Free Essay Example on the Impact of Political Propaganda

While Psychology looks at the presence or lack of human stability and emotions, political propaganda deals with ideas but not facts or allegations aimed at painting something negative. The period of World War II witnessed serious utilization of political propaganda by various countries against their opponents with serious consequences on the psychology of their citizens. For instance, the group led by France used various avenues like radio and telegraphs among others to perpetuate political propaganda against their enemies including Britain on the other side (Wilcott, 2013). However, some of the used political propaganda depicts certain similarities and contrasts in their impacts on human psychology.

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Scholars contend that both Britain and Germany utilized propaganda tactics to appeal to the emotions and psychology of their citizens. For instance, Britain created the ministry of information to initiate the printing of propaganda messages in readiness of their opponents' actions. The action by Hitler to acquire larger parts of Europe necessitated remedial measures from the Britain authorities then to counter Adolf's strategies. Britain in response to Hitler's many demands used various avenues like posters in preparing their citizens for the impending attack from the Germans (Goins, 2011). The propaganda message unified the British citizens and enabled them to attain a sense of patriotism in readiness to defend their country. The authority banked on the British pride and rallied its citizens in supporting its troops in readiness for the German invasion and attack. Similarly, Germans saw the Britons as responsible for the outbreak of the war and used their newspaper in explaining the cause of the disagreement to their citizens. The Germans banked on the Anglophobia propaganda in appealing to the emotions of their citizens and rallying their support against their opponents.

The effects of the propaganda continue to be witnessed even in contemporary society. The 21st century has Britons that speak English as a unifying language while the Germans speak their German language. The use of the two languages in the respective countries remains symbolic and acts as a unifying factor. The Britons take pride and draw a sense of patriotism while using the English Language just like the Germans. The power of language is also showcased in the use of various social media platforms that exists in contemporary time. The propaganda also made the two groups to attain certain socio-political and economic growth that continues to be witnessed even in the twenty-first century (Wilkin & Williams, 2016). The spirit of hard work remains with the two countries as their levels of industrialization and urbanization remain unmatched by most nations. It is believed that both German and Britain needed flowing economic fortunes and mercenaries to sustain the war and through propaganda, citizens became industrious which realized more economic growth for the two countries.

Even though the effects of political propaganda between Britain and Germany portray many similarities, there exist certain levels of contrasts. For instance, Britain utilized mainly printed posters political propaganda while the Germans escalated their Anglophobia rhetoric. Britain restrained from direct attack of the Germans while invoking a sense of political unity and patriotism amongst its citizens against the enemy (Goins, 2011). However, the Germans utilized its political propaganda to appeal to the emotions and psychology of both its enemies within and without Britain territories. Therefore, both Germany and Britain utilized political propaganda to appeal to the emotional and psychological reasoning of their citizens and whose consequences continue to exhibit as espoused herein.

References

Goins E. T. (2011)."Promoting Unity Through Propaganda: How the British Government Utilized Posters During the Second World War" Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 340. Retrieved fromhttp://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/340

Wilkin B. & Williams M. (2016). German wartime Anglophobic propaganda in France, 1914-1945. The war in history. Vol. 24 (1) 28-43. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0968344515602916

Wilcott, J. M. (2013). "Wartime Art: A Study of Political Propaganda and Individual Expression in American Commercial and Combat Art during World War II." History Theses. Paper 17. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1017&context=history theses