Abstract
In the Second World War(SWW), intelligence played an important role in winning the war for both the Allied-Powers and the Axis-Powers. During the war, both sides aimed to prevail against each other by using the intelligence information they obtained. Therefore, both sides sought to carry out their military operations in great secrecy. In this process, the US administration turned to the propaganda of hiding information through posters to encourage the concealment of information regarding the military operations to be carried out against the Axis-Powers. In the study, it was aimed to reveal how the USA used propaganda posters against the Axis Powers for the purpose of hiding information propaganda during the SWW. For this purpose, the visual and written indicators on the posters used for the USA's information hiding propaganda were analyzed in the context of John Langshaw Austin's Speech Act Theory. The seven propaganda posters identified using the purposive sampling method were obtained from the Stanford University Hoover Institute Library and Archives. In the study, it was sought to reveal what messages were given to the American people through the images on the posters, and in what direction the American people were intended to act. Considering findings, it was revealed that the fear appeal technique was used by reflecting the possible negative consequences of the leakage of intelligence information in the propaganda posters. Thus, it was concluded that the sharing of information about military operations was sought to be prevented by using the fear appeal technique on propaganda posters.