Censored 2012 (50 page)

Concurrently with Augustus’s rule and that of his successor Tiberius, Jesus Christ grafted onto the Judaic monotheistic religion a universalism based on love and the willingness of God, in the person of Jesus, to identify with the lowliest among the people, to the point of enduring the pain and humiliation of crucifixion, a punishment allotted to rebellious slaves. This religion spread to Rome, rivaling established polytheistic beliefs. Early emperors persecuted followers of Christianity, but later ones were converted and Christianity spread through the empire, surviving its fall. To call this spread of religion “propaganda” requires careful attention to the meaning of that word. Under Ellul’s definition, sincere followers of Christianity, anxious to spread the word to benefit others, would not be engaging in propaganda, as their aim was to benefit others rather than gain power over them. On the other hand, at the time of the Crusades, there were undoubtedly those who harnessed the Christian faith for their own aims, to seek power. Atrocity stories encouraged militancy against Muslims in the Holy Land. The involvement of the Church in temporal affairs increased starting from the eighth century, after the supposed will of the Emperor Constantine (274–337 CE)—the “Donation of Constantine”—bequeathed the western part of the Roman Empire to the Catholic Church, though the document was later determined to be a forgery.

Among the notable techniques assisting the spread of Christianity was Saint Paul’s practice of becoming “all things to all men,” by adapting his speech so as to be accessible to his audiences. He gained access to the Athenians by venturing to speak about “the unknown god,” who figured in the Athenian Pantheon. Christianity was also spread with the assistance of memorable symbols, such as the fish, which in Greek is
ichthys
. The letters of
ichthys
can be taken as an acronym for Jesus Christ, of God, Son, Saviour
(Iesous Christos, Theos, Yios, Soter)
. The Emperor Constantine reportedly experienced a heavenly vision in which the symbol of the Christogram, made up of the Greek letters
chi
and rho, appeared to him along with the words “in
hoc signo vinces
” (“with this sign you will conquer”). This symbol was widely reproduced.

Following the twelfth century, Anglo-Norman princes promoted monarchical power, helped by favorably written history, the political songs of wandering minstrels, the recitation by pilgrims of heroic poems, and visual works such as the Bayeux Tapestry, which gave an account of William the Conqueror’s victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, told from a Norman viewpoint. Legal philosophers called legists made their appearance in universities, promoting the new centralized monarchy. Adept both in canon and feudal law they were able to combat both the church and the lords. They made use of slogans, such as “The king is above the law,” or the French
“Que veut le roi, si veut la loi”
(“What the king wills is law”). Kings and queens in turn founded colleges at universities and paid attention to communications, including dramatic presentations, to maintain, as we would say today, a favorable image. Writers and playwrights who negatively portrayed the monarchy paid with their lives.

The invention of the printing press in the mid-1400s provided opportunities for large-scale print propaganda, both in support of or in opposition to the Reformation, and so royalty asserted its power by restricting publication through licensing requirements. John Milton’s famous tract against licensing,
Areopagitica
, was addressed to Parliament in 1644 as a protest against reinstitution of the practice. To counteract the influence of heterodox teaching on the faithful, the
Catholic Church developed an index of prohibited books and imposed the death penalty on influential figures that persisted in heretical teaching during the Inquisition.

In France, King Louis XIV (1638–1715) made use of the propaganda of prestige with the splendid buildings at Versailles. Court etiquette was elaborate and provided a way of distinguishing between the favored and the disfavored. He made use of gazetteers, who brought messages from the king to the public, and who also sounded out reactions from the people. In that way he could get early warnings of dissent and act to prevent them from turning into revolt.

With the French Revolution came the uprooting of established order and a corresponding search for meaning to replace that which had been previously provided by church, king, family, and community. Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and other writers of the Enlightenment cast doubt on some of the beliefs underpinning the old order. The example of successful revolution in the United States, based on John Locke’s idea of individual rights, and Rousseau’s rhetorically powerful statement, “Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains,” contributed to the hope and energy to bring about a more just world. The governing ideas of the revolution—of
“patrie”
(fatherland); of liberty, equality, and fraternity—were reinforced everywhere by all manner of different media: festivals, pamphlets, posters, medallions, playing cards, engravings, dress, ribbons, songs, crockery, and more. The liberty cap, the liberty tree, and the pikestaff took on symbolic importance. Trousers (
sans-culottes
) replaced knee breeches. The cock (
gallus
in Latin) symbolized France by virtue of the connection with
Gallus
(a Gaul). Clubs such as the Jacobin Club served as instruments of propaganda, spreading the message around the country. Where the Romans had the crucifixion to keep the lower orders in check, the revolutionaries terrorized leaders of the old order by use of the guillotine, at the same time creating a bond among those looking for justice or revenge.

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) knew how to capitalize on the need for a sense of identity, promoting himself, with the help of artist Jacques-Louis David, as a glorious, heroic leader of the French, destined to spread the values of the Enlightenment around the world. Like Augustus Caesar, he influenced people with impressive military victories and, more importantly, with how his activities were reported.
He provided employment with the army and with public works such as the Arc de Triomphe. He showed concern for health and education, instituting elite schools and encouraging free vaccination for all citizens. He gave prizes to authors and pensions to actors. By decree he drastically reduced the number of newspapers and theaters in Paris, subjecting the remainder to controls. “Truth is not half so important as what people think to be true,” was part of his guiding philosophy. He gave the appearance of being faithful to the Catholic Church, but for symbolic reasons took the crown of emperor from the Pope and put it on his own head at his coronation. School catechisms proclaimed: “To honor and serve our Emperor is … to honor and serve God himself.”

The growth of mass-circulation newspapers in the next century, then, subsequently, other mass communication media of the twentieth century—notably radio, film, and later television—added to the potential for totalitarian rule. German nationalism grew in reaction to Napoleon’s conquest. Carl von Clausewitz (1781–1831), director of the Berlin Military Academy, recognized that the new warfare required the support of the people and hence saw the importance of propaganda to encourage one’s own side while undermining the morale of one’s enemies, and also to win over the support of neutral nations. Soldiers who risk their lives need to believe that their cause is just if they are to fight with passion.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century a powerful form of imperial ideology took root in Britain and France, an ideology that was not altogether new. Already, the poet Edmund Spenser (1552–1599) had written about the state of Ireland as one that was primitive and lawless beyond the Pale (a fortified area around Dublin where the British ruled more effectively). Ideas of nationalist superiority were combined with neo-Darwinian racial beliefs and enhanced symbolism of the monarchy under Queen Victoria, in order to give new impetus to military conquest of other parts of the world deemed to be in need of civilizing influence. Invaders were rewarded with gold, diamonds, and other valuable resources. Rudyard Kipling’s expression, “White Man’s Burden,” captured the belief that imperialism was in line with Victorian ideas of moral duty and self-sacrifice. The push for imperialism best fits Ellul’s observations of “pre-propaganda” or “sociological propaganda,”
whereby individuals’ outlooks are transformed by myths about the Nation, the Hero, the Race, Progress, the Leader, and the like, without necessarily emanating from a specific, identifiable source.
⁵
Rather, they arise from situations where certain ideas and feelings are generated with a measure of spontaneity and find a responsive and reinforcing chord among the general public. The ugly side of British imperialism—such as the internment of the Boers’ wives and children in deadly, disease-ridden concentration camps—was inadequately reported to the public; the
Times
instead gave glowing reports of the heroism of people like Colonel Robert Baden-Powell. Cecil Rhodes, along with two partners, acquired a controlling interest in influential South African newspapers, which furnished anti-Boer atrocity stories passed on by the
Times
as truth, inciting the British to supply troops for war. J. A. Hobson, the South African correspondent for the
Manchester Guardian
, termed the Rhodes-controlled press “an elaborate factory of detailed mendacity for the purpose of stimulating British action.”
⁶

French and German nationalisms developed in a collision course in the nineteenth century, each reacting against the other. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870, where an increasingly united Germany defeated its former conquerors, set the stage for renewed militarism in France and the later outbreak of World War I. Schools in both countries indoctrinated youth on the need to preserve the honor of their nation against its rivals. A poignant scene in the classic antiwar movie,
All Quiet on the Western Front
, shows the German Gymnasium (an elite college) classics professor linking Roman history to the duty of the young to serve in their country’s armed forces, it being fitting and proper to die for one’s country.

World War I gave rise to propaganda on an unprecedented scale. The British engaged in worldwide propaganda, developing a highly articulated apparatus for influencing world opinion. The main source of propaganda was Wellington House, Britain’s War Propaganda Bureau, named after the building where operations were located. From the beginning, in August 1939, it organized an extensive network of well-known
writers, speakers, and communicators under the direction of C. F. M. Masterman, publishing books, pamphlets, picture magazines, speeches, articles, and other materials for circulation around the world. The aim was to reinforce support for the war among Commonwealth nations and to win over the support of neutral countries, especially the United States of America. In general, Wellington House publications concealed the fact that the government was paying to have the materials circulated, so as to hide the propaganda aspect and improve their receptivity. A separate branch of propaganda distribution took place in the foreign office, which was concerned with telegraphing relevant news items with the greatest speed to news outlets around the world so that these outlets would receive the British viewpoint first, on the assumption that this would color the reception of later accounts. The British pioneered and took special pride in the method of personal contact. Leading journalists, magnates, and politicians would be brought to England and France to see and hear the British war effort firsthand. They would then return to their countries and be credible spokespeople reflecting the views of their hosts. Another propaganda operation, located at Crewe House, dealt with propaganda directed at the enemy, including the dropping of leaflets from planes and balloons.

The Germans were first to use movies as propaganda with two companies,
Eiko-Woche
and
Messter-Woche
, producing newsreels distributed both domestically and among neutral countries.
⁷
The Germans also exercised censorship control over films imported and exported. Starting in 1916 the British made a big impact with films such as
Britain Prepared, and The Battle of
Arras. In
The Battle of the Somme
, the viewer sees British troops going off to war amid much camaraderie, with no indication of the impending deaths of hundreds of thousands. A graphical representation of British arms production gave the impression that victory was assured. The British pioneered what they called the “film-tag,” short messages attached to news résumés shown to home audiences. These would be seen by ten million people, and might urge them to “Save Coal” or “Buy War Loans.”

Britain had the advantage of controlling the cable between Germany and the US, enabling it to decode a message sent by the Foreign Secretary of the German Empire, Arthur Zimmermann, on January
16, 1917, to the German ambassador in Washington, DC, Johann von Bernstorff, who forwarded the telegram to the German ambassador in Mexico, Heinrich von Eckardt. The telegram revealed that Germany was conspiring with Mexico against the US, and tipped the scales in favor of the US going to war against Germany.

British propaganda included themes of numerical superiority over Germany, with forces drawn from all over the Commonwealth. The most extensively exploited theme was that of German barbarity, reinforced by numerous atrocity stories, both real and unfounded. These included the stories collected and published by The Bryce Report—The Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages—headed by Viscount James Bryce, former British ambassador to the US. This report was widely circulated by Wellington House, which added its own editorial commentary: “It is the duty of every single Englishman who reads these records, and who is fit, to take his place in the King’s army, to fight with all the resolution and courage he may, that the stain, of which the following pages are only a slight record, may be wiped out, and the blood of innocent women and children avenged.” Much was made of the barbaric sinking of the Cunard liner
Lusitania
in May 1915, though it carried war materials and the German ambassador had issued a warning that it might be sunk.