Propaganda Throughout History

Propaganda has existed as a manner of communication for a long time. It was origin all in ally a neutral terminus utilizationd to describe the dissemination of data in favor of either aband one(a)d ca mathematical function. The redefinition implying its now negative connation arose because of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germ boths admitted use of propaganda favoring communism and fascism respectively, in all numbers of their commonplace expression. Propaganda downstairs this connation still exists, withal its evolution over the centuries has ensured its survival in the most retiring(a) ways.This paper will in high spiritslight the definitions of propaganda, the uses of propaganda in history through religion, Nazi Germany and the parky contend its reappearance after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the 1995 Canadian referendum, evolution into advertising and how decree today has become almost extraneous to it. What is Propaganda? Traditional propaganda is defined as a syst ematic manipulation of public depression, generally through the use of symbols, monuments, speeches and publications.Todays modern propaganda is distinguished from otherwise forms of communication in that it is consciously and deliberately use to influence collection attitudes with all other communication functions being secondary. Therefore, almost any sweat to sway public opinion, including lobbying, commercial message advertising and even missionary work, brush aside be broadly interpreted as propaganda. However propaganda, more oft than not, is associated with political military positions referring to efforts by judicatures and political groups.Propaganda itself bottom of the inning be categorized as White, aged, or opaque, depending on the accuracy of development and where source is credited if its credited at all White propaganda is defined as access from a source that is identified correctly and contains information that tends to be straight much(prenominal) as national pride messages. A message considered murky propaganda when the source is concealed or credited to a false authority, and spreads lies, fabrications and deceptions. Gray propaganda falls any(prenominal)where between these two forms as the source innocencethorn or may not be correctly identified, and the accuracy of the information is uncertain.Ultimately though, the advantage or failure of any propaganda depends on the receivers willingness to accept the credibility of the source and the content of the message. Religious Propaganda The first of all use of propaganda is credited to the Catholic Church with their creation of sainthood which was created to influence opinions and principles on apparitional issues. From the fourth century onwards, the church launched an immense propaganda campaign fuck offed at communicating the character, powers and importance of saints as a method of keeping the loyalty of their existent followers and as a tactic to gain new whizzs .The taboo Congregation for the Propagation of Faith was responsible for the campaign in spreadhead this message. Through their monasteries, the church was able to tar start emperors, kings and upper noblemen with the message of the saints. formerly the church had the buy-in of rulers, the reputations of these saints were given more validity to the general population and their shrines became saved as sacred places. It should be noted that during this period very rough people outside the church were literate thereby making affairmark of any information difficult.In order to spread the message of the saints, the church used relied on oral messaging and stories told through images such(prenominal) as in the stained glass seen today in cathedrals. For the average person, the church carried unassailable authority as it was considered to be the leading source of knowledge. With this power, the church was comfortably able to bring their saints to life, so to speak. turn the propa ganda of saints was originally intended as a missionary besidesl, their payoffing successes strengthen a variety of religious objectives.Saints helped reinstate the monastic faecal matter after a period of crisis by generating funds to complete cathedrals and gave the church a major tool for controlling familiar religious trends. They also fueled the enthusiasm for the Spanish crusade which is an clarified example of one of the churchs most immediate favored propagandist campaign with its mission of bringing all together in Christendom. Spurred on by the words of Pope Urban II that Muslims had conquered Jerusalem, the crusaders mission was to recapture the Holy Land and they dedicated their lives to this in return for the promise of redemption.Nazi Germany During the 20th century, the arrival of radio and video recording enabled propagandists to scope more people than before. In addition to the development of these modern medias, state of war and political movements had also contributed to the growing importance of propaganda in the 20th century. Of all the propaganda artists throughout history, no one is better known than Adolf Hitler. During his rein in Nazi Germany, he saturated schools, government and every part of Germans daily lives with propaganda.His keen and sinister insight into mass psychology contributed to Nazi Germany being noted for its psychologically powerful propaganda much of which was relate on the Jews who were made the scapegoats for Germanys economic woes. Hitler was as a gifted verbalizer who, as history shows, captivated the masses with his beating of the podium and growling, emotional speeches. Authentic as they may have seemed, these speeches were full of propaganda and rhetoric which he used to appeal to the economic submit of the lower and middle classes, piece of music sounding resonant chords of nationalism, anti-Semitism and anti-communism.Threatened by hyperinflation, political chaos and a doable Communist t akeover, Hitler, offered Germans scapegoats and solutions. To the economically depressed he promised to despoil Jew financiers and to workers he promised security. He gained the financial retain of bankers and industrialists with his hostility towards Communism and promises to control trade unionism. Shortly after coming to power, Hitlers Third Reich established the Ministry of Propaganda, whose aim was to ensure the Nazi message was successfully communicated through art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials and the media.Films in particular played an important role in disseminating racial Anti-Semitism, portraying Jews as subhuman creatures infiltrating an Aryan society. The Ministry successfully censored and/or eliminated any viewpoint it felt posed a threat to Nazi beliefs or to the regime leaving only the propagandistic message available to the masses. The Cold War Nazi Germanys invasion of the Soviet Union squeeze the United States, the United Kingdom a nd the Soviet Union into wartime cooperation despite their medieval tensions.However, from the start, the alliance between the worlds leading economic power, the worlds largest colonial empire and the worlds first Communist state was marked by mutual distrust and ideologic tension. The Cold War began shortly after the end of World War II over disagreements on how postwar Europe should be rebuilt. term neither side ever officially fought the other, as the consequences would be too appalling with the Soviet Unions Red Army and the the Statesns self-denial of the A-bomb, they did wage an incredible war of propaganda.Soviet propaganda focused mainly on overcoming such hardships as exploitation of the working class, racial discrimination and discrimination against women. Their propaganda draw the Soviet society as a modern, progressive culture. While they relied upon a variety of resources for propaganda, their posters were the Soviets most influential pieces. These posters focused u pon the achievements of Russian communists politically, economically and technologically.Domestically, these posters aimed at increasing government support and building patriotism. some posters focused upon anti-American sentiments. The American capitalist was portrayed as a large, plump old man dressed in a black tie and hat. Typical actions of the capitalist in Soviet posters included withholding scrap from hungry peasants or running over children with his shiny car. These posters attacked the benefits of the wealth that result from capitalism, while other posters showed the effects of capitalism on poverty.In 1942 the United States created the note of War Information (OWI), which was responsible for disseminating anti-communist propaganda in order to convince Americans that the US was justified in this new battle. The anti-communist propaganda made Americans fearful and strengthened the movement to support the United States opposition to communist states. This propaganda satu rated books, pamphlets, comics, films, and radio for almost 30 years during the Cold War. Hollywood films became a common lineament to further propagandize the communist platform with titles such as apocalypse Now, Red Dawn and Dr. Strangelove .Among its wide-ranging responsibilities, OWI reviewed and approved the design and content of government posters and established the phonate of America, as a method of transmitting its messages to the masses. Voice of America still remains the official government broadcasting helper of the United States today. Funded by the US government, it defines itself as an international broadcasting function boasting 1,000 hours of tidings, information, educational, and cultural programming weekly to a worldwide audience of approximately 115 million people. Propaganda in northmost America Today 9/11 and the War on TerrorismIn the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers in 2001, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld quickly created a modern rendition of the OWI, with the Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) to disseminate war information. In the detailed planning stages leading up to an invasion of Iraq, the twisting of public opinion in the US, and rough the world, was an integral part of their war agenda. Acts of war were proclaim humanitarian interventions geared towards regime change and the looseningoration of democracy. military occupation and the killing of civilians are presented as peace-keeping.In news reports on actual, possible or future terrorist attacks, the propaganda campaign exhibited a consistent pattern referring to bona fide sources or a growing body of evidence and included observe phrases such as terrorist groups involved had ties to Bin Laden or Al Qaeda. News reports unwittingly confirmed the Americas need to initiate pre-emptive actions directed against these various terrorist organizations and/or the foreign governments that harbour the terrorists. These types of news r eports were also used to justify ethnic profiling and mass arrests of presumed terrorists.As it had do during the Cold War, the government also influenced the scope and direction of many Hollywood productions as immediately following 9/11. One third of Hollywood productions were war movies that rein draw outd the message of patriotism such as Black Hawk Down and Spy Game. In their book Propaganda and Persuasion , authors Garth Jowett and capital of Seychelles ODonnell suggest that overtly patriotic national celebrations are forms white propaganda. Celebrations such as the Fourth of July or Canada Day are designed to increase patriotism by bolstering national pride and glorifying dying for ones country.In 1991, President Bush went to watch one of the US oldest annual Independence Day celebrations held in Missouri. Wearing an American keel in his pocket, he praised American troops who fought in the Persian disconnectedness conjectureing the war had made everyone in the country pro ud to say I am an American and I love my country. These types of propagandistic celebrations are crucial in times of war, drawing on the emotions of its countrymen in order for the government to gain support for its actions. My Canada Includes Quebec In 1995, Canadians faced the hatchway of the province of Quebecs separation from Canada.Since the referendum battle was over the hypothetical situation with complex facts and nationalist emotions, the most important fight of the referendum was for the minds and spirits of the Quebec selectrs. Spearheaded by the separatist Bloc Quebecois Party, Quebec residents were fed a continuous current of negative images of federalism into their collective psyche. The majority of the propaganda during the referendum came from the Bloc Quebecois (separatists) and Party Quebecois (nationalists) who used a combination of party ideas, facts and images to spread the idea that rest of Canada would never recognize Quebecs distinctiveness.To that end, N ationalists launched the slogan that a vote for the Non is a vote for the status quo. However, the majority of their propagandistic campaign revolved around discrediting federalism as harming Quebec to help to reinforce their core nationalist support presenting their images of a peaceful, tardily separation and the inevitability of Quebec becoming a normal nation-state. On the undulate side, Federalists launched their own campaign to counter the pro-separatist and nationalist propagandistic messaging.Federalists employed facts of the high cost of separation and the dangers of instability and ethnic conflict, as an attempt to for force the Nationalists into defending the need of an independent state. Today most of the propaganda in the North America comes from governments and various private entities. In this respect, propaganda is an ambiguous term that can often meaning the same as advertising. Radio, newspaper, posters, books, and anything else the government might confide out to the widespread public can be considered, by definition, propaganda. announce as PropagandaIn the early 20th century, the founders of the growing public relations effort originally used the term propaganda to describe their activities. This usage died out around the time of World War II, as the industry started to avoid the word, given the negative connotation it had acquired. Whatever you call it, advertising is a form of propaganda as it is ever-present and the message it carries is a result of ulterior motives by people who want to make money and maintain the status quo. aboard the news, advertising is a tool that shapes public opinion.Everywhere you look there is some form of advertising, whether youre driving a car or taking public transit, there is advertising. Billboards, posters, newspapers, magazines everywhere we turn we are exposed to some form of advertising pushing a product, concept or belief on to us. Advertising is a fiercely competitive industry with success won not necessarily by the best product, but alternatively with the best advertising. As advertising relies on the amount of coverage or penetration, coupled with the quality of the delivery, it is easy to see how it compares to propaganda.If a tag or a brand logo is reproduced enough to become recognizable by a large section of the community, it becomes part of the social landscape and straightaway embedded into the mind. Advertising has evolved from its beginnings as a text-based medium highlighting a products merits into the marketing feelings, lifestyle and fantasy with advertising campaigns such as Calvin Kleins Obsession, which feature highly sexualized images that convey beauty and manliness though photographs of almost nude models.Consumers have become oblivious to the propagandistic qualities of advertising but are not immune to its effects. Look at the successful marketing of energiser batteries with its creation of its energiser Bunny. Since 1989, Energizer has featur ed its bunny in their commercials, hammering the simple message it keeps tone ending and going into the minds of consumers. Energizer is an excellent example of a company that has successfully ensured consumers understand their product message by employing the techniques of propaganda.When watching a commercial for Energizer, consumers now immediately associate the infamous pink bunny to the Energizer product. For its success, the Energizer Bunny campaign was recognized as one of the Top Five Advertising Icons of the 20th Century, and has received multiple television advertising awards. Conclusion Throughout history, propaganda has been used and misused to suit the ineluctably of governments during times of crisis, such as war and political instability, and to garner support for private causes such as Christianity in the fourth century.With increased literacy and information readily available to support and/or refute arguments, society is more alert to messages of government/poli tical propaganda and what is strictly information dissemination than its forefathers. However, under the guise of advertising, propaganda continues to be an acceptable tool of persuasion a multi-billion dollar bill industry in fact Consumers are critical when analyzing information presented by governing bodies, yet readily accept the messages/promising conveyed in advertising. Would society be as indifferent to advertising if it were still called propaganda?The formation of guard dog groups, such as Adbusters, call attention of the propagandistic messages by challenge facts and parodying advertising campaigns with unpleasant product realities. With their proclaimed goal to get folks to get mad about corporate disinformation , Adbusters has created campaigns such as TV negative stimulation Week, a method of mass protest against the inundation of commercial messages. While such watchdog groups call attention to advertisings one-sided, selfish message, it is up to consumers to pay attention to product messaging and its effects on our culture.