The Universal Laws of Propaganda: World War I and the Origins of Government Manufacture of Opinion

ABSTRACT The Great War transformed propaganda as, indeed, it transformed warfare. Over the course of the conflict, from 1914 to 1918, propaganda became, for the first time, a pervasive, systematic instrument of every government that threw troops into battle. The belligerent governments employed similar approaches to shaping mass opinion. This study identifies nine laws of propaganda – that is, seminal characteristics and consequences – that emerged from the war and continue today. We draw on primary sources and unpublished materials located in political archives in the United States, Germany and Britain to explore the relationship between media, war, intelligence, and government publicity activities during 1914–1918.