British Propaganda and the State in the First World War

In 1914, advertising was much less sophisticated that it is today, radio was in its infancy, television was undeveloped, telephones were just coming into use, the gargantuan party rallies of Hitler or Mussolini were still in the future, and the idea of using ocmmunications media to control the thoughts of an entire population was new, relatively unexplored, and not of interest to governments to any great extent. Propaganda was a part of life before 1914, and the term was coming into increasingly widespread usage. But other institutions of society, such as the church, the press, business, political parties, and philanthropy, were the major producers - not government. Nevertheless, by the time the First World War ended in 1918, a great historical divide had been passed in the develpment of opinion manipulation. Most of the principles and many of the techniques of modern propaganda were worked out in such detail that subsequent practitioners would do little more than elaborate upon them; and government, with its huge resources and its accompanying capacity for good and evil, was assumed by almost everyone to be the key factor in the propaganda field, overshadowing all other sectors of society involved in systematic efforts to win over public opinion. This book analyzes British experience during the First World War to add to our understanding of the larger process, involving many nations, by which such a change came about. The focus is intentionally limited to Britain. A great deal of research remains to be done before it will be possible to have the detailed knowledge of the propaganda activities of all the belligerent governments in the Great War upon which larger conclusions might be based. This book is a contribution to that larger effort.