Censorship meant that the government took control of the nations newspapers, radio, posters and films, they made absolutely sure that there was no content within any of these that may lower the morale of the people. For example, if people woke up in the morning to a radio broadcast of how many people were killed durng last nights blitz and how many cities were hit, they would loose hope and would nto want to fight the war. Censorship made sure that no one put pressure upon the government to surrender to the german forces.
One example of the government covering up the truth of a story and turning it into a victory was the battle at Dunkirk, 340,000 men had to be rescued by the Royal Navy when they started losing battle and many others, a total of 68,000 were killed and injured. The press printed this featuring the headlines of ‘Miracle of Dunkirk’ and ‘Bloody Marvellous’ Also survivors were told not to disclose information about the true horrors in the hope that no one in Britain would know the reality of the effects except for those few survivors.
Propaganda was not only used during the blitz, we know this because a similar cover-up by the government was made about a bombing of Catford Girl’s School. Photos showing dead bodies of children amongst rubble form the bombing were with held, It was thought that the picture of so many innocent lives lost brought imagery of a losing battle which would lower the people morale and impede their will to fight.
Censorship was not only to protect the people but also to protect the country. Censoring made sure that there was no information given out that might help the enemy during the bombing or in battle.
Another reason censoring was used other than the previous two reason stated was so that Britain did not appear hope-less or a lost cause to America. This was because they though that if America though that Britain was fighting a losing battle, then they would not give them the much needed support. They wanted to give America the appearance of people coping with the war despite all odds.
Not every picture was censored, pictures that showed people getting on with their life and stories of heroism and patriotism were printed all over the newspaper and this was hope to instead boost morale. For example a picture of St Paul Cathedral in flames was actually exaggerated with extra flame and smoke to make it look more dramatic and show people that everywhere was bombed, everyone was going through the same thing but people could still pull through.
Propaganda also played an immense part during the war to help boost morale. The government fed the people of Britain propaganda morning, noon and night. As they controlled the news, radio and the cinema this was not hard and many posters were put up throughout Britain showing ways of how to get through the war.
A good example of the governments propaganda are the films such as ‘Heart of Britain,’ ‘Listen to Britain and ‘A Diary for Timothy’ produced by Humphrey Jennings. He produced many films for the government, advising people on how to go about carrying out all the regulations, but he also made many films to inspire the people and boost their morale. For example ‘Heart of Britain’ is meant to boost morale because it shows people not intimidated by Hitler and getting on with their lives and managing to have a good time and how every one aside from their normal jobs have separate jobs helping the country. The picture of people living through the war and coping fine, and images of what it would be like in the future when the war was one, were supposed to keep the morale up.
Many programmes and comedies, such as ‘It’s that man again’ (or ITMA) making fun of Hitler and informing the listeners of the bombing and how to cope with it were broadcast across England. The government realised that this was the best way to get a message to everyone through out Britain. Radio quickly became popular, because it was not only source of Information, Entertainment but also a source of great comfort to the people of Britain, this was because they knew they were not alone and it kept them in touch with the world.
Many famous Propaganda posters produced during the war carried slogans such as ‘Dig for Victory,’ ‘Make-Do and Mend’ and ‘The Kitchen-Front’ these encouraged people to get on with normal life during the war as best as they could by either growing vegetables or reusing old clothes and furniture once they were worn out rather than throwing them away as they normally would have done. This was also to compete with the German propaganda, at the time, which was saying principally the same thing that they will win and that Hitler is right.
Once again propaganda was not only used for boosting morale of the people it was also to keep the people of Britain from talking about confidential information that could get wind to enemy spies, posters carrying slogans such as, ‘You Never Know Who’s Just Around The Corner.’ Were meant to make people aware of the risk of talking about any information that may be useful to the enemy.
The government used two different methods to hide the effects of the blitz form the people of Britain, these were; Censorship and Propaganda. Both of these were very successful at achieving their intention of maintaining the morale of Britain, as the people knew there were horrors going on around them but they did not know the full extent of these. This may have helped Britain win the war by not encouraging people to put pressure on the government but willing them instead to win and avenge their loved ones deaths.
