WWI+Propaganda


 * Allied Powers Homefront Propaganda**

When the war started, stories of survivors from the war-ravaged areas permeated the newspapers and radio talk stations. British reporters controlled most of the outlets for these media in all of Europe and the Americas. The reporters were free to skew stories in any way they wished, which was usually in a way that portrayed the Germans and Austrians as inhumane monsters. Interestingly, the stories were almost never about the glories of the Allied troops or their virtues, but only beat down the Central Power troops. Any reporters that wanted to report objectively were not allowed near the front lines, because the generals were afraid they would take back the ubiquitous bad news. Any war correspondent found at the front lines was arrested. Some reporters, however, managed to get past this, and indicated there were few or no atrocities when there was no resistance. Those reporters were few, but stirred up the waters enough to make both America and Britain hesitant about entering the war. The propaganda that truly won over the US, however, was the sinking of the //Lusitania// and the headlines accompanying it. Postcards depicting German and Austrian troops in monstrous ways were sent from the homefront, and had a particular impact by letting people assume artists at the front had drawn these from real events.

Central Powers Propaganda

 * 1) ===Homefront - The propaganda of the Central Powers was mostly censorship of anyone who expressed anti-war sentiments. There were also cartoons and articles that dehumanized the Allies and made it easier for soldiers to kill them. This was very effective as we can see from the response of every nation to a possible second world war. The populations of the Central Powers were more in favor of it than anyone else. The rest of the world did anything they could to avoid it, while Germany initiated.===
 * 2) ===Behind Enemy Lines - As WWI became more involved, leaders in each belligerent country gained more power in that government regulation came to dictate every facet of life, and there was a decrease in legislative checks, as the philosophy of ‘do whatever be necessary for the war effort’ was imposed on all. Because of this, newspaper censorship was rampant, those who refused to fight were suspected for treason, and any antiwar sentiments were suppressed entirely. Such propaganda was not unique to the home front of a few nations, however, and the Central Powers, specifically Germany, sought to control the opinions of even those behind enemy lines.===
 * Germany instigated policies of propaganda behind enemy lines early on, mainly focusing on the discontented ethnic, religious, and social factions within the Entente. Their primary focus, however, was on Islamic populations and the people of North Africa, Egypt, India, and South Russia.
 * The Damascus Speech of 1898—the German Emperor, Wilhelm II, proved his credentials to protect Muslims, and Germany followed through with her ideals by providing financial subsidies to Islamic nationalists movements.
 * Germany applied similar techniques to non-Russian Christians living under the dominion of the Russian empire. Germany encouraged national liberation for such nation-states and supplied support and goods to revolutionary groups like the Bolshevik Party in Russia.
 * The purpose of all such propaganda was this:
 * Pin down Entente forces in counterinsurgency operations
 * Acquire a good world reputation by presenting Germany as the ‘savior of the oppressed
 * These tactics were uniformly successful: take the Easter Rebellion of Ireland in 1916, as an example.