Historic Towns - Czechoslovakia

A landscape leaflet page with four photographs (Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge, a bridge tower, modern blocks, a country town hall) beside three short paragraphs. The tell for glittering generalities is the superlative 'one of the mightiest spectacles in Europe'; the tell for card-stacking is that only favourable views of the country appear, with no figures.

Propaganda techniques used in this leaflet

Glittering generalitiesCard stacking

Date

1939

Period

Second World War

Made by

Not stated on the item (English-language Czechoslovakia leaflet series, page 3)

Region

Western and Central Europe

Country

Czechoslovakia

Medium

Leaflet

Issuer type

Mixed

Regime

Czechoslovak Government in Exile

Leader

Edvard Benes

Audience

Foreign public

Purpose

Persuade or win support

Theme

War and the military

Event

World War II

Source

Unidentified Source blurred: contractors, cutouts, buried disclosure

Source

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 44, World War II Foreign Posters, retrieved October 3, 2026

Rights

Held by NARA, Unrestricted; hosted by owner decision (no rights statement; wartime Allied publication)
Issuer not stated. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-767.

HISTORIC TOWNS

Glorious Old Cities.
The Czechoslovaks have more than a thousand years of history reflected in many of their cities and country towns. Look at Prague, a city of a million inhabitants—its ancient Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral and the fourteenth-century bridge over the Vltava . . . one of the mightiest spectacles in Europe.

Modern Quarters.
The principles of modern living and comfort, on the same level as in the most advanced countries of the world, have been accepted by Czechoslovakia—especially in the large towns. Office buildings and residential flats combine all the advantages of good planning, pleasing architecture and sound structure.

Country Towns.
Old country towns have a charm of their own, their particular character remaining unchanged throughout the centuries. The lay-out and good simple design of the houses and buildings are typical.

3