No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
The Use of Atrocity Stories in War
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Extract
Modern warfare is waged on at least four fronts through the coördinated efforts of military, economic, diplomatic, and progaganda weapons. Not the least of these is propaganda. Conscious as never before of the catastrophic effect of war upon humankind, the people of a nation must be convinced, before they can be called upon to make the supreme sacrifice, that they are fighting in the name of Truth and Right. It is desirable, therefore, to portray the enemy as a wicked, murderous aggressor, a fit subject for the collective hatred of the state. Once a people become convinced of the blamelessness of their own government and aroused by a spirit of righteous indignation against the enemy, the problem of motivation becomes much easier.
- Type
- International Affairs
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © American Political Science Association 1940
References
1 Lasswell, H. D., Propaganda Technique in the World War (New York, 1927), p. 81.Google Scholar
2 See the excellent case study by Read, James M., “Atrocity Propaganda and the Irish Rebellion,” Public Opinion Quarterly (April, 1938), p. 229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3 See Ponsonby, A., Falsehood in War-Time (New York, 1928), pp. 78, 91, 102Google Scholar; Peterson, H. C., Propaganda for War (Norman, Okla., 1939), pp. 38, 54 ff., 141, 243.Google Scholar
4 See Polish Acts of Atrocity against the German Minority in Poland (2nd ed.) and the supplementary Pictorial Report on Polish Atrocities published by the German Library of Information (New York, 1940).Google Scholar These documents are compiled from four official statements of the German government on Polish atrocities.
5 It will be recalled that in August and September, 1939, one of the causes of military action most frequently cited by Hitler was the “Macedonian conditions” on Germany's eastern frontier, the “atrocious and barbarous ill-treatment” suffered by the German minority at the hands of the Poles.
6 Polish Acts of Atrocity, p. 10.
7 Some pictures, “too shocking for general circulation,” are available “to librarians, medical men, government officials, historians, and other serious students” in the supplementary document, Pictorial Report on Polish Atrocities, ibid., p. 22.
8 Polish Acts of Atrocity, p. 84
9 League Document C. 340. M. 171. 1935. VII.
10 See Doc. C. 340. (a). M. 171. (a). 1935. VII.
11 Document cited, p. 48.
12 Ibid., p. 50.
13 Gruesome photographs were submitted to substantiate the Italian charges.
14 Ibid., p. 61.
15 For example, see Document C. 242. M. 140. 1936. VII.
16 See, among others, Documents C. 481. M. 257. 1935; C. 104. M. 45. 1936; C. 146. M. 85. 1936.
17 Text in Hudson, M. O., International Legislation, V, pp. 20 ff.Google Scholar
18 See C. 35. M. 13. 1936. VII.
19 Official Journal, Feb., 1936, p. 243.
20 C. 35. M. 13. 1936. VII. Italics are mine.
21 Lt. Frère swore that he was present at a feast held by Ethiopians in honor of Ras Desta, which took place “in front of three decapitated heads of Italian soldiers who had also been emasculated.” See Official Journal, July, 1936, p. 780.
22 For a summary, see Official Journal, Feb., 1936, p. 367.
23 C. 104. M. 45. 1936. VII, p. 10.
24 Ibid., p. 11. Italics are mine.
25 Ibid., p. 12.
26 See Doc. C. 357. M. 182. 1935. VII. Especially pp. 1594–98.
27 See Doc. C. 353. M. 180. 1935. VII.
28 Cf. the Paris Soir, Sept. 7, 1935.
29 Doc. C. 201. M. 126. 1936. VII.
30 Document cited, p. 8.
31 See ibid., pp. 12, 16, 18, 20.
32 Ponsonby, op. cit., p. 128.
33 Doc. C. 201. M. 126. 1936. VII. pp. 10, 14.
34 Official Journal, April, 1936, p. 478.
35 The last deposition “impartially” made by Dr. Belau seems to be strongly pro-Ethiopian. Ibid., p. 477.
36 Doc. C. 201. M. 126. 1936. VII. p. 4.
37 Official Journal, Jan., 1936, p. 29.
38 O. J., April, 1936, p. 370.
39 See Doc. C. 161. M. 99. 1936.
40 See O. J., April, 1936, p. 369, for some 19 cases.
41 Ibid., p. 399.
42 Records of the 16th Ordinary Session of the Assembly, Pl. Meetings, p. 23.
43 Records of the 16th Assembly, cited above, pp. 63, 84.
44 Official Journal, April, 1936, p. 386.
45 Records of the 16th Assembly, p. 103.
46 Text in Hudson, , International Legislation, III, p. 1670.Google Scholar
47 Official Journal, April, 1936, p. 389.
48 Ibid., p. 392. For the text of the Hague Convention (1907) on the Laws and Customs of War on Land, see 36 U. S. Statutes at Large, p. 2277. The 1929 conventions may be found in Hudson, op. cit., V, pp. 1, 20.
49 Le Temps, Sept. 4, 1935.
50 See, for example, the article entitled “Kriegsgreuel als Lügenmittel” in the Lokal Anzeiger, Oct. 4, 1935.
51 Der Angriff, Oct. 3, 4, 5, 1935. Lokal Anzeiger, Oct. 4, 10, 1935. See also the files of the Frankfurter Zeitung and the Völkischer Beobachter for the period of the war.
52 See, for example, Giornale d'Italia, Sept. 24, 1935, and Messaggero, Sept. 21, 1935.
53 Official Journal, Special Supplement, No. 151, p. 21.
54 Text in Le Temps, Jan. 1, 1936.
55 Giornale d'Italia, Jan. 3, 1936.
56 Popolo dt Roma, Jan. 3, 1936.
57 Il Tevere, Jan. 4, 1936.
58 C. 12. M. 11. 1936. VII. See also C 220. M. 112. 1935. VII. p. 721.
59 Official Journal, June, 1936, p. 580.
60 Ibid., April, 1936, p. 363.
Comments
No Comments have been published for this article.