I honestly didn’t know Mexico had World War II propaganda
There’s a long list of countries that participated in WW2, including Mexico, but I had no idea they had actually printed out these amazing propaganda posters against the Nazis.
Mexico declared war on Germany in 1942 after German submarines attacked Mexican oil tankers Potrero del Llano and the Faja de Oro (formerly known as Italian tankers Lucifero and Genaono) that were transporting crude oil to the United States. The two tankers were seized by the Mexican government and renamed around 1941. These attacks prompted President Manuel Ávila Camacho to declare war on the Axis powers.
I didn’t even think about them until this post showed up on reddit. These are just a few of the many posters created around the time.
“Mexico For Freedom”
“Remember May 13, 1942”
“Freedom Won’t Sink: There’s always a voice to defend it and an arm to rescue it.”
“United Nations…United in Battle. In Victory and in Peace.”
“Saint George Defeated the Dragon. The Great Britain Will Defeat Hitlerism.”
The designs are amazing, but the most striking one is the one with the eagle and the Nazi flag. I wonder if they also rallied to get people to join the army and served taquitens and burritens, and maybe other kinds of Kempfort food.
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3 Comments
Huang Ji
is there anyone knows the name of artist of the poster slaying dragon?
I’m from Shanghai, China.
thanks a lot!
retrohelix
Sadly, I couldn’t find any info about the artist, and this is all I found about that poster.
Javier Delgado
Mexico did not sent troops to fight, but voluntaries from the Mexican airforce were sent to join the US airforce forming the ” 201st Fighter Squadron ” also known as by the nickname of Aguilas Aztecas or “Aztec Eagles”. There were 300 volunteers as groundcrew; 30 experienced pilots. that was un 1944.
Mexico was neutral until german submarines attacked the Mexican oil tankers Potrero del Llano and Faja de Oro, that were transporting crude oil to the United States. ( probably the reason of the attack).
The 201 squadron was part of the Fifth Air Force, attached to the U.S. 58th Fighter Group.
they had 96 combat misions, 785 Offensive sorties and 6 Defensive sorties. The 201st Mexican Squadron was given credit for putting out of action about 30,000 Japanese troops and the destruction of enemy held-buildings, vehicles, tanks, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns emplacements and ammunition depots. Not only did the pilots get into combat, but also the ground personnel encountered Japanese troops.
There is and old mexican movie about this episode.
Also you can check here:
http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/mshwma39.htm
by the way, the posters are very interesting, I haven´t seen them before, they are rare. 🙂