behind the desks, behind the drawing board, behind the benches, on the assembly lines, American industry is making the greatest production effort in history to supply our armed forces with the weapons of war."
The film briefly explains how dissention among Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n and Czech
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
management and labor led to the ruin of both, and how French factories were left idle while France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
fell. It noted the terrible working conditions in Axis-occupied territory, the coerced labor, the ending of old-age benefits, unions and "all the advances that labor every made." The film ends with a picture of a soldier and a picture of an industrial worker superimposed on a battle field, noting that wherever the soldier is, the worker is there too.
See also
- List of American films of 1942
- List of Allied Propaganda Films of World War 2
- United States home front during World War IIUnited States home front during World War IIThis page, United States home front during World War II, covers the developments within the United States, 1940–1945, to support its efforts during World War II.-Economics:...