Download Seldes on propaganda during World War One

DOCUMENT I
Johnnie get your gun, get your gun, get your gun,
Take it on the run, on the run, on the run;
Hear them calling you and me;
Every son of liberty.
Hurry right away, no delay, go today,
Make your daddy glad, to have such a lad,
Tell your sweetheart not to pine,
To be proud her boy’s in line.
Chorus: Over there, over there
Send the word, send the word over there,
The Yanks are coming, the Yanks are coming,
The drums rum-tum tumming everywhere
So prepare, say a prayer,
Send the word, send the word to beware,
We’ll be over, we’re coming over,
And we won’t come back till it’s over, over there.
Source: Sean, Farrell. "DBQ Question." History Teacher. N.p., Apr 2000. Web. 14 Aug 2012.
<http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/DBQs2000/HerbMeserve-Sean.htm>.
1. After reading the lyrics to “Over There”, choose one line from the song that you think is the
strongest example of propaganda and defend your choice.
2. Give an example of a song since World War I, that has used lyrics to influence people’s
opinion on a political issue.
3. Do you think songs and music are an effective method? Why or why not?
Document 2
"Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the
freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in existence of autocratic
governments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of the
people. We have seen the last of neutrality in these circumstances…the world must be made safe for
democracy: its peace must be planted upon the tested foundation of liberty. We have no selfish ends to
serve. We desire no conquest, no dominion. We seek no indemnities for ourselves, no material
compensation for the sacrifices we shall freely make. We are but one of the champions of the rights of
mankind. We shall be satisfied when those have been made as secure as the faith and the freedom of
nations can make them."
Source: Sean, Farrell. "DBQ Question." History Teacher. N.p., Apr 2000. Web. 14 Aug 2012.
<http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/DBQs2000/HerbMeserve-Sean.htm>.
4. After reading the above excerpt from Woodrow Wilson’s speech, describe what specific
action he wanted Senators to take.
5. Which words did he use that you think most appealed to his audience?
Document 3
"In view of recent acts of the German authorities in violation of American rights on the high seas which
culminated in the torpedoing and sinking of the British steamship Lusitania on May 7,1915, by which over
100 American citizens lost their lives, it is clearly wise and desirable that the government of the United
States and the Imperial German Government should come to a clear and full understanding as to the
grave situation which has resulted."
Source: Sean, Farrell. "DBQ Question." History Teacher. N.p., Apr 2000. Web. 14 Aug 2012.
<http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/DBQs2000/HerbMeserve-Sean.htm>.
6. After reading the above excerpt, think about whether even a seemingly factual report can
have a “spin”. Now try to re-write the report as a German official might report the information to
his ambassador.
Document 4
THE SEDITION ACT
At the urging of Attorney General Gregory, Congress enacted the Sedition Act (40 Stat. 553),
which amended the Espionage Act, on May 16, 1918. Most notably, it added a variety of
prohibited acts to Title 1, section 3, including writing or uttering:
any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the
United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the
United States, or the flag of the United States, or the uniform of the Army or Navy of the
United States, or any language intended to bring [any of the above] into contempt, scorn,
contumely, or disrepute.
7. How would you define “disloyal, scurrilous, or abusive” speech? Do we have the right to say
these things today?
8. What impact might this law have on public opinion of the war?
Document 5
9. What viewpoint is expressed by the creator of the political cartoon below about the
Espionage and Sedition Act?
Source: McCay, Winsor. Must Liberty’s Lights go Out. 1917. Photograph. Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.. Web. 14 Aug 2012.<
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96519622/>.
Document 6 and 7
Source: Grosse, J.L. Help Crush the Menace of the Seas: Buy Liberty Bonds: Buy Quickly,
Buy Freely.. 1914-1918. Photograph. Documenting the American South, New York. Web. 14
Aug 2012. <http://docsouth.unc.edu/wwi/41931/menu.html>.
Source: Sean, Farrell. "DBQ Question." History Teacher. N.p., Apr 2000. Web. 14 Aug 2012.
<http://www.historyteacher.net/USProjects/DBQs2000/HerbMeserve-Sean.htm>
10. Describe the propaganda techniques used in the posters above. What specific techniques
did the illustrator use to influence opinions?
Source: Steele. Defeat the Kaiser and his U-boats--Victory depends on which fails first,
food, or frightfulness--Waste nothing. 1917. Photograph. Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C. Web. 14 Aug 2012. <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002712083>.
Document 8 Interview about George Creel
11. Why was Creel criticized?
12. How does Axelrod defend the Committee of Public Information?
Document 9
British newspapers published casualty figures that were acceptable to the government but less
than accurate. British success in battles was emphasised as opposed to the minimal gains
actually made. All countries were guilty of this. Parisians did not know about the danger Verdun
was in during the initial stages of the German attack despite being just 150 miles from the city.
The French authorities simply clamped down on the truth. Anybody caught spreading the truth
regarding Verdun was liable for arrest as an agent provocateur.
The same was true in any country involved in the war. A good example would be the following
extract from a British newspaper.
“To the north of Ypres our progress has been continued, especially on our left. We have taken six
quick-firers, two bomb-throwers, and much material; and made several hundred prisoners,
including several officers.
The losses of the enemy were extremely high. At a single point on the front, in the proximity of the
canal we counted more than six hundred German dead.
On the heights of the Meuse, on the front Les Eparges-St Remy-Calonne trench, we have
continued to gain ground, about one kilometre, and have inflicted on the enemy very severe
losses.”
This was written in April 1915. No-where does it describe the British casualties at Ypres or the
problems that were encountered there by the British. No British newspaper described the
scenes at Victoria Station when carriages of wounded soldiers arrived back in London - but very
late at night or in the early hours of the morning in an effort to blot out the sheer numbers lost in
battle - be it Ypres or the Somme.
Regarding the same battle, a German newspaper reported that:
"In Flanders the British yesterday again attempted to regain the ground they had lost. In the
afternoon they attacked from both sides but the attack completely broke down. An evening attack
further east failed, with severe British losses."
In Britain the Defence of the Realm Act listed things that correspondents could write about but
more important, could not write about. What they could not write about included
the number of British troops and where they were in a particular part of the war front
plans for any future action
movement of ships
information about munitions
Source: "Propaganda and World War One." History Learning Site. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk,
n.d. Web. 13 Aug 2012.
<http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_and_world_war_one.htm>.
13. To what end do governments control their media’s reporting of war?
14. Does this happen today? Explain.
Document 10
Seldes on propaganda during World War One
"Of the first war years I will say just this: I made a total fool of myself when I accepted as true
the news reports from New York and Europe which by their volume and repetition overwhelmed
what little objective intelligence I had...
...there was the Lusitania. All the Allied reports told of a "dastardly" and "heinous" crime against
civilians, but the German news bureau said the ship carried munitions. Today the sworn
statement of the former Collector of the Port of New York, Dudley Field Malone, gives the exact
character and tonnage of these munitions, but in 1915 I played the Allied side. I used all the
stories of German atrocities including the Baltimore preacher's "unimpeachable" account of the
crucifixion of Canadian soldiers by the enemy. In short, in common with about ninety per cent of
the American press, I had become a blind but willing agent of the powerful and finally victorious
Allied propaganda machine.
...It was not until December, 1918, when I came into Coblenz with the American Army that I
realized how fooled I had been by all those years of poisonous propaganda...
...At that time we considered ourselves the most favored and on our return we found ourselves
the most envied of mortals, and the journals which printed our stories boasted of the fact their
own representatives had been at the fighting front. I now realize that we were told nothing but
buncombe, that we were shown nothing of the realities of the war, that we were, in short, merely
part of the great Allied propaganda machine whose purpose was to sustain morale at all costs
and help drag unwilling America into the slaughter.
...We all more or less lied about the war."
From "One Man's Newspaper Game," Part 1, Chapter 1, in Freedom of the Press, by George
Seldes (Garden City, N.Y.: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1937), p. 31-37. Original Copyright
1935, Bobbs-Merrill Company.
Source: Seldes, George. "Seldes on Propaganda During World War One." Tell the Truth and
Run: George Seldes and the American Press. Brass Check, n.d. Web. 16 Aug.
2012.<http://www.brasscheck.com/seldes/>
15. After reading the above excerpt from George Seldes’ book about his years as a newspaper
journalist, answer the following questions:
a. What regrets were expressed by Seles?
b. Why do you think he feels so strongly about this issue? Didn’t he just help the Allies
win the war?