“Why We Fight” (1942-45) is a series of U.S. propaganda films made during World War II by Hollywood film director Frank Capra and the United States Department of War. The original target audience of these films was American soldiers, with the goal being to make them support the US’s involvement in the war.
Capra is known for Hollywood classics such as “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) and “It Happened One Night” (1934), which are very straightforward classic-Hollywood stories.
To go along with that classic Hollywood narrative of creating a bad guy and a good guy or painting situations black and white, they used Walt Disney animation for the animated segments.
In the series of films, they compiled newsreel footage, narration, animation and footage from both the enemy and the US Army. These propaganda films are an example of the U.S. imploring agitprop to convince soldiers and the American public that it’s the necessary decision to enter WWII.
Agitprop
Agitprop is misleading people into believing something that will cause targets to take a particular action, as well as the art, music and theater that is circulated to build support for a cause or politician.”
In the introduction clip from the first “Why We Fight” film titled “Prelude to War” (1942), we see the narrative being built up that this war is all about defending the free world, which is propped up as the United States.
The careful and very strategic mixing of factual information within the presentation of emotional content is designed to confuse and muddle the analysis of the media by the public.
In these films, they wanted viewers to feel that if we don’t fight, then the enemy would attack our values.
“Why We Fight“ is in response to the Nazi propaganda film called “Triumph of the Will” (1935), which aimed to use agitprop to paint their regime and movement as powerful and grand.
The film features shots of large crowds listening to Hitler and Nazi dictators, while soldiers also marched. These shots and crowd movements have been used for inspiration in fictional films about Fascist regimes, such as the Stormtroopers in “Star Wars.”
The United States wanted to combat this imagery with its own images of freedom. The government and Capra used clips of the war and bombings to show the destruction from the Nazis.
Walt Disney Animation
As for the animation in the films, it was used to get across the simple message that the Axis Powers were attempting to brainwash and overtake the whole world. There are shots of radio towers sending radio waves across the globe.
Another animation shows a visual of a free Earth versus an enslaved one. The United States crafts this message without addressing the fact that it is not a free and great place for everyone.
Women still have limited rights, with women of color having even fewer rights. In general, people of color are still fighting for fair treatment and basic human rights. In United States history, the citizens are not that far off from slavery.
Part of the inclusion of Capra in this series of films is that he represented the ideal American with his background and story.
Capra was born in Italy and immigrated to the United States, Los Angeles specifically. After finding his success, he was the “American Dream personified” and a great rags-to-riches story.
In the director’s background, he was also in the US Army, which was part of the reason he was chosen for this task.
For the United States government, this was a person who could represent the “free” world. This neat picture of the director doesn’t take into account that he would’ve had fewer barriers as a white immigrant.
Hollywood & U.S. Military Relationship
In my opinion, the “Why We Fight” series of films is a clear strengthening of U.S. military propaganda in Hollywood films.
I think one of the most blatant recent examples of this is in Tom Cruise films such as “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning” (2025) and “Top Gun Maverick” (2022).
In these films, we see Cruise and the United States government as the heroes against an ambiguous foreign government or entity. They keep the antagonist vague enough not to agitate any countries, while still painting this same narrative of the United States (free world/good guys) versus the other nation (enslaved world/bad guys).
In the present, the action to be taken by the American public is less about joining a war and more about preparing them to be willing to follow the righteous fight if the country ever engages in war.
Agitprop films like this aim to motivate people, through art, to support, without question, the US government and politicians in charge. They never take into account the other issues facing the US or their own evil actions.
The narrative created is instead two-faced and does not acknowledge the failures of the United States in being a free world that represents its whole population.