The Story of Propaganda
The American Historical Association produced the G.I. Roundtable Series to help win World War
II. Or so they were led to believe. In fact the U.S. Army sought the pamphlets as part of a larger
effort to prepare for the transition to the postwar world, and represent a novel effort at social
control. "What Is Propaganda?" by Ralph D. Casey, was published in July 1944.
The fact that wars give rise to intensive propaganda campaigns has made many persons suppose
that propaganda is something new and modern. The word itself came into common use in this
country as late as 1914, when World War I began. The truth is, however, that propaganda is not
new and modern. Nobody would make the mistake of assuming that it is new if, from early times,
efforts to mobilize attitudes and opinions had actually been called “propaganda.” The battle for
men’s minds is as old as human history.
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history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-2-what-is-
propaganda-(1944)/the-story-of-propaganda
A Brief History of Propaganda
Religious propagation
The term 'propaganda' first appeared in 1622 when Pope Gregory XV established the Sacred Congregation
for Propagating the Faith (Congregatio de Propaganda Fide). Propaganda was then as now about convincing
large numbers of people about the veracity of a given set of ideas.
Of course, propaganda is as old as people, politics and religion. People with ideas will always want to
persuade others about them and, if they have the power, they will pull every string they have to persuade
everyone.
The notion of propaganda remained one of propagating beliefs and doctrines remained the primary definition
until the first world war (1914-18).
Propaganda and war
Wars have always been a good reason to use propaganda, as governments seek to persuade populaces of the
justness of their cause as well as hide the horrors and failures of the front line. Misinformation and
disinformation are widely used to distract people from the truth and create new realities.
Entry into the first world war was apparently accompanied with many stories of atrocities that were false.
Things have not changed and more recent wars have also had more than their fair share of propaganda and
false excuses.
One of the basic successful home messages of the war was that everything Germans said was a lie and
everything Americans said was the truth. This gave a platform for sustaining faith in ultimate victory and cast
Germany as an evil to be destroyed.
In 1933, Hitler realized the potential of propaganda and appointed Joseph Goebbels as Minister for
Propaganda. Goebbels was remarkably effective and much of the propaganda literature discusses in detail the
methods they used.
The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA)
In 1936 Boston merchant Edward Filene helped establish the short-lived Institute for Propaganda Analysis
which sought to educate Americans to recognize propaganda techniques. Although it did not last long, they
did produce a list of seven propaganda methods that have become something of a standard.
Bandwagon: Pump up the value of 'joining the party'.
Card-stacking: Build a highly-biased case for your position.
Glittering Generalities: Use power words to evoke emotions.
Name-calling: Denigrating opponents.
Plain Folks: Making the leader seem ordinary increases trust and credibility.
Testimonial: The testimony of an independent person is seen as more trustworthy.
Transfer: Associate the leader with trusted others.
The modern world
Propaganda and manipulation of reality continues to be used in large quantities in the modern world.
Governments continue to tell their constituencies what they think they need to know. Advertisers use the
whole gamut of propagandist techniques. And although some people can see the reality (and some theorize
about improbable conspiracies), most people are taken in and see nothing of how they are manipulated.
Books such as Bernays' Propaganda in 1928 still treated it as a force for good and an effective method of
mass social persuasion, even though the ethics of its use varied greatly. His book starts with a sentence that
would cause much concern today, yet which then seemed practical and acceptable:
The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is
an important element in a democratic society.
The dominant view of the populace then was of an uneducated, ill-informed mass whose views should be
directed rather than allow them to think. Thinking on higher matters was really for managers and rulers who
could decide what was best for lesser people.
The discipline of public relations (PR) started as a profession after the first world war as the commercial benefits of careful
propaganda were realized.
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