Purpose Of Propaganda In Ww1

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The purpose of propaganda is to influence people of a certain belief. Propaganda was used at a global scale during the First World War because it was the fist global conflict. Propaganda was widely used by the government to influence the public opinion about a certain political group or policy. One of the most influential propaganda during that period was the British propaganda. Although during the war’s outbreak, Britain had no propaganda agencies, an organization called the ‘Wellington House’ was soon established for propaganda activities. Various agencies were responsible for propaganda for most of the war, resulting in the lack of organization and management. Thus, by 1918, all activities for propaganda were managed under the Ministry of…show more content…
British propaganda often took the form of literature, film, and press. Literature included the use of books, pamphlets, speeches, and many more. They usually aimed towards the persuasive and authoritative individuals such as reporters and politicians, instead of the public audience. During the first few years of war, there was an excessive use of pamphlets as the main form of propaganda. These were distributed to other countries, with about 7 million copies during 1915. However, the Ministry of Information significantly reduced these numbers by at least a tenth of the previous production because ideas about efficient propaganda methods were changing, and to respond to paper shortages. Another form of British propaganda was film. It was only until 1915, that the Wellington House was allowed to produce these films as a form of propaganda. One of the first popular films was “British Prepared”. It was spread worldwide, often to allied and neutral nations, and showed of British strength and willpower in the war. Additionally, another popular method of propaganda was the press. These came in the form of posters, magazines, and newspapers. This type of propaganda also aimed to influence foreign press through the Neutral Press Committee and the Foreign Office. To ensure the spread of information, many telegraph agencies were established in different European countries. The Wellington House published many illustrated magazines and different language editions were published to further achieve foreign influence. During the war, one of the most popular themes of the propaganda posters was recruitment, as the government needed more men to fight in the war. Patriotism was a common theme for recruitment posters. They encouraged people to do their part in the war. The “Lord Kitchener Wants You” posters were one of the most famous recruitment posters. Other popular subjects for propaganda
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