ipl-logo

Propaganda In The First World War Essay

947 Words4 Pages

The purpose of the essay is to discuss the role played by propaganda in influencing the public opinion on both sides of the First World War. Propaganda is believed to be information that is often biased or misleading and used to promote a political course or point of view by certain group of people. Both the Central Powers and the Allied states used propaganda to win public support by influencing the way the public perceive the enemy. Both sides of the conflict used different methods to disseminate propaganda for war. Both sides of the conflict used propaganda to influence the public opinion during the Great War. Welch 's research (1999:25) shows that the states involved in The Great War formed their institutions to disseminate propaganda, whereby Britain formed Ministry of Information, Germany forming the Ministry of Propaganda, USA formed the Office of War Information and the Soviet Union also formed the …show more content…

This was because the public found out that the conditions in the trenches were not as portrayed to them, and their sacrifice did not benefit them (Welch, 1999:24). Then, the propagandists started to assess the needs of the public and use propaganda as a form of promise to win public support. For example, the British were promised that the Pound has not and will not devaluate when they continue supporting the state. Thus, the state regained public support and trust by using propaganda as promise to the public needs. After discussing the role of propaganda during the First World War, it is concludable that propaganda had been helpful in mobilising the public for war. Many people, men in particular, on both sides of the war were influenced by propaganda to join to armies. Women and children at home also supported the armies by sacrificing food and working in ammunition factories. Therefore, propaganda can be regarded as important during the time of

Open Document