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How The Concept Of Propaganda Has Evolved Over Time

Introduction

Propaganda has been used a powerful tool for manipulating members of society psychologically. However, the methods used differ with time. Propaganda in Nazi Germany was done openly and without fear; this could clearly be seen through appointment of a minister for propaganda. On the other hand, modern day propaganda is done secretly partly because people are more informed and they have the ability to sieve independent or non –independent news reports.

Examples of propaganda before and after 1985-social, economical and political context

The war in Iraq is one of the most outstanding examples of modern day propaganda. It has been revealed that the current United States government has been employing the services of former military men to disseminate one-sided information to the public. The government of the US has been portraying these military officers as experts in the field of war but little did the American public realize that these officers had liaised with the government. Most of them would be paid for their opinions. (Barstow, 2008a)

It has also been revealed (New York Times, 2008) that there are certain personalities in the Bush administration specifically trained to deal with issues such propaganda. One such example is a certain lady called Victoria Clarke. She had a lot of prior experience in the public relations field and has been responsible for crusading about the war in Iraq. She came up with the idea of using journalists in the war live/. She argued that this was good fro democracy as it gave Americans first hand information about the goings on in Iraq. She formed a team that would assist in the process of implanting the propaganda and also hand picked some so-called ‘analysts' to tell Americans about the war. (Barstow, 2008b)

The pentagon made sure that the analyst chosen would appear frequently in media outlets this was especially common during the first phases of the war. News images were constantly splashed with the faces of these analysts (employed military men). Whenever there was a threat against the government concerning the war, the analysts would always meet Pentagon official and then counter the claims made by other military officers concerning the war. The Pentagon propaganda group decided to use military officers as their propaganda tool because they knew that most Americans respected expert opinion especially if those experts came from positions of authority. People in the United States trust groups or persons who seem independent thus getting a group of people who do not seem directly linked the White house is the best way to sway opinion. (Barstow, 2008b)

The Bush administration has been manipulating the media in order to bring out some of the ideologies it wanted the public to believe concerning the war. For example, there are some newspaper columnists who favour the Iraq war. The Bush administration would pay such columnists substantial amounts of cash just so that they could discuss some pro-war issues. It is also a known fact that most media outlets that supported the war would be given extra interviews by the president in order to convince the public further. Additionally, main stream media would be avoided when the situation in Iraq did not look so good for the government. All the above disclosures made the government look bad in front of other personnel.

Another instance in which the Bush administration showed its employment of propaganda was when a White representative called Karl Rove tried diluting the September eleven attacks. He was trying to dissuade public attention from the 2001 terror attacks by giving examples of other terror attacks that had occurred before '01. However, this kind of propaganda was not a wise approach in the United States. Some critics have compared this scenario with a drug dealer trying to plead his case by asserting that there were some drug addicts already in existence. Such weak propaganda may not be very effective in the US. (Barstow, 2008a)

Twentieth Century Nazi Germany has become one of the most outstanding periods in history because it is associated with propaganda. At that time propaganda was based on the major problems facing the Germans. For instance, people were insecure about winning the World War and this became a sizeable platform for disseminating propaganda. Additionally, the Nazi government blamed minority groups for the economic crisis befalling the country. The government of the day wanted to garner support for war against her enemies. This occurred after the rest of the world blamed Germany for the First World War. Thereafter, Germany had to grapple with sanctions imposed by the rest of the world. This became one of the major tools because it would show what the German ‘enemies' could do to the rest of the population. (Kater, 2004)

The Nazi identified external and internal enemies of Germany and these groups became the victims of propaganda war. The Nazi claimed the Jews were impeding Germany's progress by doing no work. It also asserted that their race was inferior. Some of the statements disseminated at that time included the fact that Jews needed blood form the mainstream German in order to conduct their religious ceremonies. Adolph Hitler also identified some external enemies such as Poland. He claimed that these countries were responsible for the heavy sanctions imposed upon the government and this is what he used to justify his invasion of the country.

As if this was not enough, Nazi Germany employed the use of posters to portray how the Americans and their allies were destroying European culture. They also went out of their way to create false depictions of safety and security even when they were performing were killing some of their citizens. For instance, the government erected some pseudo camps. These camps depicted happy Jews who were going about their business in cafes. However, this was not what was really happening. The government even allowed an organisation such as the Red Cross to visit those pseudo camps. They created a film about how Jews lived in those camps but this was pure propaganda. As matter of fact, most of them were killed after the film was completed. Most Jews were taken to concentration camps where they would be exterminated. The public was not aware of this issue because the Government had taken control of all media outlets. (Evans, 2003)

In the years 1933, the Nazi Government took control of the film and radio industry. They were known for producing films about some of their ideologies. Some of them would bring out the veil within the Jews and their external enemies. Most of the time, this was done through State finances. The government would identify film producers and fund the project entirely. These films would be supervised by the Department of film in the Ministry of Culture. One such film was called Triumph of the Will 1934. The film would depict German military officers, Hitler's speeches and other pro-Nazi issues. There was a doctorate created by the Minister of propaganda to cease production of all independent films. All films were to run by him and could only be released if they passed his strict criterion. As if this was not enough, the film would highlight German soldiers as heroes while American planes were seen as evil.

The Germans also controlled book circulation by destroying all books written by Jewish authors. They also encouraged the circulation of pro-Nazi material; round the country. Most of these books were notorious for depicting the Jews as racially inferior as most of them would show negative graphical images of the Germans.

Similarities and differences

One major similarity between the two examples shown above is the fact that propaganda was a tool used to get public support for wrong government policies. The Nazis tried to get support for their war against their enemies while the US also tried to get support for their invasion of Iraq.

Additional, both eras were synonymous with hard economic times. The leaders of the day were trying to shift blame for these hard conditions to other innocent parties. For instance, the Nazi government had allowed its country to sink into an economic crisis. But in order to take away mind from them, they decided to point fingers at the Jews. (Kampf, 1999) They claimed that the Jews were lazy and that they did not share the same work ethic that the mainstream Germans did. Similarly, in contemporary society, the US government has used the same ideals. The US's economy has been receding and its government tried to cover the real issues by making it look like they had responsibly allocated their resources. By spreading propaganda about the importance of the Iraqi invasion, the government was trying to shift blame for the receding economy.

Both eras would manipulate the media to air out their ideologies. In Nazi Germany, the government financed films that would highlight pro-Nazi principles. Similarly, the Bush administration has also been accused of funding some columnists that sympathise with the Iraqi war. Additionally, both governments employed influential personalities to spread their ideologies. The Nazi used Goebbel's outstanding leadership qualities while the Bush administration used the authoritative figures of the retired military personnel. (Theodore, 1986)

However, there are also numerous differences between the two examples. First of all, the Nazi Germans would spread their propaganda openly. This was seen by the fact that media outlets were state owned. Such a scenario would spark off massive unrest today; consequently, modern governments like the US spread propaganda secretly. Additionally, the manner employed today is much more sophisticated that it was in the early twentieth centaury. At that time, Goebbler (the minister for propaganda) burnt books made by Jews in effort to undermine. Such a thing is unheard of presently.

Differences between modern and current historical perspectives

The Nazi era was synonymous with media censorship. The state only allowed favourable content on radio or film consequently, its people would only hear that the government wanted them to hear. This was what constituted propaganda at that time. On the other hand, the Bush administration uses the fact that many people in the United States are well informed. Consequently, they respect the views and assertions made by an independent figure such as military officer. Bush's administration has manipulated America's intellectual nature to spread propaganda. (Lightbody, 2004)

Conclusion

The latter governments engaged in psychological manipulation of people's reasoning in order to gain support for their policies and decisions. The Nazi Germans used propaganda to justify their invasion of Poland, their failure to boost the economy and their failure in the war. The US government used authoritative figures to give information about the invasion of Iraq. The propaganda tools used were distinctly different because the Germans were not well informed. Most of them lacked the ability to question their authority and media censorship was used. However, in modern times, people are more informed and governments cannot censor information directly, propaganda is disseminated through manipulation of media outlets.

Reference:

Barstow, D. (2008a): Pentagon's Hidden Hand; New York Times, 20th April

Barstow, D. (2008b): Pentagon Suspends Briefing for Analysts; New York Times, 26th April

Kater, M. (2004): Hitler Youth; Harvard Press

Evans, R. (2003): The Coming of the Third Reich; Penguin Publishers

Kampf, M. (1999): Adolph Hitler; Houghton Mifflin

Theodore, A. (1986): Why Hitler Came Into Power; Harvard Press

Lightbody, B. (2004): The Second World War; Routledge Publishers

About the Author

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