PROPAGANDA
Total War and the use of propaganda in Britain and Germany
Historians generally refer to WWI as the first 'total war'. It was the first conflict in which modern industrialised
societies mobilised their complete economic, technological and psychological resources in order to wage war.
Unlike earlier wars, which involved relatively small numbers of soldiers on the battlefield, it affected many
aspects of the lives of civilian populations and demanded enormous sacrifices and support from them:
Mobilisation of the home front was crucial to achieving military victory.
Features of total war
Conscription of men into the armed services
Increased government control of the economy
Increased government control over daily lives of citizens and subsequent loss of personal liberty
Control of the labour force
Physical safety and security of civilian populations threatened
Propaganda used to create support for the war and encourage acceptance of the necessity of personal sacrifice
Censorship of bad news about the war in newspapers and magazines to maintain morale and support for the war
effort
Demands unprecedented sacrifices from the entire population
What do we mean by propaganda?
Propaganda is the use of text, pictures and symbols to influence the attitudes of people who see the material.
This may involve the distortion of facts or even total lies. Effective propaganda is not concerned with the truth,
but with what people think the truth is.
Why was propaganda used in World War I?
Total war demands support and sacrifices from the entire population. During WWI, propaganda aimed at
maintaining a sense of national purpose and support for the war effort. It was used to:
Encourage recruitment
create national unity and maintain morale on the homefront
raise funds for the war effort
create hatred of the enemy
Types of propaganda
posters
postcards
newspapers
songs
meetings, speeches and marches
school lessons
film
Early British Propaganda
justified the British position
developed the atrocity story
encouraged recruitment
instilled patriotism
Justification of the British Position
Britain justified its declaration of war on Germany on the basis Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium. The
British press stigmatised Germany's actions as a treaty breaker with the slogan "A scrap of Paper". Britain,
along with France and Prussia had promised to guarantee Belgium's neutrality in the 1839 Treaty of London.
Early British propaganda portrayed Germany as the aggressor and 'little Belgium' as its innocent victim.
Belgium's defence was a matter of national honour. Note the use of symbols and iconography to simplify and
heighten the message in the examples.
Examples:
'The Scrap of Paper': Parliamentary Recruiting Committee
London 1914 (December)
This official poster demonstrates how propaganda was used to
justify Britain's position and encourage recruitment.
British postcard, 1914
Britain, represented by the bulldog is backed by its empire. Support for Belgium is portrayed as a matter of
honour. Britain's determination and steadfastness is conveyed through the symbol of the bulldog - pugnacity
and strength are characteristics we often associate with the species. 'Britain' is poised, determined to take on the
challenge presented by Germany's violation of the Treaty of London. The eagle, teasing and provocative,
symbolises Germany.
Development of the atrocity story
Atrocity stories about Germans became a central part of British propaganda. Supposed German barbarity was
emphasised in an effort to justify the British cause and instil hatred of the Germans. Atrocity stories, as a feature
of propaganda, appealed to domestic and international audiences.
Examples:
German actions in Belgium
Nurse Cavell
The Lusitania
German actions in Belgium
Cartoon depicting German atrocity in WWI
The gentle German is an early example of British hate propaganda.
The soldier depicted is actually Kaiser Wilhelm II. Atrocity stories
emphasised the bestiality of the 'hun' and frequently misrepresented
the truth. When Germany invaded Belgium, stories spread of
German soldiers bayoneting Belgian babies as a general practice.
Kaiser
Wilhelm
II
Image kindly supplied
by the Photos of the
Great War website
Features of early recruitment propaganda
Emphasized patriotism and duty
Two days after the declaration of war, Britain's most
well-known professional soldier, Lord Kitchener of
Khartoum, was asked to organise a campaign to
encourage civilians to join the army. Alfred Leete's
poster of Kitchener's face and pointing finger became a
familiar sight throughout Britain. The slogan 'Your
Country Needs You!' captured the imaginations of
thousands of young men who rushed enthusiastically to
enlist in Kitchener's New Army. From the outset, British
propaganda was simple, direct and effective.
Presented a moral argument
The violation of Belgian neutrality, the invasion of France and the perpetuation of 'atrocities' such as the murder
of Edith Cavell and the sinking of the Lusitania were used to convince the British population of the
righteousness of the Allied cause and to persuade young men to enlist.
Later British propaganda
Circumstances and focus changed
Conscription was introduced in January 1916 so recruitment was no longer an issue. Propaganda now focused
on the promotion of total war in the context of a war of attrition. Total war placed unprecedented demands on
the civilian population and required the mobilisation of the all of the nation's resources. Propaganda was used to
persuade people that individual sacrifice, including economic deprivation and the curtailment of individual
freedom, was essential to the war effort. Most of all, there was the need to maintain psychological support for a
war that was causing unprecedented loss of human life - of father's and sons. Propaganda now:
continued to emphasise the justness of the Allied cause
attacked the opponents of war
appealed for support for financing the war
promoted self-discipline and sacrifice at home
perpetuated hatred and fear of the enemy to the point of paroniria and hysteria
maintained a positive view of the Allied war effort
Examples:
"To prevent this --" 1918 (June)
"Preserve
Perishable
Produce"
Food
Production
Department
London [1918?]
German propaganda
justified German cause
recruitment not an issue
encouraged hatred of Britain
glorified German war effort and presented it in a positive light to boost morale
appealed for economic and psychological support from the population
Examples:
Anti-British propaganda
Hatred of the British was encouraged. The message of
this poster reads 'God Punish England!' The message
was also used as a greeting and stamped or engraved on
items such as envelopes pots and pans.
Germans were also taught to recite the "Hymn of Hate' which claimed that Britain was Germany's only real
enemy. Ernst Lissauer was awarded and iron cross for its composition.
Lissauer's Chant of Hate Against England
What do we care for the Russians or French?
Shot against shot, and thrust for thrust!
We fight the foe with bronze and sheath,
And some day or other we make our peace.
You we shall hate with enduring hate;
We shall not forbear from our hate;
Hate on water and hate on land,
Hate of the head and hate of the hand,
Hate of the hammer and hate of the crown,
Hate of seventy millions pressing down
We love as one; we hate as one;
We have one foe, and one alone, England.
From third stanza of song by Bavarian soldier, Ernst Lissauer, distributed in the German army, taught to
German school children, set to music and sung in concerts. Lissauer was decorated by the Kaiser.
From: Handbook of War Facts and Peace Problems, Germany's Purpose and Method in Making War Chap. III
http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/WarFacts/wfacts2.htm#3.22
The organisation of propaganda
Britain
Early attempts to manipulate public opinion were ad hoc. A secret War Propaganda Bureau was established in
September 1914. It organised propaganda like an election campaign with posters, meetings, rallies and leaflets.
Private initiatives were encouraged. For example, the leading voluntary organization that most influenced
public opinion early in the war was the Central Committee for National Patriotic Organisation. Theoretically it
was quite independent of the government, but senior positions held by important political figures such as
Asquith and Balfour gave a semi-government appearance. The Parliamentary Recruiting Committee also
produced a great deal of early recruitment propaganda.
Lloyd George created the Department of Information in January 1917 to better coordinate propaganda.
The Press consistently encouraged support for the war effort. Newspapers reflected and manipulated public
opinion which was hostile to aliens, pacifists, conscientious objectors, socialists, strikers and other 'shirkers'.
Propaganda aimed at German soldiers and civilians was dropped from aeroplanes and balloons. Leaflets
included news banned by German Censors, and called for revolution in Germany. In naval ports, leaflets
detailing German U-boat losses disheartened sailors' families. By October 1918 up to 5.5 million leaflets a day
fell on the Eastern and Western Fronts, contrasting German conditions with those of the Allies.
Germany
The organization and coordination of propaganda in Germany was not as effective as in Britain. The
government did not set up a ministry of propaganda. Perhaps, this was partly due to the fact the military
exercised tight control over civilian lives and never had to consider recruitment as conscription was already in
place when war broke out.
The military had its own service called the German War News. The Army organised press conferences and
provided reports on military operations and was also responsible for censorship and control of information from
the front.
Attempts were made to use public employees and government institutions to generate enthusiasm for the war
effort. Patriotic festivals were organised by civil leaders, prominent businesses and academics. Flags and
portraits or statues or other depictions of war heroes were the symbols and music, poetry and patriotic speeches
the content of these public events. Parades were staged to celebrate victories and designed to create national
enthusiasm. Teachers were expected to act as propaganda agents.
The effectiveness of propaganda: Historians' views
Source A
"German propaganda to neutrals was, in general, less efficient that British. The Germans were not so effective
at simplifying the issues of the war into right against wrong, and failed to establish any coordinated machine for
propaganda. They were also put at a particular disadvantage when, on 15 August 1914, the Allies cut the
transatlantic cable, thus cutting of Germany's main line of communication to America. Germany's main
propaganda effort was through press conferences organized by the army and a press service which reported
military operations and was responsible for censorship and control of information from the front. Like Britain,
Germany failed to realize that in a long war enthusiasm for fighting would wane, but she failed to seize the
initiative, not only in counteracting Allied propaganda to neutrals about German war guilt, but also in exploiting
in the simplest terms, using simple images, those events which could denigrate the enemy."
C. Haste, Keep the Home Fires Burning: Propaganda in the First World War London: Rogers, Coleridge &
White 1977, p 39
Source B
Considerable argument developed after the end of the war about whether propaganda was of was not a useful
weapon during the war. The authorities in Germany during the war were so concerned about Allied propaganda
that they organised a conference in August 1917 to see how they might counter it. The participants were told
they had to come with more slogans to appeal toe the German people. It emerged, however, that the artists and
government officials called in to study British and French posters were amazed to see how effectively the Allies
got across their messages. One of the organisers made the telling revelation that, when they tried to enlist
German artists to produce propaganda posters, they found man of them were very critical of the war. The
methods of control from the military at the top of the system were too heavy handed and out of touch with the
views of the ordinary German civilians.
It became one of the themes of the military and their civilian supporters in Germany that Allied propaganda
(dishonest, of course) had a major factor in causing German soldiers to become demoralised at the end of the
war. Both Hindenburg and Ludendorff gave this excuse quite openly in their published memoirs........................
Recent historical opinion by Ina Beckett, Jay Winter, and G.J. De Groot are sceptical the effectiveness of
propaganda on German soldiers and in bringing the United States into the war. They argue that the German
army was beaten on the battlefield, not in a war of words. The Germans and their concept of 'total war' (with
their initial use of gas, the use of Zeppelins to bomb innocent civilians in seaside towns and their use of
submarines to sink passenger liners) was too far ahead of its time to be accepted as civilised behaviour.
Alf Pickard, World War I and its aftermath: HSC Modern History core Guide, Phoenix Education 2002, pp 9192