Describe the ways that propaganda was used to mobilise theminds of the nation towards war.

Describe the ways that propaganda was used to mobilise the minds of the nation towards war.

Propaganda is defined as a specific type of message presentation aimed at serving an agenda. At its root, the denotation of propaganda is 'to propagate (actively spread) a philosophy or point of view'. The most common use of the term historically is in political contexts; in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments or political groups. Advertising, religious preaching, etc. are also propaganda, as well as, in today’s world, TV talk shows.

During World War 1 all types as propaganda was used to mobilise the minds of the nation towards war. They can be split into two groups: the state’s propaganda and the private sector’s. In order to succeed in the war, the government thought it necessary that the public supported the war fully. The Defence of the Realm act (DORA) gave them power to control all types of mass media, and allow the government to become more deeply linked with the public’s life. Only with the public’s backing could the government get the troops, weapons ammunition and equipment demanded by the war.

The public were denied the diversity of information, because it might have delayed the war effort, and led them to doubt whether the war was worth fighting. At the beginning of the war, all news was censored, especially news of defeats. There were quite a few problems during the first few months on the western front yet all the public heard were stories of great victories.

In 1916 controls on newspapers were relaxed and journalists were allowed to be on the front, but even then it was only approved ones, whom were permitted. Editors and owners of the papers were great supporters of the war and reports continued to focus on good news. An example of this is Lord Beaverbrook the Daily Express owner, was a cabinet minister from 1916 and became Minister for Information in 1918. He and other newspaper barons were important in Britain’s war effort, which was shown when twelve leading newspaper industry members were knighted in recognition of their wartime services.

Letters and postcards sent to and from soldiers in the front were heavily censored. The government did not want morale to drop on the front line or back at home. Moreover, there is much evidence to show that soldier’s censored their own messages to their family and friends, by not revealing the truth about life in the trenches or their own distressing feelings about fighting the war and being stuck out in the war. Pictures of dead soldiers were not allowed, casualty figures were not released and often parliament was not told how the war was really going.

There were some independent papers that produced less biased news, sometimes even anti-war articles. Pacifist papers like Tribunal were put up with at first, but when war weariness set in the government was quick to close them. Socialist papers, like The Herald, were closely monitored It was mot just the people in Britain who were only allowed censored materials. The government was also concerned with sensitive information leaking out to the enemy. Even magazines for railway enthusiasts were in trouble as the censors believed them to be revealing too much about Britain’s infrastructure.

Censorship was not the only form of propaganda invested in be the government. There were many advertising and poster campaigns undertaken by the Ministry of the Interior. These posters were designed to do four things: To raise morale and keep it high; to inflame the nation against the enemy; to make people act in certain ways; to encourage overseas allies to support Britain’s war effort and persuade enemies to end the war.

The Ministry of the Interior realised that if people believe they are fighting for a good cause, and if they think they will win, they will work harder. ...

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The Ministry of the Interior realised that if people believe they are fighting for a good cause, and if they think they will win, they will work harder. They produced posters showing Britain as a nation happily working to defeat the enemy, which kept morale high.

The Ministry of the Interior also wanted to convince people they were fighting for a just cause, and to do this they set about inflaming the public against the enemy. To stir up this public hatred the government showed atrocities ‘carried out’ by the enemy. Hostile rumours were created about the enemy too. One example is that newspapers reported that the Kaiser had described the British army as a “contemptible little army,” when this was really created by the British government as a way of using humour and patriotism to raise morale while British troops were making their way through France.

The British Department of Information produced a leaflet, which described a ‘corpse-conversion factory’ close behind German lines. It reported that this factory was used to turn dead bodies into fat, oils and fodder for pigs, and that there could be no doubt to the existence of this factory. It even quoted from a German newspaper, though the quotation was out of context (it actually referred to the conversion of horse and other animal remains).

The war was very costly and Germany was trying to cut trade routes to Britain. This meant that resources like steel and fuel as well as food were becoming scarcer. In order to make the people act in a certain way, beneficial to the government in tackling these problems, posters were made. They show ways of how to not waste food and how to make contributions to the war effort by handing in pot and pans, etc. The British government also used propaganda to encourage the buying of war bonds as a method of fundraising.

The government did not only want to influence the views of Britain, but also those of friends and enemies abroad. America would be a great help if they would join the war for the allies. To help mobilise America for war the Foreign Office, who were in charge of propaganda to neutral audiences, printed hundreds o books and leaflets to send to American newspaper editors. When the Luistania was sunk by a German U-boat’s torpedo in 1915, British propaganda made sure it was told about a lot.

British propaganda was also used to demoralise the enemy and weaken their forces. The War Office controlled all propaganda to the enemy, and they printed millions of leaflets to be dropped over German towns to dishearten the German public and army.

Before 1916, when war-weariness had begun to set in, it could be said that the governments control on information and propaganda campaigns were not necessary, such was the British passion for the war. The private sector produced masses of effective propaganda of its own accord. Leading authors, like HG Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy and Rudyard Kipling, all signed a Declaration by Authors in support of the war. Many of them, at no cost to the government, produced patriotic publications. The history department at Oxford University produced a five volume-explanation of why Britain was justified in going to war, also known as the red book because of it cover. This ‘red book’ sold 50,000 copies.

The film industry followed the same suit, meaning the government did not even have to make its own propaganda films. British Film makers produced two hundred and forty war films between 1915 and 1918, with very few being commissioned by the war department. In film and cinema the propagandists had a whole new way of manipulating the opposition. Propaganda in films was used in two ways: two mock and ridicule the enemy and to show the truth of war.

The cinema division of the Department Of Information had made short length cartoons such as the ‘Bully Boy’ to mock the Kaiser as early as 1914. However, the majority of the films made about the war were trying to show the reality of the trenches and battles. It is estimated that ‘For the Empire’, by the British Topical Committee for War Films, reached an audience of nine million people. The committee also made some of the most famous films about the war, including The Battle of the Somme.

The Battle of the Somme showed real scenes from battle, with thirteen percent of its running time showing dead or wounded soldiers. It did come under criticism, however, as it was a big commercial success. People thought it was unfair to make money and entertainment out of war and death. Others were shocked by its realism. It, and other films like it, had a great effect on the national opinion of war. It showed the people that there was no glamour to war, but that it was a gritty, terrible thing.

Even children had propaganda forced upon them. Toy, books and comics were made to encourage patriotism. Of course, the Germans were depicted as the weak, cowardly and treacherous enemy. The English soldiers were shown to be brave, modest and successful. These products sold well as many editions of them were released even into the 1930s.

A magazine called ‘The Boy’s Own’ published a patriotic issue in October 1915, which contains an article about British boy’s work in wartime. This, and other mediums like it aimed at boys, can be seen as effective as many boys chose to disguise their age and sign themselves up to fight.

Religious sermons by priest and vicars proclaimed that God was on our side and that the enemy were heathens and barbaric. Religious imagery was used in many poems and stories by famous writers to back this up, but not so much by the government. Perhaps the government thought that using religion could alienate non-religious people or people who’s religions were of a minority and not shown.

Now we can see how propaganda was used, but to understand how effective it was we need to know how it worked. Propaganda, in order to be effective needs to draw on feelings that are already present or public opinion of something. The most widely used feelings that were drawn upon were guilt, like for not volunteering yourself to the army, or patriotism, specifically, for Britain’s during World War 1, the desire to fight to protect your country.

In the first two years of war at least, the attitude of the British public to war was that it needed to be fought and all who could, should help. This made it very easy for the propagandists, both in the private and state sectors, to pull on the publics feeling of guilt and patriotism.

To rouse feelings of guilt, the character in the poster would be looking straight forward into the readers eyes, often pointing, while they were asking why you are not doing your best for your country or signing up to fight. This would make the reader feel guilty, as he is not doing his part to save his country. Peer pressure was used in posters by making the readers think that if they does not sign up or do not donate supplies then they do not love their country as much as the next man, or those they is not as brave or strong.

Guilt is also caused by the fact that people have dies for your life and safety, but you are doing nothing to save others. Pictures of triumphant British soldiers marching over conquered land would make the patriotic sign up to the army as they would think that there efforts can help the victories happen too.

Posters showing, or radio advertisements telling of the great reasons for war and that the war needs to be fought to suppress the evil enemy would rally the people to the war effort. Many posters show the acts of atrocity that the enemy ‘committed’, which would bring up feelings of disgust for the enemy – they would make the enemy less than human so it would be easier to fight them for the people who were not sure if war was ethical or fair. One poster highlights the breaches of trust that Germany made through invading Belgium and this plays on the politics of hate and blame.

The propaganda would often show how good your life was like before war or how good it could be after it so that you will want to make it like that, e.g. through fighting or resourcefulness with food, etc.

Heroes were shown fighting or scenes with a group of friends fighting side by side to show that the war could be something good. One poster showed how fighting for in the army could allow you to become a skilled worker.

The feelings of escapism and reassurance were used too. They made you think that by fighting you could realise your dreams as a famous war hero like the ones shown all around you, or comfort you that you will not die on the front. Reassurance would also come in the form of humour, which degraded the enemy, therefore making them smaller and apparently easier to beat. Cartoons and films mocked the enemy by building on publicly recognized caricatures and stereotypes of the enemy.

Through the vast amounts of propaganda used, the public were given a very clear message about what they needed to do. Perhaps without the propaganda war weariness may have set in earlier and the war effort would not have gone very far at all. Maybe without the propaganda there would not have been enough volunteers, enough munitions, food or fuel to win the war. Maybe America would never have taken the side of the allies. Although it is hard to judge the importance of propaganda, because it depends of the attitudes of the public there is much evidence to show that it worked. The public backed the war effort despite horrific casualties. The press censored them and stayed in solid support of the war. Very few people publicly criticised the war and those that did were treated like traitors. Millions of people rushed to see film like The Battle of the Somme. Newspapers that ran the news the government wanted printed increased their circulation. Only a tiny proportion of eligible men refused to fight.

During the war the public would have understood what the propaganda was trying to do to their opinions and actions. Today people would probably take a cynical look at it, but back then patriotism and going through with what your country has called you to do was a much more widely held attitude. In a sentence I believe that the propaganda was important as it kept the British people’s minds focused on the war effort and rallied them and allies abroad to our cause. Without it we may not have won the war at all.