Propaganda

PROPAGANDA. The purpose of propaganda is to influ ence opinion and conduct. Between the purpose itself and the methods employed to attain it a distinction should be made, and also between the original meaning of "propaganda" and the mean ing which the word has gradually acquired. Since the World War, when all belligerent countries undertook it as an adjunct to their diplomatic and military operations, propaganda has come to be looked upon as mere advocacy of special interests or as an attempt to gain credence for statements partially or wholly un true. Though this meaning was, and still is, justified, it is not exhaustive, nor are coloured or partial presentations of a particu lar point of view necessarily the most effective form of propa ganda.

In one form or another, propaganda is probably as old as man kind. Rulers of States and political leaders, the founders of re ligions, of schools of philosophy and of new social systems have usually sought to persuade others of the goodness of their ideas and deeds. The most notable instance is the injunction of the Founder of Christianity to the disciples—"Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark XVI. 15.). Obeyed by the early Christians, this injunction was presently re flected in the official style of the committee of cardinals of the Roman Church in charge of foreign missions—Congregatio de propaganda fide. It is likewise held to warrant the activities of non-Catholic Christian missionary societies.

Other religions, especially Islam, have frequently sought to propagate their faith by persuasion or force. The sword was for long the most effective agency of Islamic propaganda—widened later by moral persuasion also—though Islam was by no means the first or the only religious creed to spread its doctrines by physical violence. The Hebrew scriptures contain many references to "the sword of the Lord." The spread of Christianity itself was hastened by military means—witness the campaigns in which Charlemagne imposed it upon pagan tribes, and the forcible con version of Mexico and other countries of central and southern America by the Spanish Conquistadores and their successors. The papacy itself sanctioned wars and persecutions as means of propa ganda; and the annals of protestantism are not wholly free from violent deeds. To propagate or to defend beliefs supposedly salu tary was the purpose. The use of force was the means.

Propaganda Before the War.

Official propaganda, organ ised by Governments, is mainly a post-war undertaking. Before

1914 Germany alone among the great countries of the world car ried it on systematically. While other countries and other Gov ernments engaged, from time to time, in special propagandist campaigns for definite objects, German propaganda was continu ous and widespread. It was carried on chiefly by the Press Bureau of the German Foreign Office among the representatives of f or eign newspapers resident in Berlin ; by foreign press bureaux and telegraph agencies affiliated to the German press bureau and to the German official telegraph agency; by the staffs of German embassies and legations abroad, and by the head offices of foreign branches of German banks and shipping companies. Its object was to spread impressions favourable to Germany, to secure the publication of German views in the press and, as far as possible, to prevent or to neutralise unfavourable comment upon or criti cism of German policy and German affairs. One drawback of this kind of propaganda is that those who engage in it are apt to be its victims. They end by mistaking the impressions which they have sought to convey for the convictions of those who receive them, and therefore to misjudge the effects produced.

War Propaganda.

For some months after the war broke out German propaganda had the field to itself. The Allied Govern ments were unprepared to meet it. Directly, by wireless, and indirectly from centres established in neutral countries, German versions of the causes of the war and of the aims of the belliger ents were circulated throughout the world. Undeniable military successes gave point to many of the German claims. Some Allied Governments were so fearful lest these versions and claims under mine the confidence of their peoples that they forbade even the publication of the German military bulletins. In Great Britain a wiser course was followed. The German bulletins were issued to the Press by the British press bureau and were regularly pub lished, in whole or in part, by British newspapers since they, like the Government, were confident that the public would assess the German statements at their true value. This system was, in itself, a form of counter-propaganda since it used the exaggera tions or the inaccuracies of enemy bulletins to neutralise their effect and to enhance the belief of the British public that it was being told substantially the truth about the progress of the war.