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'Destroy this mad brute' A U.S. WWI propaganda poster depicting the Germans

Atrocity Propaganda is used in accordance with psychological warfare to demonize the enemy and spread deliberate fabrications or exaggerations of the truth about their crimes in wartime to help bring nations to action and provoke public outcry. Patriotism is often not enough to bring men to action – propaganda is also necessary. In the short-term the objective is to damage the enemy. Atrocity propaganda has been very effective in shaping the psychology of the public and is often the tool of choice by the propagandist. According to Paul Linebarger, propaganda consists of the planned use of any form of mass-produced communication designed to affect the minds and emotions of a given enemy, neutral or friendly foreign group for a specific strategic or tactical purpose.” Thus, sensational stories about the enemy engaging in mass killing, pointless burnings of villages, raping, and pillaging are effective in strengthening the resolve of the propagandist’s nation, as well as, garnishing support of neutral nations.

Successful propaganda has a lasting effect and is based on truth, is linked to policy and is timely. Atrocity propaganda does not fulfill these requirements and is thus known to be the least effective form of propaganda in the long-term. If the lies are discovered, atrocity propaganda has even been proven to have a negative effect on individuals. However, war is violent and the “cruelty and suffering are inherent in it and the exaggeration and invention of atrocities soon becomes the main staple of propaganda. […] At best, human testimony is unreliable, even in ordinary occurrences of no consequence, but where bias, sentiment, passion, and so-called patriotism disturb the emotions, a personal affirmation becomes of no value whatsoever.” “So great are the psychological resistances to war in modern nations," wrote Harold Lasswell, "that every war must appear to be a war of defense against a menacing, murderous aggressor. There must be no ambiguity about who the public is to hate." Atrocity propaganda typically appeals to the heart, not the mind, thereby gripping a nation by its most primal instincts to rise in support against the enemy.

Techniques

Atrocity propaganda relies on vivid imagery portraying the enemy as a menacing, murderous, depraved, brutal aggressor. Atrocity stories are circulated in leaflets, pamphlets, letters, conversation, the Internet, song, poem, official statements and speeches, etc. day after day in wartime and peace. Atrocity propaganda focuses on the weak or defenseless individuals, such as POWs, women, and children in order to create the most shock and disgust in society. One such example of a song published in The Times during WWI about the Germans, entitled “Marching Songs” had lines as:

He shot the wives and children,

The wives and little children;

He shot the wives and children,

And laughed to see them die.

By establishing a baseline lie and painting the enemy as a monster, atrocity propaganda serves as an intelligence function, since it wastes the time and resources of the enemy’s counterintelligence services to defend itself. Atrocity propaganda can either be white, gray, or black. Atrocity propaganda is often white, as it makes no attempt to hide its source and is overt in nature. The propagandists’ goal is to influence perceptions, attitudes, opinions, and policies; often targeting officials at all levels of government. Atrocity propaganda is violent, gloomy, and portrays doom to help rile up and get the public excited. It dehumanizes the enemy, making them easier to kill. Wars have become more serious, and less gentlemanly; the enemy must now be taken into account not merely as a man, but as a fanatic. So, “falsehood is a recognized and extremely useful weapon in warfare, and every country uses it quite deliberately to deceive its own people, attract neutrals, and to mislead the enemy.” Harold Lasswell saw it as a handy rule for arousing hate, and that "if at first they do not enrage, use an atrocity. It has been employed with unvarying success in every conflict known to man."

A.J. Mackenzie wrote in his 1938 book Propaganda Boom that there are seven requirements for effective propaganda. These requirements are:

1. Repetition
2. Color
3. Kernel of Truth
4. Slogans
5. Specific Objective
6. Concealed Motive
7. Timing

History

Atrocity stories are a time-honored technique of propagandists. The first example of atrocity propaganda being utilized in wartime was during the Crusades under Pope Urban II (c. 1035–1099). In a sermon at Clermont, Urban II justified the war against Islam by claiming that the enemy “had ravaged the churches of God in the Eastern provinces, circumcised Christian men, violated women, and carried out the most unspeakable torture before killing them.” Urban II sermon succeeded in mobilizing popular enthusiasm in support of the People’s Crusade.

Subsequent powerful representations of martyrdom throughout the centuries, as well as the horrifically graphic portrayals of torture can be seen as the foundation of the type of atrocity propaganda found in the twentieth century. World War I saw the first state run cases of atrocity propaganda. The extent and devastation of the Great War required nations to keep morale high. Propaganda was used here to mobilize hatred against the enemy, convince the population of the justness of one’s own cause, enlist the active support and cooperation of neutral countries, and strengthen the support of one’s allies. The goal was to make the enemy appear savage, barbaric, and inhumane.

World War I

Bryce Report

Main Article: Committee on Alleged German Outrages

One of the most widely dispersed documents of atrocity propaganda during the Great War was the Report of the Committee on Alleged German Outrages, or Bryce Report, in May 1915. The Bryce Report was based on 1,200 witness depositions depicted executions, murders, and violations, including rape and the slaughtering of children, of Belgians by German soldiers during the Rape of Belgium. The Bryce report was published by respected historians and lawyers and had a profound impact in both Britain and America in the following years that enabled future fictitious atrocity stories to be widely accepted and be presented as the truth.

Belgian Atrocity Propaganda

Anti-German propaganda in WWI reached its peak in 1915, corresponding with Germany’s invasion of Belgium (Rape of Belgium). Here it is found that the first use of the word “Hun” was used to describe the Germans based on their atrocities in Belgium. The Germans were painted as destructive barbarians in the stories published, many of which were fictitious. The American’s were also publishing atrocities and "honest, unbiased news simply disappeared out of the American papers along about the middle of August, 1914."

The Rape of Belgium

Atrocity propaganda in WWI originating in Belgium told of inconceivable brutality and unnatural crimes. “It was reported that some thirty to thirty-five German soldiers entered the house of David Tordens, a carter, in Sempst; they bound him, and then five or six of them assaulted and ravished in his presence his thirteen year-old daughter, and afterwards fixed her on bayonets. After this horrible deed, they bayoneted his nine-year-old boy and then shot his wife. His life was saved through the timely arrival of Belgian soldiers. It was further asserted that all the girls in Sempst were assaulted and ravished by the Germans.” This story, which was spread for propaganda uses, proved to be completely and utterly false; as the Secretary of the Commune, Paul van Boeckpourt, and the Mayor, Peter van Asbroeck showed that no such person lived in Sempst, and that no women or child under fourteen was killed there.

Belgian Baby Without Hands

The story about the Belgian baby whose hands were cut off by the Germans was circulated throughout Europe before it made its way to the Americas and the West. This lie was universally accepted. Soon there were French personal reports that the Germans were cutting off the hands of little boys so that there would be no more soldiers for France. The allies ran a propaganda photo that depicted the Kaiser standing behind a huge block with an axe; his hands darkly stained with blood, surrounded by piles of hands motioning for a woman to bring children to him, who are clinging to her, some having had their hands already cut off. Not only were these children mutilated, many were also seen impaled on bayonets, and in some cases nailed to a door. Eventually this story was spread so that this was seen no longer as an isolated atrocity, but a typical action of commonplace. This was even put into poem by a Liverpool poet, entitled A Medley of Song:

They stemmed the first mad onrush

Of the cultured German Hun,

Who’d outraged every female Belgian?

And maimed every mother’s son.

The goal of publishing German atrocities was to expose the crimes and to mobilize. The material was supposed to develop hatred and ready the mind for merciless vengeance. "A handy rule for arousing hate," said Harold Lasswell "is, if at first they do not enrage, use an atrocity. It has been employed with unvarying success in every conflict known to man." Unlike the pacifist, who argues that all wars are brutal, the atrocity story implies that war is only brutal when practiced by the enemy.

The Corpse Conversion Factory

Main Article: Kadaververwertungsanstalt

On April 17, 1917 the British press released a story that suggested the Germans were using factories to burn German soldiers, converting them into material products. The source explained that there were “train-loads of stripped bodies of German soldiers, wired into bundles were simmered down in cauldrons, the products being stearine and refined oil.” The Times picked up the atrocity story and even expanded it, reporting that individuals had experienced the dull smell of boiling glue near factories. This was validated since a German newspaper published an article about Germans burning dead horses and other carcasses for materials, and the British saw that it was not unreasonable for the Germans to replace the animal carcasses with human corpses.

This story was used as propaganda throughout the allied and neutral countries and had great effect in the East, where it was especially horrifying to Buddhists, Hindus, and Mohammedans. The Department of Information even went so far as to publish a four-page pamphlet about the incident, entitled The Corpse Conversion Factory: A Peep Behind the German Lines. The Corpse Conversion Story incited hatred and loathing of Germans who were supposedly burning their own soldiers for necessary war and civilian materials. According to Randal Martin, The Corpse Factory atrocity story illustrated propaganda techniques including the use of deceptive language, appeal to emotion and The Big Lie.

World War II

Katyn Massacre

The Nazis heavily relied on atrocity during WWII, using it extensively in anti-Bolshevik campaigns. Possibly the most famous propaganda coup was when the Nazis revealed the Katyn Massacre in 1943. Nazi radio announced the discovery of the mass gravesites where Soviet soldiers methodically executed the Polish elite. The Germans also released a documentary detailing the atrocity. Because of the lasting impression of WWI’s fictitious atrocity stories, the American and British public denounced this as a bad attempt by the Nazis to try and influence the allies in subversive psychological sabotage. The automatic discrediting of Nazi wartime propaganda had tragic results, as many in the West also did not believe the atrocity stories coming out regarding the Nazi extermination camps.

Hitler Youth

The Hitler Youth were led to believe that Hitler was acting in defense and that the Jews unleashed the war. Joseph Goebbels stated that “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” The psychological manipulation took years to shake off, as the emotional state of these children were quite imbalanced. “The brainwashing was highly effective because a young boy or a girl was removed from the influence of the parental home at an early age, and if the father or mother objected, the SS would interpret that as a sign of disloyalty toward the Reich, which had life-threatening consequences. The parents were told: Your son is not your personal property, solely at your disposal. He is on loan to you but he is the property of the German Volk. To object to his name being put forward for an elite school is tantamount to insulting the Reich and the Fuhrer.” The Nazi machine memorized the youth, and they obeyed orders without question, unable to think for themselves. Often the children felt identification with Hitler, though it was purely superficial, as the Fuhrer’s use of dark and mystical ideology replaced their real father.

Soviet Atrocity Propaganda

Soviet propaganda was aimed at influencing and controlling the domestic population more so than having an outward projection. A small group of Communists and Trotsky headed up the international division of Propaganda in the Soviet Union. The propaganda served as an espionage service for the Kremlin. Stalin tried to manipulate the citizens he swore to protect. He thus took the unusual public step of addressing Nazi executions at length during an October Revolution Day speech: “The Hitlerite scoundrels have made it a rule to torture Soviet prisoners of war, to kill them by the hundreds, to condemn thousands of them to a death by starvation. They violate and kill the civilian population of the occupied territories of our country – men and women, children and elderly, our brothers and sisters. They have made it their aim to enslave or exterminate the population of Ukraine, Belorussia, the Baltic republics, Moldavia, the Crimea, and the Caucasus. Only villains and bastards devoid of honor and fallen to the level of animals, can permit themselves such outrages against innocent unarmed people.” Stalin often referred to the Nazis as “Fornicating Fritzes” and actively encouraged hatred towards the Germans.

By telling Russia that Germany waged war to exterminate the peoples of the USSR, Stalin was able to convince the people to defend The Motherland at all costs during Operation Barbarossa. Pravda published atrocity photos from the Nazi assault using them for propaganda to denounce all Germans as killers, bloodsuckers, and cannibals to further excite the public encouraging them to fight. Many anti-German films were produced portraying the persecution of the Jews and the subsequent methodical execution of their race. Girl No. 217 illustrated the horrors inflicted on Russian POWs, and how inhumane the German family was. The propaganda and control from the Kremlin worked, as the Russians sustained enormous casualties but stopped the Nazis from reaching Moscow and taking Leningrad, and after which they began their counteroffensive that would end with the Red Army in Berlin.

Post 1945 World

Atrocity propaganda continued to fuel conflicts following WWII, and the means used were often no more subtle than those that successfully raised hatred of the “Hun” to a new level in 1917. Atrocity stories are believed at the time because people want to believe them. They want to accept the stories as truth, so as to think that the enemy is an incarnation of evil and that they are acting in a reactive just manner. By continually depicting the enemy as barbaric and pure evil, the media can sway the public support.

The Chechen Wars

During the First Chechen War and Second Chechen War, both sides committed terrible atrocities. The Chechens even went so far as to resort to terrorism with suicide bombings, hostage taking, and executions. During the First Chechen War, Chechnya won the information war as it allowed western journalist access to their men and provided footage of the aftermaths of battles. The Russians kept a strict lid on events and by not allowing media access to its soldiers, ended up having to spend a lot of time and effort into defending its actions to the World. During the Second Chechen War, one atrocity story that was picked up by western sources, thanks to the Chechens, was the tragic story of Elza Kungaeva. Elza was an 18-year-old Chechen Muslim girl who was kidnapped by Russian Colonel Yuri Budanov and carried away from her family in a blanket. Yuri brought Elza to his trailer where he kept her locked, alone, for several hours. Afterwards, he allegedly repeatedly raped, strangled, and then beat her to death with a blunt object before burying her in the woods.

Yuri Budanov was arrested on March 29, 2000 and claimed that Kungaeva was a suspected sniper and that he had never raped her but killer her while interrogating her. Budanov’s commanding officer expressed sympathy towards him and stood by one of his best commanders and stated: “To Budanov’s enemies I say: Don’t put your paws on the image of a Russia soldier and officer.” There was a lack of forensic evidence of rape against Budanov, as the rape occurred after her death by three of his subordinates by a blunt object. The atrocity story the Chechens were reporting distorted the truth and was cleverly used as propaganda. There was no mention about how the Chechens rebels executed nine OMON special police captives following the Russian refusal to hand over Budanov. The Russian government jailed him and he served eight years, when Putin and the Politburo granted him parole. The judge that convicted him was in turn sentence later to ten years for accepting bribes. Russian nationalist rallied behind him and countered the protests of Chechens making Russia a battleground of inter-ethnic hatred between the Slavs and Muslims. However, this story did not end until 2011 when rebels loyal to Dokku Umarov assassinated Yuri Budanov in central Moscow.

The First Gulf War: Operation Desert Storm

To help gather support for intervention in Iraq, Western journalists focused on the al-Anfal campaign – the Iraqi extermination of ethnic Kurds. These atrocity stories were employed to stir up xenophobic emotions, “the surest method of eliciting from the masses savage patriotism that places the blame for every political folly or military action upon the head of the enemy.” By committing ethnic genocide on a mostly civilian population, it was not hard for the propagandist to find material when over 182,000 civilians were methodically executed. By bringing to light Iraqi barbarism, millions of Americans were stunned and needed just one more incident to sway the UN Security Council and that was delivered by “Nayirah.”

Known as the Incubator Lie, a young Kuwaiti girl known only as “Nayirah” witnessed and delivered a first hand account of the atrocities committed by Iraqi soldiers. She was presented to the UN Security Council to help get the necessary votes for the intervention. At the UN Security Council she testified that she witnessed the mass murdering of infants, when Iraqi soldiers had snatched them out of hospital incubators and threw them on the cold floor to die. As she told her story, the young girl cried uncontrollably telling the story in vivid, gruesome detail, painting a morbid picture of Iraqis hurling babies to the ground. President George H. W. Bush, with the help of the media, further spread the shocking news after her speech, and even seven US Senators used her testimony to give support to the decision of authorizing American military action. After her testimony, the UN Security Council agreed with the US led decision to start the war against Iraq. It wasn’t until after the war that the story about the Iraqi “baby-murders” was proven to be false. The young girl in fact was the daughter of the Kuwaiti Ambassador to America, Sheik Saud al Nasir al Sabah, a member of Kuwait’s ruling clan, and the entire atrocity had never actually happened. The whole fabrication was part of an extensive public relations campaigned financed by Hill and Knowlton to intervene on Kuwait’s behalf.

Post 9/11 Atrocity Propaganda

Modern day atrocity propaganda uses similar techniques as those that were used in prior conflicts, but has been geared in Muslim nations at influencing and brainwashing Muslims into Islamic extremists to commit acts of terror in the name of Jihad. Extremist organizations are great at recruiting child fighters to serve their cause – one boy age 11 stated “I will make my body a bomb that will blast the flesh of Zionists, the sons of pigs and monkeys. I will tear their bodies into little pieces and cause them more pain than they will ever know.” Over 300,000 children (both boys and girls) under the age of 18 are presently serving as combatants, fighting in almost 75 percent of the world’s conflicts. These youth wings are reminiscent of the Hitler Youth that was employed in WWII to defend Berlin at the last hour. By strapping bomb vests to children who are unidentified, since terrorists do not wear traditional army uniforms, they are instructed to get close to soldiers or to locate a crowded civilian populated area and detonate the device.

US PsyOps leaflet used in Afghanistan

The children offer terrorist group leaders cheap and easy recruits, as they are easy to manipulate through distorted ideological doctrine and vivid doctored photos to drive home the idea of Jihad. This has been used in Afghanistan and Iraq, as the first US soldier to die in Afghanistan was shot by a fourteen-year-old sniper. In Iraq a twelve-year-old-fighter commented, “Last night I fired a rocket-propelled grenade against a tank, the Americans are weak. They fight for money and status and squeal like pigs when they die. But we will kill the unbelievers because faith is the most powerful weapon.” The combination of youth’s inherent susceptibility to powerful influences and the harsh environment of their upbringing shape them, and help lead children to the hands of terrorists. Songs are also used in this atrocity on Palestinian television, where they once had a Sesame Street-like show with a Mickey Mouse character singing songs with lyrics, as “When I wander into Jerusalem, I will become a suicide bomber.”

The Arab Spring

In Egypt, the death of Khaled Mohamed Saeed who was killed by policemen on June 6, 2010, brought about the creation of a prominent Facebook group that contributed to the growing discontent in the weeks leading up to the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Photos of Saeed’s disfigured corpse spread throughout online communities and incited outrage towards the Egyptian authority and helped the revolution movement with their cause. In contrast with the events in Egypt, Libyan atrocity propaganda was fake, as the media was reporting atrocities by Muammar Qaddafi loyalists, who where ordered to perform mass “Viagra-fueled rapes.” This was part of a mass disinformation campaign aimed at inciting the masses to further the anti-Qaddafi rhetoric and action. This story was believed to be true since rape has always been a byproduct of war and violence in this region, and this fascination was easy enough to spread. Another example was on David Frost’s “Frost Over the World” on 26 April 2011 featuring Omar Turbi, who was affiliated with the Libyan National Council. Turbi during the interview spoke of an atrocity story in Benghazi where Qaddafi soldiers were instructed to “level the town, kill all adult males and rape the women.”

Russia began its own atrocity propaganda campaign against NATO over their involvement in Libya. After skillfully exploiting NATOs predicament over ground operation or stalemate because of their veto threat power, the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov, professed concerns over the civilian casualties. He made the following assertions:

1. The Allies’ use of force is disproportionate – violating the UN Security Council’s mandate – and killing innocent people;
2. The use of military force against civilians is unacceptable on either side, whether from Colonel Gaddafi’s forces or NATO, and must be ruled out;
3. The bombing negates the UN Security Council’s, and this intervention’s, purpose to protect the civilian population;
4. The Security Council’s resolution does not authorize regime change in Libya;
5. Russia calls for an immediate ceasefire, to be followed by an internationally-assisted political dialogue between the two Libyan sides, “without any kind of preconditions."

This line tends to equate Western belligerents with Gaddafi’s forces and challenges the US/NATO intervention for humanitarian purposes. Russian media also continued to show atrocity photos throughout the campaign in Libya.

Negative Factors atrocity Propaganda

Atrocity propaganda, however, is not without negative factors. After WWI most atrocity propaganda was thought to be fake given the numerous amounts of fictitious allegations that were spread during the Great War. This resulted in devastating actions, or more inaction, as allied forces in WWII did not believe the genocide that was occurring under the Nazis. Atrocity propaganda was most frequently used during WWI, but left its negative mark on society for years to come. Long lasting hatred and negative, almost a racist outlook on the enemy, are byproducts of atrocity propaganda and get in the way of peace. Atrocity propaganda often creates intolerance on the home front making life miserable for any expats of enemy countries. Professor Vernon Kellogg asked following WWII, "will it be any wonder if, after the war, the people of the world, when they recognize any human being as a German, will shrink aside so that they may not touch him as he passes, or stoop for stones to drive him from their path?" Paul Linebarger saw it as: "Atrocity propaganda begets atrocity [...] it goads the enemy into committing more atrocities and heats up the imagination of troops, making them more liable to nervous or psychoneurotic strain. It increases the chances of one's own side committing atrocities in revenge for the ones alleged or reported" Obviously then atrocity propaganda should be used with great restraint and care, as it is one of the most powerful ways a propagandist can drive the masses to action – as prominent propaganda theorist, Jacques Ellul stated it: “The propagandist uses a keyboard and composes a symphony.”

See Also

• Political Warfare
• Psychological Warfare
• British propaganda during World War I
• Propaganda in the Soviet Union

References

• Rogerson, Sidney (1938). Propaganda in the Next War. Great Britain: MacKays Limited. p. 27.
• Linebarger, Paul (1948). Psychological Warfare. Landisville, Pennsylvania: Coachwhip Publications. p. 61. ISBN 1-61646-055-5.
• Ponsonby, Arthur (1928). Falsehood in Wartime. Institute for Historical Review. p. 128. ISBN 0939484390.
• Berhhoff, Harel (1965). Motherland in Danger: Soviet Propaganda During WWII. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 119. ISBN 978-0-674-04924-6.
• Forest, James (2006). The Making of a Terrorist: Recruitment, Training, and Root Causes. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Security International. p. 105. ISBN 0-275-98543-1.
• Mackenzie, Alexander (1938). Propaganda Boom. London: John Gifford. pp. 50–71.
• Nicholas Cull, David Culbert, David Welch (2003). Propaganda and Mass Persuasion: A Historical Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present. ABC-CLIO. pp. 23–25. ISBN 1576078205.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Haste, Cate (1977), Keep the Home Fires Burning: Propaganda in the First World War, London, pp. 93–95{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Wilson, Trevor (1979), "Lord Bryce's investigation into alleged German atrocities in Belgium, 1914-15", Journal of Contemporary History, 14 (3), Sage Publications, Ltd.: 369–383, doi:10.1177/002200947901400301, JSTOR 260012
• Moyer, Laurence (1995). Victory Must Be Ours: Germany in the Great War 1914-1918. Hippocrene Books. pp. 96–7. ISBN 0-7818-0370-5.
• Copeland, David (2012). The Media's Role in Defining the Nation: The Active Voice. Peter Lang. p. 190. ISBN 1433103796.
• Lasswell, Harold (1927). Propaganda Technique in the World War. Cambridge: The MIT Press. p. 19. ISBN 0262620189.
• Marlin, Randal (2002). Propaganda and the Ethics of Persuasion. Toronto: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-376-7.
• Neander, and Marlin, Joachim, and Randal (2010). Media and Propaganda: The Northcliffe Press and the Corpse Factory Story of World War I. Toronto: Global Media Journal -- Canadian Edition. pp. 67–82.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Overy, Richard (2004). The Dictators: Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0393020304.
• Baker, and Glasser, Peter, and Susan (2005). Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. p. 101.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Singer, Peter Warren (2006). Children at War. California: University of California Press. p. 116. ISBN 0520248767.
• Norwitz, Jeffrey (2008). Armed Groups: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. ISBN 1884733522.
• Ellul, Jacques (1965). Propaganda and the Formation of Men's Attitudes. Vintage Books. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-394-71874-3.

Notes

Categories: Propaganda