Anti-German Propaganda's Rationale and Origins
Using anti-German hatred to create propaganda was a relatively easy task for propagandists: the sentiments were developed well before the war began, so it was only a matter of resurrecting these hatreds and developing them into images and concrete ideas. Anti-German hatred was present in the British population as early as the late 19th century. There was a fear that German immigrants had come into England in order to leech profits and, possibly, to spy on the British people. These fears and prejudices escalated dramatically with the outbreak of the First World War (Panayi, 184). Propaganda played a huge role in this escalation because prominent newspapers such as the the Daily Mail and The Evening News blames British defeats on "German spies" and also blamed the lack of employment on a surplus of German immigrants that took jobs. Anti-German sentiment further evolved so as to consider people of German descent as sub-human; monsters that committed unspeakable atrocities on the innocent Belgians. There were spikes in anti-German rioting and vandalism as the events of the war continued to unfold. The sinking of the Lusitania, the "Rape of Belgium" and the air raids all ensured that the anti-German sentiment inspired by prominent papers and propaganda posters would continue to flourish. Anti-German propaganda evolved to become more hateful as the war progressed, and then less hateful and more lighthearted once the war came to an end.
"The World War drastically changed the relationship of the established order of society to propaganda." (Bruntz vii.) The propaganda campaign evolved alongside the need of the British government to maintain support for the war. They were able to use the preexisting anxieties of the British people to make them see all Germans as enemies. Although domestic riots may not have been the government and yellow journalists' intentions, British citizens obviously internalized some of the dehumanizing rhetoric. Propaganda is effective because it paints a black and white picture and reassures people of their beliefs. The British government did not receive an overwhelming amount of support from its citizens so it had to make sure that the British people felt that the war was worth fighting. The degradation of Germans in propaganda also helped to assert British national identity because it implied that the British people held values opposed to the values of Germans: honesty, bravery, and chivalry.
Using anti-German hatred to create propaganda was a relatively easy task for propagandists: the sentiments were developed well before the war began, so it was only a matter of resurrecting these hatreds and developing them into images and concrete ideas. Anti-German hatred was present in the British population as early as the late 19th century. There was a fear that German immigrants had come into England in order to leech profits and, possibly, to spy on the British people. These fears and prejudices escalated dramatically with the outbreak of the First World War (Panayi, 184). Propaganda played a huge role in this escalation because prominent newspapers such as the the Daily Mail and The Evening News blames British defeats on "German spies" and also blamed the lack of employment on a surplus of German immigrants that took jobs. Anti-German sentiment further evolved so as to consider people of German descent as sub-human; monsters that committed unspeakable atrocities on the innocent Belgians. There were spikes in anti-German rioting and vandalism as the events of the war continued to unfold. The sinking of the Lusitania, the "Rape of Belgium" and the air raids all ensured that the anti-German sentiment inspired by prominent papers and propaganda posters would continue to flourish. Anti-German propaganda evolved to become more hateful as the war progressed, and then less hateful and more lighthearted once the war came to an end.
"The World War drastically changed the relationship of the established order of society to propaganda." (Bruntz vii.) The propaganda campaign evolved alongside the need of the British government to maintain support for the war. They were able to use the preexisting anxieties of the British people to make them see all Germans as enemies. Although domestic riots may not have been the government and yellow journalists' intentions, British citizens obviously internalized some of the dehumanizing rhetoric. Propaganda is effective because it paints a black and white picture and reassures people of their beliefs. The British government did not receive an overwhelming amount of support from its citizens so it had to make sure that the British people felt that the war was worth fighting. The degradation of Germans in propaganda also helped to assert British national identity because it implied that the British people held values opposed to the values of Germans: honesty, bravery, and chivalry.