Forensic Research Archive of Manipulation and Exploitation
The Downfall of the Dictators Is Assured, 1939 UK poster: A charcoal-style painting shows British infantry running forward

The Downfall of the Dictators Is Assured

A charcoal-style painting shows British infantry running forward with bayonets through smoke, over a small caption on new desert tactics and the headline 'The Downfall of the Dictators Is Assured'. The tell is the certainty claim: 'assured' offers no date, measure or evidence, and the image supplies only a heroic scene.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Glittering generalities
Date
1939
Period
Second World War
Made by
Printed by Thos. Forman & Sons Ltd, Nottingham; no sponsoring body stated (imprint number 51-3409)
Region
Western and Central Europe
Country
United Kingdom
Medium
Poster
Issuer type
State
Regime
Churchill Government
Leader
Winston Churchill
Audience
Domestic public
Purpose
Reassure
Themes
War and the military, Home front
Event
World War II
Regime
Churchill wartime government
Leader
Winston Churchill
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 (publication 1939-1945, UK origin)
Printed by Thos. Forman & Sons Ltd, Nottingham. National Archives and Records Administration, 44-PF-440.

Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

Britain develops new desert tactics. Tough, well-trained infantry clear the way for tanks in North Africa

THE DOWNFALL OF THE DICTATORS IS ASSURED

[imprint:] PRINTED IN ENGLAND BY THOS. FORMAN & SONS LTD., NOTTINGHAM.  51-3409

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