Today’s post builds off my last post about British propaganda overseas. During WWII, popular children's writer Dr. Seuss used his propensity for rhyme and whimsical illustrations to voice his opinions about various aspects of American involvement in the overall war effort. A small selection of these cartoons were commentaries on America's foreign policy and war aid to the Allies prior to full American involvement. Thanks to the University of San Diego, a digital collection of all Seuss' political cartoons are now available to the public but for the sake of this blog post, I will only be examining the foreign policy cartoons.
We begin with the image below:
This particular image was published May 4th, 1941, less than a year before full U.S. involvement with WWII. The obvious argument at this point of history was that whatever America contributed was not arriving in due time. The satirical question of using turtles instead of snails indicates Seuss' overt dissatisfaction policies made to speed up war aid but only in small increments. Images such as these from within America in conjunction with the success of the British Pavilion in New York indicate a strong sympathy for Britain and the Allies, even during an era of strong isolationist policies in America.
His subsequent foreign policy cartoons reiterate this message:
May 9, 1941
June 19, 1941
September 10, 1941
Clearly, Seuss disagrees with the lend lease agreement.
I have yet to find any information as to whether or not these images were posted in any British papers but overall, as I argued above, the place these images made the most impact was with the American people. Britain needed a strong alliance with America to fund the war effort. The interwar period was not kind to Britain, nor to Europe financially. By having such a well known and vocal sympathizer on American soil meant that specifically British propaganda did not need to be placed on the American shore. Though my last post did show the Minister of Information did ensure the British Pavilion played war reels indicating the good done by British troops alongside pro-British posters, pro-Britain propaganda from an American source was infinitely more influential.
By the time America did get involved with the war, Seuss seemed to believe they were too far behind to be much help.
February 23, 1942
His focus at this point was off Britain and the Allied powers in Europe and onto all the other nations that were tied up in the war and needed a "rescue" as it were. By getting involved so late in the war, America has obvious catching up to do in the rising tide of a world war. But what does this all mean for Britain?
Seuss clearly believes that American involvement from this point on will be split between many nations and will not be solely focused on Britain and the European Allies. Fear of the “reds” or any country that could fall to a communist or fascist regime became the number one priority to the American government post Pearl Harbour. This divided attention means Britain did not get American involvement to the extent they wanted, but the sympathies fostered by cartoons such as Seuss’ meant that in Britain was never far from America’s mind in the years prior to American full involvement.
Sources:
*Sources are different than previously cited images due to website request for specific formatting style*
How're we doing?, May 9, 1941, Dr. Seuss Political Cartoons. Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library
Hurry up with that ark, February 23, 1942, Dr. Seuss Political Cartoons. Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library
It's truly encouraging how much of this stuff drifts into British ports, September 10, 1941, Dr. Seuss Political Cartoons. Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library
Sometimes I wonder -- would we speed things up if we used turtles instead of snails?, May 4, 1941, Dr. Seuss Political Cartoons. Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library
Why do I deliver this stuff by fish-back when I own so many good boats?, June 19, 1941, Dr. Seuss Political Cartoons. Special Collection & Archives, UC San Diego Library
This is fantastic stuff! I'll be tapping into the Seuss collections for other courses on modern Britain and Europe. As a child, and as an adult, I had no idea that Seuss - the inventor of "Green Eggs and Ham" - was also engaged so completely, and passionately, in commentary on the war effort. Thanks for this post.
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