Propaganda in times of the war

Usually when we hear about War, the first thing that comes to mind are: blood and destruction. Although all these elements frame the struggle that represents a before and after in humanity, there were different important factors to maintain the course of the attacks. One of them was the battle that the countries involved had with the positions of their population in the face of the conflict, which kept them in a constant effort to keep the hearts and minds of the people in victory.

The objective of the propaganda during the war was to expose beliefs with the intention of influencing and convincing the audience, through constant messages, that war was the best and only solution to the world situation. The goal was for people to adopt this belief as their own, and rejecting other points of view.

We know that every group or institution needs certain common rules of coexistence. If there was always a total consensus on these norms, nobody would have to persuade anyone. But since consensus is the exception, then two situations can arise that provoke the persuasive act: because we have different patterns of behavior (“ behavior” in the broad sense: ways of life, customs, legislations, etc. ) or we have different interpretations of the same pattern or life situation.

A clear example is the organization of our country: first there were disputes and conflicts over how to govern; then came to the common base of the Constitution (pattern of conduct). But then there were conflicts about the way to interpret it, which happens even today. Then someone takes the initiative to “ persuade the other” to leave his pattern of behavior or to modify his interpretation. And whether he does it by means of thoughtful reasoning or in a more compulsive way, the truth is that he is trying to persuade (when force is often used to speak of “ dissuade”). Therefore, persuasion is a “ necessity” of social coexistence, both in the family and in large political, religious and educational organizations, and in most professions (persuade teachers, psychologists, lawyers, etc.).

Therefore, in order to persuade, the persuader needs a minimum knowledge of the interpretative logic of the other and a certain sensitivity to see things from the point of view of the other. Many advertising or propaganda campaigns and many attempts at evangelization failed completely when they wanted to implant without a certain mental or cultural scheme in other cultures that had a mental and referential scheme completely different from that of the persuader.