The Ways the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People

The Ways the British Government Attempted to Hide the Effects of the Blitz from the People

For the British civilians bearing the home front of the Blitz was both

a frightening and surreal experience. In Britain, most people expect

to be told the truth, and newspapers and radios are allowed to speak

the facts. However once the country was at war it all changed, and the

British people had to accept that the Government who took control of

the media was for the good of the country. Specific facts and details

of bombings weren't shown in the whole truth, and often the news was

twisted to focus on the heroism of the British. This became known as

propaganda and censorship, and were tools to keep the civilians

spirits up.

Propaganda is the battle to win people's thoughts and minds used by

the British Government through the media by convincing the citizens of

Britain that they would win the war while Germany was evil and bound

to loose. By telling the British public a different side of a horrific

event and not informing them of all the facts, morale was kept high

which was the main aim of propaganda. If people new the whole truth of

the war, then they would start to give up resulting in low morale,

strikes, mutiny, and protests against the war. It is vital that when a

country is at war it must have the support of its people. There are

two types of propaganda, Black and White. White propaganda did not

twist the truth, but instead used real figures and information and

highlighted the news, whilst black propaganda ignored the truth, and

told lies about the enemy to its civilians.

To control other information, the government needed to use ce...

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...ents such as the

Blitz. The most powerful use of propaganda were comedy shows on the

radio, which included "its that man again", which poked fun at both

British and German Governments. This radio show did more to boost the

morale than anything else, and was the most successful propaganda of

the war.

Through the use of all types of media such as radio, public speeches,

posters, films, cartoons, songs, leaflets and even religious

organisations propaganda and censorship was used by both Britain and

Germany throughout the war. By using these tools the British

Government hid the effects and the true facts and figures from its

citizens, in order to maintain high morale, and have the support of

its country. Propaganda and censorship was vital during WW11 and an

immense amount of time, money and effort was put into them.