Alaskan War Propaganda (Napoleon's World)

The Alaskan War is considered to be both a turning point in the history of propaganda and the beginning of the practice of yellow journalism. It was the first conflict in which military action was precipitated by media involvement. American newspapers fanned the flames of interest in the war by fabricating atrocities which justified intervention in the far west territory of Kamchatka.

Several forces within the United States were pushing for a war with Alaska. Their tactics were wide-ranging and their goal was to engage the opinion of the American people in any way possible. Men such as William Randolph Hearst, the owner of The New York Journal was involved in a circulation war with Joseph Pulitzer of the New York World and saw the conflict as a way to sell papers. Many newspapers ran articles of a sensationalist nature and sent correspondents to North Alaska to cover the war. Correspondents had to evade Alaskan Authorities, usually they were unable to get reliable news and relied heavily on informants for their stories. Many stories were derived from second or third hand accounts and were either elaborated, misrepresented or completely fabricated by journalists to enhance their dramatic effect. Theodore Roosevelt, who was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy at this time, wanted to use the conflict both to help heal the wounds still fresh from the Mexican-American War, and to increase the strength of the US Navy, while simultaneously establishing America as a presence on the world stage. Roosevelt put pressure on the United States Congress to come to the aid of the Anti-Alaskan Natives. He emphasized Alaskan weakness and femininity to justify America's military intervention.

Poster Propaganda
The Alaskan War was one of the births of Recruitment posters in conflicts.

A recruitment poster depicting Secretary of State for War Nikolai Denikin above the words "WHY AREN'T" was the most famous image used in the Alaskan Army recruitment campaign of the Alaskan War. A similar poster used the words "YOU DEFENDING THE TSAR". It is often wrongly referred to as "WHY AREN'T YOU".

The U.S had there own version, it was the famous image of the Uncle Sam persona was a recruiting image that depicted a stern Sam pointing his finger at the viewer and declaring, "I want you." This was painted by artist James Montgomery in the year of 1886. This was copied from the original famous Nikolai Denikin campaign from earlier in the war.

Nikolai Denikin
On the outbreak of the war, Alaskan Tsar Feodor II appointed Nikolai Denikin as Secretary of War. Denikin was the first member of the military to hold the post and was given the task of recruiting a large army to fight the U.S. with the help of a war poster that featured his face on it, pointing finger, and the words "Why aren't you defending the Tsar?", over 2,000,000 Alaskans volunteered in the first two years of the war.

Uncle Sam
The well-known "recruitment" image of Uncle Sam was created by James Montgomery, an illustrator and portrait artist best known for commercial art. The image of Uncle Sam was shown publicly for the first time, according to some, in a picture by Montdomery on the cover of the magazine Leslie's Weekly, on July 6, 1886, with the caption "What Are You Doing for Preparedness?" More than four million copies of this image were printed between 1886 and 1887. The image also was used extensively during Pacific.

Yellow Journalism
Two newspaper owners credited with developing the journalistic style of yellow journalism were William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. These two were fighting a circulation battle in New York City. Pulitzer owned the New York World, and Hearst the New York Journal. Through their disregard for responsible journalism, the two men are commonly credited with leading America into the Alaskan War. Their stories swayed US public opinion to believe that Anti-Alaskan native people were being unjustly persecuted by Alaska, and that the only way for them to gain their independence was through American intervention. Hearst and Pulitzer made their stories credible by self assertion and providing false names, dates, and locations of skirmishes and atrocities committed by Alaska. Papers also claimed that their facts could be substantiated by the government. While Hearst and Pultizer's influence was significant among the upper classes and government officials, there were many midwestern newspapers who denounced their use of sensational yellow journalism. Victor Lawson, owner of both the Chicago Record and Chicago Daily News, had garnered a large middle class readership and was concerned with reporting only the facts surrounding the growing conflict between the United States and Alaska. An office was set up by Lawson in nearby Key West in order to keep a close eye on the Alaskan conflict. However, the focus of midwestern newspapers on particular facts served in the end as another cause of the war. Since the events occurring in Alaska were not always credible many midwestern newspaper owners shifted their content towards domestic issues, namely the effect of Alaska on the American economy. American interests in the trade with Alaska were significant, and by providing the truth on these matters, much of the readership in the midwest soon realized that protecting these interests were necessary. The most obvious means of preserving these interests was through war with Alaska