How Did Government Propaganda Develop

Official propaganda promulgated by governments has existed since the earliest writing and government-sponsored art since the 3rd millennium BCE. Early forms of propaganda were intended to show the ruler and government under the favour of the gods. While this has changed, the general purpose of propaganda has been to convince a ruler's population on the efficacy of a ruler's destiny or relevance in ruling.

Early Forms of Propaganda

Early forms of propaganda in the Near East and Egypt took the form of visual, often official art such as statues, inscriptions, and monumental art. Sometimes the art was small scale objects, such as cylinder seals. Other times, propaganda included formal statements on public works such as temples created. In particular, propaganda often focused on war or serving the gods. In both cases, the favor of the gods is demonstrated through propaganda by showing the ruler's power and favour. Inscriptions in buildings, such as temples, and stele would commemorate great acts by kings. These were often intended to demonstrate that kings accomplished their sacred duties by upholding the local religion or belief. This also was the case in war, where defending one's people and demonstrating the power of gods through warfare success was also part of the propaganda literature in the Near East, Egypt, and up to China from the 3rd to 1st millennium BCE.

In the Roman period, Roman politicians began to compete with other leading politicians for political power. Roman leaders, such as Caesar or Dio Cassius, began the art of creating auto-biographies where the authors wrote accounts of battles in wild lands and tribes, such as in Gaul (France) and Caledonian (Scotland). These works were not just historical accounts, although they provide historical detail, but they are intended to serve as propaganda for their vision of Rome and the leadership they provided. They also portrayed those outside of Rome as savages who were unenlightened and helping to justify Roman invasion. Even well known literature, such as the Aeneid, were written at a time, in this during the reign of Augustus (the first emperor), where Rome was increasing its Mediterranean authority. Roman triumphs were used to show the glory of the emperor or leader as well as the power of Rome to the wider public through a large spectacle that demonstrated Rome's civilizing power (Figure 1). In the Aeneid, the works of the Greeks are described as great achievements, but even the Greeks needed Roman authority to govern. These works justified the emperor's actions as well as Roman conquest and subsequent governing. The emperor cult also began during the time of Augustus, where emperors were worshiped as demi-gods or rulers who were divinely approved. Propaganda did shift over time, from the 1st century CE to 2nd century CE, conquests were critical, thus propaganda justified this. From the 2nd century CE, civil authority and benefit were part of the propaganda. Emperors demonstrating their achievement in public works was just as critical as those who were successful in the battlefield. Roman propaganda often had different audiences. Often, military propaganda focused on the army, as they helped to command influence and building reputation among the rulers helped them to solidify their power. As Roman citizenship expanded, Rome portrayed itself as the civilizing power where imperialism helped bring order in an otherwise chaotic world. Thus, becoming a Roman citizen was a pinnacle of achievement.

Figure 1. Roman triumphs were intended to show the glory of the leader and Rome as a great spectacle to the public

Medieval Propaganda and Early Modern

Medieval European propaganda can be divided into chronicles, hagiography, which was a type of reporting of what was happening around a narrator, and a type of monograph or book. Visual arts were also used as in previous periods. This time, most visual arts about leaders or governments focused on demonstrating them as having divine benefaction and that their governing was part of an ordained process. Writings also were widely used as part of propaganda. Chronicles provided a more dry, descriptive accounting of events in a type of linear process that describes events from year to year. A good example of this are the Chronicles of Alfred the Great. These, although often useful historically, were propaganda at their core because they often focused on events that could be shaped to help the ruler or show support that the ruler receives from God. Hagiography was a type of first person perspective given about events occurring around a narrator. These often intersect divine intervention or interpreted events in a divine manner that could help the ruler. Descriptive monographs often were portrayed as works for a more sophisticated audience and were often quite long. The Antapodosis is a good example of such a work that also demonstrates that these works often attempted to guide their audience by telling them how to interpret and understand events. These works were a type of historical analysis as well as guide to audiences in understanding events from the point of view of, more often, the governing bodies.

With the printing press becoming widely available after the 16th century, propaganda began to take a different dimension in the early Modern period. Now, we begin to find newspapers being used for the first time to help sway the masses in government positioning or about current affairs such as the debate between Protestants and Catholics. The Habsburg Dynasty began to use newspapers to publish daily or near daily war accounts, all of which favoured the crown. With the printing press, posters and newspapers became more common and factions within governments or rivals to power also equally used these media to promote their messages. During the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon moved away from religious symbolism and propaganda to a more secular approach. Heroism and success in the battlefield was given as reason enough to promote success and his portrayal as a great leader. Sweeping paintings that show heroic conquests and portrayal created a personality cult around the leader. Napoleon famously used paintings from well known artists to portray himself as the secular saviour of France, although interestingly sometimes this utilised religious symbolism or symbolism from the Roman period.

Modern Propaganda

World War I began the era of military and government propaganda that de-emphasized the ruler and focused more on the people. In this case, propaganda tried to make people feel compelled that it was their duty to serve the state in times of peril or war (Figure 2). Increasingly, stories of the enemy conducting atrocities, whether real or imagined, were portrayed in the wider media. With the rise of film and radio, propaganda began to move to this new medium. Propaganda could now reach not only the entire country easily but it could be broadcast beyond. This opened up new forms of propaganda in World War 2 with radio personalities such as Tokyo Rose that attempted to discourage American soldiers. The war effort was also fully mobilised in the population, with different forms of propaganda geared towards men and women. For women, it was about serving their country in the factories or helping produce enough to fight. For men, it was about encouraging them to fight and serve in the military.

Since the Cold War, films increasingly were used as propaganda, where villainous individuals serving countries that were considered the enemy would fight heroic figures from a country that protects humanity. This began to transcend purely adult based propaganda. Cartoons and superheros (e.g., Captain America) began to emerge as individuals who would serve their country in a greater cause to protect democratic principals and the free world. While this reflected American propaganda, Soviet propaganda was more focused on the virtues of Communism and Leninism, including liberating workers from an oppressive capitalist system. Countries were shown as 'filthy' and corrupt and the virtues of communism could save them from enslaving people. Often, the past was used to conjure a heroic era of people serving their countries and were ready to die for it in times of great peril. The use of the past, heroic individuals, and espousing virtues became prevalent not only in film but on posters, statues, and even theater and performances within the Soviet Union. Since the end of the Cold War, over propaganda among the great Western powers has diminished, although some would argue that the medium has now shifted towards news channels, editorials, or even online sites pushing given ideas to audiences, with propaganda more focused on messages for specific people rather than the wider country or even beyond.

Figure 2. Allied propaganda showed the Germans in World War I as brutish to help compel the population in supporting the war effort.

Summary

Propaganda reflects shifting technologies, media, and ideas that leaders have attempted to portray in different periods and states. Propaganda has often including the bending of truth or even invention, but the target of propaganda has also shifted. Initially, propaganda was often limited in its appear, as the medium of art or writing was only understood by a relatively small number of people. With the printing press, this shifted to a more mass audience, resulting in a transformation in how propaganda was portrayed. By the 20th century, propaganda spread globally through radio and even television such as through films. The World Wars and Cold War greatly accelerated the use of new media and sometimes not only state institutions but also private institutions into supporting a wider message that became global.