Axis Sally was the generic nickname given to women radio personalities who broadcast English-language

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

on behalf of the European

Axis Powers The Axis powers, originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis and also Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, was the military coalition which initiated World War II and fought against the Allies of World War II, Allies. Its principal members were Nazi Ge ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. These included: * Mildred Gillars, a

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

who broadcast for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. She was "the first woman in US history to be convicted of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

" by the United States and following her arrest in Berlin, "on 8 March 1949 was sentenced to ten to thirty years' imprisonment." * Rita Zucca, an

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

who broadcast for

Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...

. On their radio shows, the two Axis Sally personalities would typically alternate between

swing music Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement ...

and propaganda messages aimed at American troops. These messages would typically emphasize the value of surrender, stoke fears that soldiers' wives and girlfriends were cheating on them, and point out that the Axis powers knew their locations. American soldiers listened to Gillars' broadcasts for the popular music, even as they found her attempts at propaganda "laughable".

References

{{reflist

External links

*http://www.historynet.com/axis-sally.htm *http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/on-this-day/March-April-08/On-this-day---Axis-Sally--Convicted-of-Treason.html *http://factorialist.com/axis-sally-nazi-fame/ Nazi propaganda radio German radio presenters German women radio presenters Italian radio presenters Italian women radio presenters Collective pseudonyms Race-related controversies in radio Feminine nicknames Nicknames in radio

See also

References

External links