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Introduction: Looking Through a Glass Onion

Propaganda, Psychological Warfare and Persuasion

Abstract

From the perspective of the modern information and communications age, the word 'propaganda' continues to imply something evil. Propaganda is a powerful tool for perpetuating power relationships. The problem in much propaganda theory is that the recipient is felt to be empowered as well, in other words, he or she can reject the messages - provided they can be detected. This book may almost be regarded as a handbook to aid that detection. If war is essentially an organized communication of violence, propaganda and psychological warfare are essentially organized processes of persuasion. The book explains why propaganda and war have always been inextricably connected. The munitions of the mind, like other conventional weapons, have admittedly become more sophisticated with advances in technology, but yesterday's epic poem or painting is really no more than the equivalent of today's propaganda film or television broadcast.

Abstract

From the perspective of the modern information and communications age, the word 'propaganda' continues to imply something evil. Propaganda is a powerful tool for perpetuating power relationships. The problem in much propaganda theory is that the recipient is felt to be empowered as well, in other words, he or she can reject the messages - provided they can be detected. This book may almost be regarded as a handbook to aid that detection. If war is essentially an organized communication of violence, propaganda and psychological warfare are essentially organized processes of persuasion. The book explains why propaganda and war have always been inextricably connected. The munitions of the mind, like other conventional weapons, have admittedly become more sophisticated with advances in technology, but yesterday's epic poem or painting is really no more than the equivalent of today's propaganda film or television broadcast.

Chapters in this book

  1. Front matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Preface to the New Edition viii
  5. Introduction: Looking Through a Glass Onion 1
  6. Part I Propaganda in the Ancient World
  7. 1 In the Beginning … 19
  8. 2 Ancient Greece 25
  9. 3 The Glory that was Rome 35
  10. Part II Propaganda in the Middle Ages
  11. 4 The ‘Dark Ages’ to 1066 51
  12. 5 The Norman Conquest 62
  13. 6 The Chivalric Code 67
  14. 7 The Crusades 73
  15. 8 The Hundred Years War 81
  16. Part III Propaganda in the Age of Gunpowder and Printing
  17. 9 The Gutenberg Galaxy 87
  18. 10 Renaissance Warfare 89
  19. 11 The Reformation and the War of Religious Ideas 97
  20. 12 Tudor Propaganda 102
  21. 13 The Thirty Years War (1618-48) 109
  22. 14 The English Civil War (1642-6) 117
  23. 15 Louis XIV (1661-1715) 121
  24. Part IV Propaganda in the Age of Revolutionary Warfare
  25. 16 The Press as an Agent of Liberty 129
  26. 17 The American Revolution 133
  27. 18 The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars 145
  28. 19 War and Public Opinion in the Nineteenth Century 158
  29. Part V Propaganda in the Age of Total War and Cold War
  30. 20 War and the Communications Revolution 173
  31. 21 The First World War 176
  32. 22 The Bolshevik Revolution and the War of Ideologies (1917-39) 198
  33. 23 The Second World War 208
  34. 24 Propaganda, Cold War and the Advent of the Television Age 249
  35. Part VI The New World Information Disorder
  36. 25 The Gulf War of 1991 285
  37. 26 Information-Age Conflict in the Post-Cold War Era 298
  38. 27 The World after 11 September 2001 315
  39. 28 Epilogue 320
  40. Bibliographical Essay 325
  41. Index 332
Munitions of the mind
This chapter is in the book Munitions of the mind
https://doi.org/10.7765/9781847790927.00005

Chapters in this book

  1. Front matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Acknowledgements vii
  4. Preface to the New Edition viii
  5. Introduction: Looking Through a Glass Onion 1
  6. Part I Propaganda in the Ancient World
  7. 1 In the Beginning … 19
  8. 2 Ancient Greece 25
  9. 3 The Glory that was Rome 35
  10. Part II Propaganda in the Middle Ages
  11. 4 The ‘Dark Ages’ to 1066 51
  12. 5 The Norman Conquest 62
  13. 6 The Chivalric Code 67
  14. 7 The Crusades 73
  15. 8 The Hundred Years War 81
  16. Part III Propaganda in the Age of Gunpowder and Printing
  17. 9 The Gutenberg Galaxy 87
  18. 10 Renaissance Warfare 89
  19. 11 The Reformation and the War of Religious Ideas 97
  20. 12 Tudor Propaganda 102
  21. 13 The Thirty Years War (1618-48) 109
  22. 14 The English Civil War (1642-6) 117
  23. 15 Louis XIV (1661-1715) 121
  24. Part IV Propaganda in the Age of Revolutionary Warfare
  25. 16 The Press as an Agent of Liberty 129
  26. 17 The American Revolution 133
  27. 18 The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars 145
  28. 19 War and Public Opinion in the Nineteenth Century 158
  29. Part V Propaganda in the Age of Total War and Cold War
  30. 20 War and the Communications Revolution 173
  31. 21 The First World War 176
  32. 22 The Bolshevik Revolution and the War of Ideologies (1917-39) 198
  33. 23 The Second World War 208
  34. 24 Propaganda, Cold War and the Advent of the Television Age 249
  35. Part VI The New World Information Disorder
  36. 25 The Gulf War of 1991 285
  37. 26 Information-Age Conflict in the Post-Cold War Era 298
  38. 27 The World after 11 September 2001 315
  39. 28 Epilogue 320
  40. Bibliographical Essay 325
  41. Index 332
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