Psychological Propaganda: The War of Ideas on Ideas During the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Explaining why propaganda has become such an important feature of modem warfare is the main task of this article. It explores a shift, dating from the late nineteenth century, when wars fought by mercenary armies were replaced by total warfare, fought by entire populations, and explains why this shift made propaganda a crucial component of modem warfare. The necessity of enlisting the entire civilian population, along with the quest to have that population react to what Walter Lippmann called the "pseudo-environment" of a propaganda war, is similarly outlined. By exploring the origins of psychological warfare up to, and including, the Second World War, the article provides the background for contemporary wars, in which propaganda dominates war reporting. The psychological significance of reporting and attributing blame for atrocities is also explained, and suggests connections to contemporary war reporting, which prioritizes, not war tactics and loss of military equipment and life, but reports of outrages against civilians.