In World War II, a large number of leaflets were dropped by both Axis and Allied forces, urging enemy troops to surrender (or at least attempting to deplete their moral).
For example, one of the American leaflets was a "Safe Conduct Pass" which German soldiers could show to Allied forces to surrender. I'm fairly confident that similar methods were employed against Japanese troops.
My question is this: How effective were these psychological warfare techniques? I'm especially interested in America's propaganda leaflets, but I would appreciate information on similar methods employed by other countries.
Thanks in advance.
The leaflet dropping by the allied forces was quite successful in destroying the moral of German troops and civilians. The scope of the operation was so big that it clearly showed the advantage the allied war machine had on the Nazis near the end of the war.
An entire squadron of B-17 bombers was being used exclusively to drop leaflets, the fact alone that the allies were able to divert so much fire power to it indicated they had the clear advantage at that point of the war.
As for the "Safe Conduct Pass" leaflets, those are considered to be the most successful range of leaflets used during WW2. Official reports indicated that 77% of German POW's taken by the allies carried such a leaflet with them.