Use Of Propaganda In Alexander De Seversky's Victory Through Air Power

In 1942, Alexander De Seversky published Victory Through Air Power and instantly became a bestselling book. The successful book eventually caught Walt Disney Studios attention which lead them to creating a film based off the book. Before Disney had established the film, they investigated on the subject and realized it was regarding Aviation which made it an ideal topic that would help further the nations education on air power. Not only was the film meant to educate, it also incorporated propaganda that was determined to convince the nation and military that aviation could bring success during war time. Overall, Disney made a successful film that accomplished its purpose. Disney spread Seversky's view on the difference the war would be in if

Seversky's goal soon became Disney's goal as well which is why the film was built on propaganda. Propaganda is known to encourage a specific point of view, which is what Disney did when they created this film. Disney was supporting Seversky's perspectives on aviation which is why they decided to further the book into a movie. The other main points of propaganda were displayed close to the ending when an octopus was shown spreading its tentacles over land and an eagle flying over it. The octopus's tentacles represented the hold it had over the territory while the Eagle represented the United States. It's seen how simple it is for the eagle to fight the octopus since it has the advantage of being in the air and not in the ground having to combat its tentacles. This specific scene supported Seversky's points as to why aviation was needed by showing how effortlessly war could've gone if aviation was used during war. Throughout the film they also made it seem as if aviation wasn't in the picture there was no way of succeeding when they stated, "the tragic sinking of these two mighty warships was final proof that navies can no longer carry a war to the enemy whose short adequately defended by land-based aviation (34:06)." They incorporated many messages that influenced the promotion on air power which made it recognized as a successful propaganda