Political Aspects

Because World War II was a total war, the distinction between civilians and the military was blurred. Civilian populations had to be mobilized to support the war effort. Political dissent, which in most countries might normally be allowed, could not be permitted to divide or demoralize the population. In highly rigid and structured societies, such as those of Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Japan, control was relatively easy, because those governments already had great power over people's lives. However, in free societies, such as Great Britain and the United States, the state of emergency forced governments to take extraordinary action.

Propaganda, in the form of movies, radio broadcasts, plays, and posters, was widely distributed to affect the attitudes of the population. News reports were censored not only to withhold information that might be useful to the enemy, but also to control news that might demoralize the civilian population. Letters and telephone calls were sometimes monitored for secret information. Civil rights were suspended for many suspected of disloyalty. Tens of thousands of people in Germany and the Soviet Union were imprisoned or put to death for political crimes or "defeatist" sentiments. In the United States, thousands of Americans of Japanese descent were imprisoned in so-called relocation camps.