World War I And Propaganda
Just like any other war, even World War I was plagued by propaganda with each side trying to show that the enemy was bad. However, due to propaganda, the people did not find out the truth and the government made sure that the people only found out things about the war that they wanted them to find out. However, the level of propaganda used during World War I was unimaginable. |
The governments controlled all forms of information. Newspapers could publish articles and reports only what the governments wanted their people to know and read. This was prevalent in Britain as well as Germany and all other countries who were fighting the war. The newspapers carried stories that were meant to stir up emotions of the people. The newspapers were not worried to check whether the stories were correct. Some of the famous headlines in British newspapers included the following:
- Belgian Child's Hands Cut Off By Germans
- Germans Crucify Canadian Officer
Basically, the propaganda wanted to ensure that the hatred for the Germans was maintained. At the same time, the Germans also resorted to the same tactics. They too allowed their newspapers to print untrue stories. Some of the headlines in German newspapers included:
- French Doctors Infect German Wells With Plague Germs
- German Prisoners Blinded By Allied Captors
As the stories from different newspapers circulated along the Western Front, they kept changing and went from bad to worse. The Allied forces used propaganda to paint the Germans as evil and the Germans did the same.
Also, with propaganda, governments controlled the casualty figures that were published in the newspaper. The casualty figures that were published were always kept at acceptable levels and the Allied successes were highlighted, while their losses were not mentioned. For instance, when the Germans were fighting the French at Verdun, which is just a 150 miles from Paris, the people in Paris were not informed of the initial losses that the French suffered. If a person was found talking about what was actually happening in Verdun, he or she was arrested and labeled as an agent provocateur. All countries used this method of propaganda.
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In the Adriatic, during the First World War, the naval campaign was fought between the Central Powers and the Allied forces. The Allied forces that took part in the campaign include Britain, France, Italy, Australia and the US. As a result many World War I shipwrecks in the Adriatic are present even today. In modern times, scuba diving is very popular in the Adriatic and many scuba diving schools have a session for divers to explore these World War I shipwrecks. 