World War 1 Propaganda

World war one which is also popularly known as the Great War was the first large-scale global conflict that history witnessed. The war was the result of a chain reaction of serval small-scale conflicts that grew to disastrous levels. The war was responsible for 41 million causalities. It claimed the lives of 18 million and gravely wounded 23 million people. It is responsible for almost wiping out an entire generation. The war was the result of the formation of alliances, imperialism, militarism and most important: the sense of nationalism and national pride.
Further, the war had such devastating consequences due to the misconceived notions about the war engraved in the minds of citizens. A lack of information and propaganda helped influence

It was used to restrict journalists from receiving information about the war and if they managed to get their hands on any information, it used to stop them from publishing it. Censorship and pro-war press together played a large part in creating fake news which was a big contributor to the war.
A singular event can be narrated very differently. It does not mean that either of them is untrue. While looking at censorship and propaganda during world war a similar problem arises. It becomes really hard to distinguish fact from fiction. The British government believed that reporting the whole truth would diminish public morale. This lead to the enactment of the Defence of the Realm Act which gave authorities power to enact censorship in order to stifle criticism of the war effort.
However, due to a lack of information people were misled about the war effort that resulted in increasing number of casualties. The Defence of the Realm Act was released four days after the war was one of the most destructive tools in the war. It gave government officials and news agencies power to contain any criticism regarding the war effort. The act was published so as to contain any alarm or havoc that the truth could cause. The government justifies this act by saying that it was for the best of its citizens. But this was believed to be a fallacy by reputed historians as censorship suppressed information that could have led to the demise of world

The British army under Kiscthenger banned reporters from coming to the front and publishing news regarding the same. This angered several journalists who started working as outlaws who reported the first hand from the line of fire. Censorship at this point had become so rigid that the biggest defeat in British history which was the battle of Somme was not really reported. The first disastrous day of the war was said to be a success in newspapers.
A long time passed before the public finally learned about the appalling numbers of casualties the war had left in its wake, the devastating impact of trench warfare, the use of poison gas and the earth-shattering impacts of shell shock. In 1917 Llyod George who was a British statesman admitted to a friend that “If people knew (the truth), the war would be stopped tomorrow”. This was because censors would never pass the ‘truth’.
Newspapers were not the only source of information corrupted by Censorship. Letters which were the only form of communication between soldiers from the front and their family members also had to undergo strict military censorship. The letters were also used to spread national pride and support for the war effort. The letter which was meant to give families proof of life was now used to glorify the war. Censorship forced soldiers into writing letters with secret code hidden between