More than 100 years ago, the British Lord Arthur Ponsonby, while researching the First World War, wrote the book “Falsehood in War-Time” [1]. Already in our time, Belgian Anna Morelli actualized this work and identified 10 main principles of military propaganda [2].
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Article editor: Mark Beygelzimer, PhD, systems analyst, head of the Trust but Verify project.
Principles of War Propaganda by Anna Morelli
with examples from modern warfare
(each picture is hyperlinked to the source)
Principle 1. We don't want war, we only defend ourselves!
Principle 2. Only our enemy is responsible for this war!
Principle 3: The leader of our enemies is evil incarnate with the face of the devil
Principle 4: We defend a noble cause, not our own self-interest
Principle 5: The enemy willfully brutalizes, we never do, and if we make mistakes, we do so unintentionally
Principle 6. The adversary uses illegal weapons
Principle 7. Our losses are very small; the enemy's losses are enormous
Principle 8. Recognized intellectuals and cultural figures are on our side
Principle 9. Our mission is sacred
Principle 10. Whoever doubts our propaganda is a traitor
Sources of information
1. Arthur Ponsonby: Falsehood in War-Time: Containing an Assortment of Lies Circulated Throughout the Nations During the Great War. London: Garland Publishing Company, 1928, 190 p.
2. Anne Morelli. Principes élémentaires de propagande de guerre. Bruxelles: Labor, 2001, 93 p.
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Editor's Comment
The fact that the propaganda of one of the belligerents follows exactly the above principles does not in itself prove that this propaganda is false (after all, the opposite side uses the same principles). However, it is a reason to doubt it, especially in such absurd cases as combat mosquitoes and 18 thousand destroyed enemy armored vehicles in three months. If we pass all this through the sieve of common sense and normal human morality (not subject to the same propaganda), it may turn out that all this propaganda is an egregious lie.
The cover image is the title of Anne Morelli's book "Principi elementari della propaganda di guerra Edizione aggiornata", edition of 2024, 152 p.
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