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The First World War: A Documentary Record

Series One: European War 1914-1919, the War Reserve Collection (WRA-WRE)
from Cambridge University Library

Part 3: Allied Propaganda
Part 4: German Propaganda

EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION BY DR J M WINTER

The history of thought-control in the twentieth century begins in 1914. It is therefore essential to consider the record of what was (till then) the greatest advertising campaign in history: the propaganda effort of the major combatant powers of the First World War.

The holdings of the Cambridge War Collection are unique in this field. It is very rare for there to be a balance in materials produced by the Allies and Central powers, but in this documentary record, 20 reels of Allied propaganda in Part 3 are followed by 20 reels of German propaganda in Part 4. Equally importantly, the appeal to non-Europeans if emphasised. This meant Americans, to sure, but there is material here vital to our understanding of propaganda among non-English speaking populations, Arabic jostles Spanish in the chorus of voices raised in support of one side or the other in the propaganda war. Through the range of materials presented here, we can follow the chronological development of war propaganda, from high-minded appeals to intellectuals and elites in 1914-15 to broader-based messages meant to persuade millions to accept the exertions and sacrifices needed to win the war from 1916-1918. In this way, we can see the changing political character of the war, especially after the great battles of 1916 on the Somme and at Verdun.

This reproduction of a wide range of weapons in the propaganda war serves another purpose, of increasing importance in the historical understanding of the 1914-18 conflict. Many of these tracts or pamphlets are produced by state agencies. Many are not. It is the distinct advantage of this selection to show the strength of the private sector in the mobilization of minds in the Great War. It is a great mistake to view propaganda as a kind of puppetry, in which the masses are manipulated by power.
Such clumsy directives certainly may be found, but far more numerous were statements of those attempting to reach the masses from below.

We should bear in mind the fact that the 1914-1918 war took place after a period of massive international economic growth, a phase of activity in which the marketing of products and the dissemination of light consumer durable goods expanded more rapidly than ever before in history. Propaganda used these methods of persuasion to sell the biggest product around: the war and the need to win it at all costs.

The sheer scale of the barrage accounts for its success. Propaganda aimed to muzzle dissent. It was there to stop people from thinking about the horrendous costs of a war which threatened to drown in blood all those waging it. It was there to free governments from the encumbrance of organized opposition. And in all countries aside fro Russia, for four years, it worked. Oppositional groups, pacifist elements, antiwar activists were shunned, arrested, pushed aside. To understand how that happened, we need the evidence presented in this collection. Then and only then can we appreciate that propaganda’s greatest achievement was not to end war but to prolong it, for four and a half years and nine million casualties.

J M Winter
Pembroke College, Cambridge


 
 
 

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