Propaganda has driven countless movements to success or failure throughout history and continues to pervade every aspect of our society today. Propaganda has been developing for thousands of years, growing from some of the earliest ideological conflicts. From the rhetoric of ancient Greece to today’s advertisement-ridden world, propagandizers have persevered whenever their publics began to develop a resistance to their tactics (Jowett & O’Donnell, 2006). The religious reform in the 16th and 17th centuries sparked major growth in propaganda tactics then, over a century later, opposing ideas sparked one of the country’s biggest military conflicts, the American Civil War. New tactics and styles during World Wars I and II in the 20th century made another major push for innovation. All of these developments have come together to pave the way for modern corporate advertising and political propaganda from organizations, like ISIS.
The use of propaganda grew exponentially in times of conflict, such as religious reformation and wars. In the 17th century, the Vatican established “The Congregation for Propagating the Faith” to counter Protestant Reformation. The Protestant Reformation and Catholic Counter-Reformation both were accomplished through propaganda efforts on both sides, Martin Luther by posting writings to the doors of churches and the Vatican through commissioned art and writings that glorified the far-reaching arm of Rome (O'Shaughnessy, 2010). The American Civil War was a military conflict entirely initiated by the spread of opposing ideas. These ideas were spread through various media like newsprint, photography, and novels. This far-reaching spread of ideas resulted in the largest loss of American life from any military conflict still today (O'Shaughnessy, 2010). This war also led to the creation of a mythological Southern heritage that went on to inspire films such as “Gone with the Wind” and “Birth of a Nation.” Without major sociological and military conflicts like these, propaganda could not be the refined art it is known as today (O'Shaughnessy, 2010).
The development of propaganda theory during conflicts continued beyond the 19th century with the start of World War I in 1914. The United States government contributed greatly to this development with the establishment of the Committee on Public Information (CPI). This committee worked to win both American and European citizens over with countless posters, films, speeches, and other propagandistic materials. World War I brought new breeds of propaganda through magazine, newspaper and radio advertisements (Taveira & Nyerges, 2016). This propaganda was so influential that the American people grew a deep hatred for all things German. American citizens even began to call German foods by different names (Tunc, 2012).
Between World War I and World War II the American people developed tools to identify and counteract propaganda, especially after the popular seven device framework was published in high school textbooks. The seven device framework was not originally created by those creating propaganda, but rather by those trying to fight it (Sproule, 2001). This organization was called the Institute for Propaganda Analysis. The primary goal of the IPA was to fight the rampant spread of polarizing ideas during the Great Depression (Sproule, 2001). This forced propaganda practitioners to further its development (Squires, 1939). This challenge was met head-on.
During World War II propaganda was spread in new ways, including exposing children to war-time propaganda and specialized food packaging. Examples of this include the editor of American Boy magazine encouraging their young readers to “try now to think like men. For this space of time, remember that the truest patriotism you can offer is to refrain from being a drag and a responsibility on your elders.” Other publications like this, such as St. Nicholas Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls, often tied the qualities of a soldier to heroism. The Rally pushed American girls to be soldiers at home by supporting the troops (Collins, 2012). In another effort to market pro-war ideologies to domestic audiences like housewives and children, food brands recognized the untapped influence their products held and began to use packaging and product names to urge support for the war (Tunc, 2012).
Major developments in propaganda also occurred during World War II due to the Nazis’ innovation. The Nazis forced almost all media outlets to fall in their with their message which contributed to the success of their party (Führer, 2012). Only select media outlets were exempt from pushing the Nazi agenda, such as the Frankfurter Zeitung. The Frankfurter Zeitung was Germany’s most popular newspaper, read both domestically and in foreign powers like the U.S. and Britain. The Frankfurter Zeitung was known to be fairly liberal and were not required to publish Nazi propaganda. They would even sometimes publish articles that were slightly contradictory to the Nazi ideologies. This allowed the Frankfurter Zeitung’s readers to maintain a sense of normalcy and for the international readership to believe that not all of the German media was forced to fall into line (Führer, 2012).
While the Frankfurter Zeitung was putting on a mask of normalcy in allied countries, the Nazi party was busy pushing “Islamofascism” to the Arab world (Wildangel, 2012). Hitler’s comrades tried a multitude of new propagandistic techniques on this front, from a specialized radio station to dropping flyers and pamphlets. While the Nazi’s thought that this campaign was wildly successful, recently discovered materials told a different story (Wildangel, 2012). Largely, this campaign failed, but could this campaign have laid part of the groundwork for radicalization and other events that led to ISIS developing such strong propagandic materials?
Up until this point in history, governments seemed to have been making leaps in developing and adapting propaganda to consistently be successful in winning their citizens over. This all changed with the Vietnam War (Kodosky, 2017). During the war, the American government carried out a series of “PSYOP missions” which consisted of bombarding the people below. These people were not bombarded by any of the usual suspects, but by leaflets, radio broadcasts, and loudspeaker announcements (Kodosky, 2017). The planes that carried out these missions were often referred to as “B.S. bombers” and this practice quickly gained outspoken critics. Not only was it a massive waste of resources, but it was also unbelievably dangerous for pilots. They were often left “Unarmed, Alone and Terrified” because they had to fly low and slow to fulfill their mission of spreading American propaganda (Kodosky, 2017).
Propaganda has shaped history as we know it by causing the success or failure of major ideologies and administrations and continues to affect our world today. As this illustration of the history of propaganda has shown us, it is a force that will continue to influence society even as it's best practitioners are replaced by youth. Although people may denounce its permeating power, we will never know a world untouched by propaganda.