ABSTRACT
American entry into and participation in both World War I and World War II exhibit a common pattern. In each war, British propaganda attempted to convince the US to abandon neutrality. Once war began, the United States embarked on large-scale propaganda activities of its own. After it became evident that World War I would not end quickly, the British government realized the benefits to be gained by the entry of the US into the war on their side. The increasingly tense European diplomatic situation in 1938, culminating in the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, and the British and French declarations of war on Germany on September 3, led the British government to attempt to repeat its World War I propaganda strategy. One theme in American propaganda responded to an especially difficult situation. The record of British and American propaganda during both world wars is a sorry one.
