From Spread of Faith to Political Propaganda
| Pages | 19-25 |
|---|---|
| Citation | ZEMAN, Pavel. From Spread of Faith to Political Propaganda. Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia litterarum. Prague: National Museum, 2008, 53(1-4), 19-25. ISSN 0036-5351. Also available from: https://publikace.nm.cz/en/periodicals/acta-musei-nationalis-pragae-historia-litterarum/53-1-4/from-spread-of-faith-to-political-propaganda |
Semantic field of the term propaganda is usually conceived in terms of politically motivated manipulation of the society. The term is interpreted fairly narrowly which makes understanding of its genuine meaning impossible. Propaganda does not mean only use of illogical arguments appealing to emotions. Purely descriptive information used for influencing the public meaning in both positive and negative senses can also be described as propaganda. The word propaganda was first used by the Roman Catholic Church to disseminate Catholic faith in Europe and the New World. It became a purely political term („political agitation“) only in 1830, in the course of July revolution in France. In the second half of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, propaganda meant both political agitation and the society’s cultural education. This applies to Czech environment, too. In the German context, the term cultural propaganda and its meaning „dissemination of German ideas in the foreign countries“ was first used by Paul Rohrbach in 1912. The concept of propaganda as psychological conduct of war evolved during WWI. Its political meaning comprised propaganda by the printed word and by the newly developed means of film and photography. Film propaganda in WWI evolved from unsophisticated use of film technology to a well-organized management. German conservative circles interpreted Germany’s defeat in WWI in the so called Dolchstosslegende („dagger stab legend“). It attributed the defeat to the enemy propaganda and its association with bolshevism and country’s traitors. This led to negative perception of the propaganda term. Foreign policy of the Weimar Republic avoided the term in its official line and used the term „Aufklärung“ instead. However, political content of the semantic term propaganda was beyond dispute at that time. This was confirmed by Nazism. The Nazis forbid to relate the term propaganda with trade or economy after their seizure of power in 1933.
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