The Use of Propaganda to Mobilise the Minds of the Nation Toward War

The Use of Propaganda to Mobilise the Minds of the Nation Toward 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 ...

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... 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.