-
Mailing System
The mail system was invented in 1653 in France by De Valayer, who set up mailboxes and would deliver mail, if people bought the envelopes from him. Today we have elecectronic mail (also called email) that furthers propoganda. By having a mailbox it is easy for companies to obtain your address and send whatever propoganda they want directly to your house/computer. -
Creation of the Printing Press
The creation of the printing press enabled propagandists to quickly produce mass amounts of posters with one intended purpose. This form of propaganda was much less risky and complicated than normal oral communication. Newspapers were one of the end results of this creation. -
Creation of Telephone
The first telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell in March of 1876. Telephone's made it incredibly easy to spread propoganda by making it easy to communicate with another person in a short period of time. Today telephones such as the iphone that can access the internet, only furthers this spread. -
Invention of the Radio
The radio opened up a whole new world of advertising. By using direct communication that spread over distance that previously couldn't be traveled in such a short amount of time, propogandists were able to spread their message to a wider crowd. Now adays, everyone has a radio, either in their car or on their phone, and is subject to hear propoganda from commercials. -
World War I, Newspapers
In World War I, the Morning Post was a very popular newspaper. A British war correspondent, the post assured the civilian population that all was going well at the front, that that there was no need to worry unduly about the boys fighting "the Hun" across the Channel. In reality all was not going well. This is one of the first examples of newspapers being used for propoganda. -
Censorship
Due to the implications of censorship in the first WW, propoganda in the form of newspapers was able to spread easily and encourage people to continue fighting in the war. The government basically covered up anything that would make the public worried and fed the people exaggerated truths. Thanks to this censorship, we won the war, however the people of our nation were not happy to hear the truth when it was finally released. -
WWI- Committee on Public Information
In order to sell the war to the American public and assure support, the government created The Committee on Public Information, a propaganda agency that ultimately employed 150,000 people, created and distributed millions of posters, pamphlets, and patriotic booklets in red, white, and blue covers. It sent out 75,000 speakers across the country to give patriotic, anti-German speeches. It fostered the creation of "hang-the-Kaiser" movies with titles like The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin and To Hel -
Women in WWI
Women played a large role in WWI propoganda wise. Women were encouraged by posters and used in propoganda to try to appeal to young men to join the army. Women were also encouraged by these posters to get their lovers/husbands, brothers, or any other male they knew to join the war effort. -
Nazi's and Posters
As they were campaigning for public office in 1932 in Germany, the Nazi party - sought to present itself as the purveyor of positive values and good intentions. To do this, they used posters to appeal to the emotions of the masses. Most of their posters were meant to play on positive feelings regarding family, and usually it worked. -
Posture and Hitler
Hitler worked with a professional actor to help him develop poses and gestures that suggested authority, confidence, power, and leadership capabilities. In his public appearances, as well as many of the posters depicting him, Hitler sought to project himself as a cult figure, a one-of-a-kind leader, the savior of his nation. And through this he was able to accomplish his goals and spread propoganda far and wide. -
Nazi's and Powerful Images
Powerful images and associations have often been used to send negative messages. Some images and emotional links promote disrespect, distrust, hatred - and the Nazis became masters at the use of this very destructive propaganda. By using this kind of propoganda, the Nazi's were able to make their followers steadfast in their beliefs. -
Playing on Religion
The Nazi's played on the emotions of their followers by first knowing of the feelings they had towards people of the Jewish religion. There was a very long history of anti-Judaism (eventually called anti-semitism) in Europe that had origins in the late Roman Empire and became strongly rooted by the Middle Ages. The growth of the Christian Church led to the marginalization of Jews and centered as it was around Christian ideals, Jews were seen as outsiders. -
Nazi's and Stereotypes
Nazi's used stereotypes widely in order to gain followers. The nature of stereotypes is such that it is always possible to find an example that fits and supports the stereotype. It is the last defense of the biased. What is dishonest about stereotypes is that they extrapolate the exception into the rule. -
Nazi's: Politics and Art
In their attempt to control how the German people thought, the Nazis politicized the aesthetic: they fused politics and art . Then they systematically attacked art that they thought was "un-German" and dangerous. The Nazis confiscated all the art from German museums and artists that they thought was "degenerate", by doing this they insured only their art was seen. -
Nazi's: Art and Text
Art that was confiscated and deemed as not being German in nature was called Degenerate Art. There was an exhibit opened up especially to display this art. The Degenerate Art exhibition was an ingenious fusion of art with text. Before the visitor drew any conclusions about the art, s/he was told what to think by the words silkscreened on the wall. This was a good way for the Nazi party to get their views out. -
Nazi's and the use of Language
Arguably one of the most important Nazi ways of spreading propoganda, strategic language was used to draw in followers. By using certain words, they seduced the listener into participation, but the listener inevitably made an active decision—conscious on some level--to heed the message of the words. Language was "an instrument of social control". -
Creation of the Television
First revealed to the public in 1934, the television has been a huge asset as far as distributing media and propoganda to the masses. This form of visual communication has been very beneficial to propogandists, due to almost everyone owning a television. Commercials, adverstisements, even news sites and channels have managed to do this. -
Creation of the Internet
Due to the vast information available on the internet and the way it is set up, propoganda has been able to be readily distributed, and in turn viewed by millions. Computers are available almost everywhere, which has only furthered the accessablity to propoganda. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, wikipedia, emails, are all good examples of this. -
Definition of Propaganda
Any material that is used to sway or alter public opinion on a subject. Propoganda is distributed in many ways. The key characteristic of propaganda is that it does not appeal to our reason but to our emotions. It is designed to manipulate, not inform.
