The Use of Propaganda in WWI

The Use of Propaganda in WWI

Introduction

Welcome to this presentation on the use of propaganda during WWI. The main focus of the presentation is to discuss the themes of nationalism and militarism concerning propaganda.

Additionally, the presentation highlights the involvement of the governments in using propaganda as a weapon. To elaborate on the discussion, the presentation focuses on three countries: United States, Great Britain, and Germany. The three countries are but a few examples of countries that justified their participation in the war by confiding to propaganda. At the end of the presentation, we shall have reviewed the themes of nationalism and militarism that dominated WWI. Also, we shall have looked at how propaganda seemed to support such ideas. Furthermore, the presentation would explore how the three countries used propaganda differently to achieve their targets.

Great Britain used propaganda to promote patriotism and to portray the belligerents as enemies. According to Sanders (1975) pp. 119-146, the government of Great Britain established a propaganda department called the Wellington House. The British Prime Minister oversaw this establishment. This is a true manifestation of how dangerous and committed the government was in using propaganda as a tool. The department employed several employees who had diverse knowledge of media and communication. The government would later appoint Lord Northcliffe, a former owner of two famous newspapers, as the head of the Committee for Enemy Propaganda.

A combination of knowledgeable people in media and the government worked so hard to produce millions of these reports to convince the Britons that the course of the war was identity protection. Also, the government-sponsored the spreading of such posters using airplanes. The Committee for Enemy Propaganda went ahead to publish fake reports that would trigger war within and across the borders. The committee portrayed the enemies as Huns to convince the Britons to hate them.

The propaganda was published in fliers, and posters were effective in convincing the Britons to participate in the war. In the end, propaganda was effective in mobilizing the Britons to take part in the war. Firstly, the Britons’ animosity against other nationalities such as Germans rose significantly. Secondly, Great Britain recorded a massive rise in the recruitment of men to serve in the military. Before the war, Great Britain had less than a million soldiers. However, at the end of the war, it had employed approximately 6 million soldiers. The massive military service could only be associated with the propaganda used to persuade men

The government of the United States used propaganda extensively to trigger a war against the enemies. President Woodrow Wilson founded Committee on Public Information (CPI) immediately after his re-election. He charged it with the responsibility of shaping the public opinion and publishing the Official Bulletin (Hayden-Smith, 2007, pp. 1929). Consequently, he appointed George Creel as the committee’s head to manage flag-waving and censorship. Creel was a genius in shaping public opinion, and within a short duration, he had managed to send approximately 6000 press statements and 1500 patriotic advertisements.

The government, through the Congress, passed a $250 million budget allocation for the war to support over 130000 soldiers in overseas’ mission.

The committee oversaw the publishing of posters with demonizing messages such as “Beat back the Hun with LIBERTY BONDS.” Such a letter was effective in convincing the Americans to take arms against the Germans who were predominantly portrayed as enemies. Creel used persuasion and propaganda to mobilize around 150000 men into the military. According to Creel, the United States deserved liberty that Germany was not willing to offer them. Consequently, the United States managed to employ approximately 4 million soldiers to take part in the war. Due to the significant number, the United States opened roughly 0.8 million military service branches.

Germany utilized propaganda to participate in WWI. The German leaders led the Germans to believe that its political power would result from struggles. In his speeches, Bernhard Rosenberger would make the Germans believe that their country was depicted negatively (Lasswell, 1927). As such, the armed conflict was inevitable for the security of the country.

The government used the media to falsely report about an order to mobilize the Germans for the war. This is a report that led Russia to prepare its troops for the war hurriedly. Also, the reporters made fake news that France had bombed Nuremberg. Such statements were purposefully used to declare war on Russia and France, respectively.

The German newspapers had many war poems offers. Such papers encouraged the Germans to be patriotic by giving them martial arts ideas.

The German capitalized on the propaganda to mobilize approximately 3.7 million soldiers within just a year. As the propaganda continued, Germany continued to register a more significant population. By the second year of the war, in late 1915, Germany had deployed approximately 2.9 million soldiers to serve in the Western Front while about 1.8 million soldiers in the East Front. Out of the total number of soldiers, Germany lost approximately 1.8 million soldiers.

Conclusion

In summary, propaganda was a powerful tool used during WW1 on a global scale. Also, the entire plan to take part in the war was spearheaded by the respective governments. Depending on the goal, the states used it for the following four reasons. Firstly, propaganda was a tool for mobilization of the hatred against any potential and imminent enemy. Germany, Great Britain, and the U.S. used this technique. Secondly, propaganda was vital in convincing the civilians that the war had a just cause. Germany utilized this technique to a great extent. Thirdly, propaganda was used to gain support and corporation within the individual countries and the neutral countries too. Lastly, propaganda was a vital tool for strengthening the support for the allies. In this regard, the government of the three countries, Germany, the U.S., and Great Britain, always tried to remain relevant in the course of the war. They produced posters, flyers, and other media to ensure that they convinced the civilians to support the idea of the war.