WW1 - how did the British government use propaganda to build up and maintain support for the war?

Question

I desperately need help with this question. I have to form a hypothesis about it.

Does anyone have any links to websites that are accredited? Meaning I can put it on a bibliography?

Also if anyone wants to offer up ideas for a hypothesis, go for your life.

Thankyou!
x

Answer 1

I'll toss these links & blurbs at you and you can sort them out thenb I'll come back with some commentary...

One of my favorite sites but right wing Evangelicals hate it---

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWwpb.htm
"""Soon after the outbreak of the First World War, in August 1914, the British government discovered that Germany had a Propaganda Agency. David Lloyd George, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, was given the task of setting up a British War Propaganda Bureau (WPB). Lloyd George, appointed the successful writer and fellow Liberal MP, Charles Masterman as head of the organization.

On 2nd September, 1914, Masterman invited twenty-five leading British authors to Wellington House, the headquarters of the War Propaganda Bureau, to discuss ways of best promoting Britain's interests during the war. Those who attended the meeting included Arthur Conan Doyle, Arnold Bennett, John Masefield, Ford Madox Ford, William Archer, G. K. Chesterton, Sir Henry Newbolt, John Galsworthy, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, Gilbert Parker, G. M. Trevelyan and H. G. Wells.

All the writers present at the conference agreed to the utmost secrecy, and it was not until 1935 that the activities of the War Propaganda Bureau became known to the general public. Several of the men who attending the meeting agreed to write pamphlets and books that would promote the government's view of the situation. The bureau got commercial companies to print and publish the material. This included Hodder & Stoughton, Methuen, Oxford University Press, John Murray, Macmillan and Thomas Nelson.

One of the first pamphlets to be published was Report on Alleged German Outrages, that appeared at the beginning of 1915. This pamphlet attempted to give credence to the idea that the German Army had systematically tortured Belgian civilians. The great Dutch illustrator, Louis Raemakers, was recruited to provide the highly emotionally drawings that appeared in the pamphlet.

The WPB published over 1160 pamphlets during the war. This included To Arms! (Arthur Conan Doyle), The Barbarism in Berlin (G. K. Chesterton), The New Army (Rudyard Kipling), The Two Maps of Europe (Hilaire Belloc), Liberty, A Statement of the British Case and War Scenes on the Western Front (Arnold Bennett), Is England Apathetic? (Gilbert Parker), Gallipoli and the Old Front Line (John Masefield), The Battle of Jutland and The Battle of the Somme (John Buchan), A Sheaf and Another Sheaf (John Galsworthy), England's Effort and Towards the Goal (Mary Humphrey Ward) and When Blood is Their Argument (Ford Madox Ford).

One of the first projects devised by Charles Masterman was the publication of a history of the war in the form of a monthly magazine. He recruited John Buchan to take charge of its production. Published by Buchan's own company, Thomas Nelson, the first installment of the Nelson's History of the War, appeared in February, 1915. A further twenty-three editions appeared at regular intervals throughout the war. Given the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps, Buchan was also provided with the documents needed to write the book. General Headquarters Staff (GHQ) saw this as good for propaganda as Buchan's close relationship with Britain's military leaders made it extremely difficult for him to include any critical comments about the way the war was being fought.

Only two photographers, both army officers, were allowed to take pictures of the Western Front. The penalty for anyone else caught taking a photograph of the war was the firing squad. Charles Masterman was aware that the right sort of pictures would help the war effort. In May 1916 Masterman recruited the artist, Muirhead Bone. He was sent to France and by October had produced 150 drawings of the war. When Bone returned to England he was replaced by his brother-in-law, Francis Dodd, who had been working for the Manchester Guardian. In 1917 arrangements were made to send other artists abroad including Eric Kennington, William Orpen, Paul Nash, C. R. W. Nevinson and William Rothenstein. Masterman also recruited John Lavery to paint pictures of the home front.

In February, 1917, the government established a Department of Information. Given the rank Lieutenant Colonel, John Buchan was put in charge on the department on an annual salary of £1,000 a year. Charles Masterman retained responsibility for books, pamphlets, photographs and war paintings and T. L. Gilmour dealt with cables, wireless, newspapers, magazines and the cinema. ""

http://www.greatwar.nl/students/papers/collins/propaganda.html
""""""""The purpose of the WPB was to create ways to keep people's morale high and to give the impression that Britain was in control of the War. Charles Masterman, who was a successful writer and Liberal MP, decided to gather the thoughts of some of the best British authors to decide what to do. He invited 25 authors who all agreed to keep all activities at the WPB secret. The government asked authors to write pamphlets and books which were, basically, propaganda. They used commercial companies such as Hodder & Stoughton, T.Fisher Unwin, Oxford University Press, Macmillan, and Nelson to publish the material. This was a clever move, because the general public might not have believe articles written by the government, but by having them produced by a commercial publisher it looked like an unbiased view of the situation. Charles Masterman admitted as much, as the following quote from a report for the government from the WPB shows:
'We have endeavoured throughout…our literature…read it without any knowledge of any "Government Bureau" behind it…All our literature, therefore, except definite Government publications, has been issued under personal names or distributed by well-known publishers.' """"""""


And this site has cool posters - - -
http://www.firstworldwar.com/posters/index.htm
And this site has Songs - - - now there is a Hypothesis for You - - - did all those catchy commercials selling Viagra & anti depressents begin on the Music Hall Stage selling World War One?

As for a Hypothesis you can never go wrong with, 'How To Sell A War.' I would suggest identifying five key elements; A) Recruitment, B) Civillian Morale, C) Morale within the Armed Forces, D) Reasurring Allies & enticing others to join, and my favorite, E) Scaring the enemy and misinforming them...


Good luck with your project - - - - Peace--------------
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Oh and a cynical thesis - - - did a lot of hack writers find gainful employment convincing the British Goverment that the way to win wars was with words/

Actually without the cynicism, there is a grand hypothesis for you.

Winning World War Wth Words.

(see 1980s pop song 'What are words for?")

Peace.............

Answer 2

Ww1 Propaganda Songs

Answer 3

Wilson did a wonderful job of blaming everything on the Germans. Propaganda. He sold arms to England. He suppressed freedom by several laws. He lobbied to get the Senate to yield its power to the public media. Prior to Wilson, the Senate was elected by each State's legislature, and the Legislature did not support National politicians. They only support people loyal to the their own State. So it took a lot of back scratching by Senators to get any bill passed. You would never have seen the bills that are so bloated with favors for one state over the other's because Senators do not have to suck up to locals in their State, they just go to California get money and let the mass media tell the rubes in MN, MT, IA how good their lying Senator is. Example: Franken of MN (pure CA money). Obama would never have been off the streets of Chicago, if the legislators of IL had any say for the US Senate. I am a strong advocate to repeal both the XVI and XVII amendments and return to the original Constitution.

Answer 4

Hello,
you can find a free download of Men of War here: http://j.mp/Y2OVRH

Finally the full version is avaiable!
Your progress and completed goals in Men of War: Assault Squad will be recognized with points, which will serve you to increase your troops.
It's amazing.

Answer 5

2

Answer 6

1