EOTO 2: Propaganda

 Propaganda is the dissemination of information, facts, rumors, half-truths, or even lies, through mass media to influence public opinion. The word “Propaganda” itself comes from the Roman Catholic Church’s Congregation of Propagation of the Faith which was founded in 1622. 

Today all governments use propaganda but the first people to introduce propaganda were the ancient Greeks who used art, theatre, and religious festivals to influence large groups of people. The invention of the printing press led to propaganda taking off after Martin Luther printed his negative feelings about the catholic church, helping start the protestant reformation. During the Mexican American war U.S. writers edited Mexican Newspapers in U.S. controlled areas to include propaganda persuading them to accept the U.S. terms for peace. 50 years later in 1898 the USS Maine which was stationed in Havana, Cuba mysteriously sank after an explosion on board. U.S. propaganda immediately began blaming Spain for the explosion and in turn gathering support to declare war against them. Two months later Congress officially declared war on Spain despite there being no evidence they had a part in what happened to the ship, “Remember the Maine” posters began circulating quickly.

By the start of WWI in 1914 propaganda’s popularity had grown once again as fascists and communists used propaganda to extend their power and control their subjects. In the U.S. we started using propaganda to pit our citizens against the German Government and boost nationalism within the country to garner support for the troops. American propaganda throughout WWI and WWII mainly contained incentives to buy ward bonds, stamps, work in the factories, conserve food, and join the armed forces. However, even the U.S. has released distasteful propaganda specifically in WWII propaganda posters meant to persuade citizens to hate and fear the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Propaganda is not a thing of the past. In 2003 Secretary of State Colin Powell asserted that Iraq had access to “weapons of mass destruction” 17 times within his one-hour speech at the United Nations. This led to the U.S. invasion of Iraq where we toppled the government and began searching for said “weapons of mass destruction” however, these weapons were nowhere to be found. In 2008 an artist created the infamous “Go tell mama, I'm for Obama!” posters which quickly circulated in the media and on social media. Some have attributed Barack Obama’s landslide win against John McCain in 2008 to this propaganda poster.

A more current example of propaganda is Russia, a nation who has released propaganda calling NATO a “threat” despite NATO’s main goal being to protect the freedoms of its members. The Kremlin has also recently claimed that Ukraine is using chemical agents against Russia. However, the only validated reports of chemical agents being used in the war have claimed Russia used chemical agents against the Ukraine. Finally, Russia offered Summer Camps to Ukrainian children affected by the war, these were advertised as places kids could go in order to escape the active conflict. However, these are indoctrination camps that provide false history and propaganda to these children.