Title: Propaganda in World War I: Means, Impacts and Legacies - Fair Observer
Headings: Propaganda in World War I: Means, Impacts and Legacies
Propaganda in World War I: Means, Impacts and Legacies
Total War
In Britain itself, as public opinion towards war diversified in the 1920s and 1930s, so its use of propaganda was seen as deceitful and morally damaging.
A British Approach
Learning From Experience
Through a sophisticated appreciation of the power of image, ready access to communication technologies, and a new mobilization of dehumanizing images and language, non-state extremist groups have become experts in using propaganda to extend their influence and maintain a flow of recruits and resources.

Content: Edward Bernays, who had served on the US Committee on War Information, used his experience from the war to develop the practice of public relations. Through a sophisticated appreciation of the power of image, ready access to communication technologies, and a new mobilization of dehumanizing images and language, non-state extremist groups have become experts in using propaganda to extend their influence and maintain a flow of recruits and resources. Elsewhere, Vladimir Lenin had been particularly impressed by the effectiveness of propaganda, and put its lessons to use in mobilizing support for the Communists across Russia in the years following the 1917 Revolution. In Germany, an opinion began to form that hostile propaganda had been the decisive element. The “stab in the back” conspiracy theory held that Germany had not suffered a military defeat, but rather had been brought down by “enemies within,” encouraged and supported by foreign propaganda. Both Joseph Goebbels, who had worked as a journalist, and Adolf Hitler were convinced of the effectiveness of propaganda, and exploited the “stab in the back” theory in making their political gains. One hundred years after the start of World War I, many of its propaganda methods and tactics can be seen as relevant and enduring today. The questions raised by the use of propaganda also still apply. Mass production and mass communication continue to be effective. Leaflets dropped by aircraft were used in huge numbers by US and other forces during the Gulf wars in 1991 and 2003.