Propaganda Thrives In Wars

During wars, propaganda flourishes ....

Donald Speaks The Truth ...
... The Russians Are Coming!

 .... This has happened since the first wars began, and whether true or false, its aims have always been to influence public opinion both at home, and often abroad, to support one cause against another.

So since the first warlord, chief or king stood on a tree stump and rallied his tribe to attack another tribe or clan, until the organised civilisations of the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, every civilisation ever since has practised it. 

Ramesses The Great
Knew The Value Of Propaganda

As different media have been developed over the centuries, the the method of delivering the propaganda has developed and adapted. So whilst the early civilisations would leave carvings on temple walls, or great statues and declarations on border steles, then, with the advent of printing, came the propaganda pamphlets containing both text and cartoons, to be distributed to both friends and enemy alike, to pass on the message.  

Sir Walter Raleigh pointed out that at the time of the Spanish Armada when the Spanish “purposed the invasion” of England, they published “in sundry languages, in print, great victories in words, which they pleaded to have obtained against this realm; and spread the same in a most false sort over all parts of France, Italy, and elsewhere.” ... so they had reported 'great victories in words' in false propaganda pamphlets across Europe, when in fact the Spanish Armada was defeated.

The English Civil War Saw Propaganda

With the 19th century, the rise of literacy in Europe saw newspapers become a means of mass communication and national political propaganda, and the advent of the 20th century saw first radio's, and then from the 1960's TV become the dominant forms of mass communication. Both these media, alongside newspapers, immediately became the main means of passing on propaganda, as they could both cross international borders, and allowed the enemy populations to hear or see your view of the conflict or struggle. 

WWI Propaganda Became Sophisticated
... If Not More Subtle

With the end of the last century and the first two decades of the current century, we have seen an even more pervasive media stream open up, with the rise of the Internet, and what's termed 'social media'. I say pervasive because its the smartphone, which around 80 - 90 per cent of the worlds adults are estimated to have access to 24 hours a day, which means that social media such as Whats App, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter are easy and effective methods of passing on propaganda, both the truthful, or that containing falsehoods (aka Fake news, False News).        

This makes war and conflict propaganda even more prevalent during recent or current conflicts, from the Middle East where ISIS regularly uploaded Jihadist video's and other propaganda, aimed at getting support from Muslims worldwide, but particularly those in the Western nations, as well as spreading fear in the areas where ISIS operates.

Now in the current invasion of the Ukraine by Russia, Russian nationalist hackers are placing fake videos and images of alleged attacks by Ukrainians on Russians. This is in response to the TV and social media images and video content, of the Russians bombing cities and residential areas in the Ukraine. 

However, the longer this war goes on, the more extreme the propaganda has got and the worse it will get .... even the Russian state, with its censorship at home, has also contributed to the falsehoods being circulated on-line, by making ridiculous claims that Ukraine has attacked its own cities and are blaming them (for propaganda purposes, obviously), or that they have found evidence of biological weapons, and that the Ukraine is being run by Neo-Nazis, or even that it has tried to make dirty nuclear bombs. 

All this has been picked up by its unofficial web fanboys, and then spread as 'true' across worldwide web platforms via bot and zombies accounts .... and although many of these false posts are sometimes spotted and taken down, far to many are left up (especially on Chinese run alternative social media apps.. 

Of course there is an elements of Ukrainian propaganda being posted up on to these platforms as well, however they don't really have to falsify much of their content, as Western media are reporting it as true as well. So apart from 'Bigging Up' the casualties inflicted on Russian troops by their army, the Russians do their propaganda job for them, by bombing civilians houses. 

Germans Were Demonised
As Baby Killers, Murders, Rapists

Just as the Kaiser was demonised, and the German 'Huns' were described as child killers/baby eaters, murderers, and rapists during and immediately after WWI, so during WWII Hitler also started claiming that the advancing Red Army was doing much the same thing.

Now the Ukraine has linked the two leaders .....

The @Ukraine Official Twitter Account Posted This

The official twitter account of @Ukraine posted this image, of which it said “This is not a ‘meme', but our and your reality right now.” ... but the propaganda war will increase and so Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian Army are going to be increasingly demonised, as the slaughter in the Ukraine intensifies over the coming weeks and months.

Mothers And Babies Have Been Killed

But cartoons like this one, have the redeeming issue in that they are true, not literally of course, as Putin hasn't killed anyone personally (that we know of), but his actions in authorising the war on the Ukraine, has resulted in women and children being killed. So babies have died and therefore although this is still propaganda, it also has the ring of truth.