Assess how propaganda/censorship was used in Britain and Germany during WWI.

Essay by sullsHigh School, 12th grade August 2004

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As the war raged on, the civilian population, or the home front became continually more involved not only In terms of production, but also for the basis of moral support for the war. Because of this greater involvement, it became clear that it was not only important to mobilise the troops on the home front, but also at home, through a means of propaganda.

Within Britain and Germany there were clear examples of propaganda and censorship, working effectively to recruit forces, vilify the enemy, raise moral on the home front, encourage conscription, to justify the war as well as to gain support of the Neutral Nations.

Typically within Britain and Germany these messages were delivered through a variety of mediums including but not limited to posters, newspapers, music, comics, stories as well as film in the later part of the war: all of the messages however were not only selective of what information they released, but also carefully worded, that is censorship played its part to express the message of which those in control wanted to be believed by the wider public.

Even before the emergence of war, both nations had been utilizing propaganda, if not knowingly and deliberately. Germany had blatantly been running printing presses distributing material destined for not only Germany, but also for Neutral nations such as the United States. Germany also had no true free press, and as such any information that was being reported was clearly tainted to meet the goals of the propaganda, to create an image of heroism and military prestige on the battlefront.

Britain indecently had created a similar picture but through literature as opposed to something so controlled. Essentially however at the outset of the war, Germany had a clear advantage over Britain on the propaganda front, but this wasn't too...