War of Images: Visual Propaganda Efforts of German and British Governments in Turkey during the Second World War

Abstract

: The Second World War was not only “the war of bombs and bullets” but also of images and words. 1 Even though Turkey did not enter the war until February 1945, Allied and Axis forces tried to influence the Turkish government and society with propaganda and intelligence campaigns. They used radio, cinema, newsreels, propaganda magazines, posters, and pamphlets to persuade Turkish people. Cinema and magazines, in other terms, moving images and still images – photographs – constituted crucial tools of this propaganda. Trying to stay neutral in the war, the Turkish government fought with the “inappropriate” images through strict censorship. However, despite all the obstacles, both sides of the war found Turkish allies to cooperate in order to transmit their messages