Munitions of the Mind

taylor 5/23/03 11:07 AM Page 1 Third edition ‘This scholarly, majestic survey, full of perceptive insights provides conclusive evidence that propaganda is a process unique to human communication regardless of time, space and geographic location and remains an integral part of human discourse. Taylor has done more mind the of Munitions than most to enhance our understanding of this complex subject and Munitions of the mind forces us to fundamentally rethink how we popularly regard propaganda … it transcends traditional disciplines Munitions and is in a real sense a multdisciplinary tour de force.’ Professor David Welch, University of Kent (on first edition) ‘A fascinating read and wide-ranging survey which should be essential reading for anyone interested in the operation and effects of of the mind propaganda.’ Professor Jeffrey Richards, University of Lancaster (on first edition) A classic work, Munitions of the mind traces how propaganda has formed part of the fabric of conflict since the dawn of warfare, and how in its broadest definition it has also been part of a process of persuasion at the heart of human communication. Stone monuments, coins, broadsheets, paintings and pamphlets, posters, radio, film, television, computers and satellite communications – propaganda has had access to ever more complex and versatile media. This third edition has been revised and expanded to include a new preface, new chapters on the Gulf War, information age conflict in the post-Cold War era, and the world after the terrorist attacks of September 11. It also offers a new epilogue and comprehensive bibliographical essay. The extraordinary range of this book, as well as the original and cohesive analysis it offers, makes it an ideal text for all international courses covering media and communications studies, cultural history, military history and politics. It will prove fascinating and accessible to the general reader. Philip M. Taylor is Professor of International Communications at the University of Leeds. His previous publications include War and the media: Propaganda and persuasion in the Gulf War. Third edition Taylor A history of propaganda from the ancient world to the present day Philip M. Taylor Munitions of the mind Munitions_00_Prelims 1 4/11/03, 10:38 For Professor Nicholas Pronay Munitions_00_Prelims 2 4/11/03, 10:38 Munitions of the Mind A history of propaganda from the ancient world to the present era Third Edition Philip M. Taylor Chapter 9 Manchester University Press Manchester and New York distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave Munitions_00_Prelims 3 4/11/03, 10:38 Copyright © Philip M. Taylor 1990, 1995, 2003 The right of Philip M. Taylor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First edition published 1990 by P. Stephens Second edition published 1995 by Manchester University Press, reprinted 1998 and 2002 This edition published 2003 by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 1000, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press, University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for Cu ISBN 0 7190 6767 7 paperback This edition first published 2003 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Typeset in Sabon by Koinonia, Manchester Printed in Great Britain by Bell & Bain Ltd, Glasgow Munitions_00_Prelims 4 4/11/03, 10:38 1 Contents Acknowledgements page vii Preface to the New Edition viii Introduction Looking Through a Glass Onion: Propaganda, Psychological Warfare and Persuasion 1 Part One Propaganda in the Ancient World 1 In the Beginning … 19 2 Ancient Greece 25 3 The Glory that was Rome 35 Part Two Propaganda in the Middle Ages 4 The ‘Dark Ages’ to 1066 51 5 The Norman Conquest 62 6 The Chivalric Code 67 7 The Crusades 73 8 The Hundred Years War 81 Part Three Propaganda in the Age of Gunpowder and Printing 9 The Gutenberg Galaxy 87 10 Renaissance Warfare 89 11 The Reformation and the War of Religious Ideas 97 12 Tudor Propaganda 102 13 The Thirty Years War (1618-48) 109 14 The English Civil War (1642-6) 117 15 Louis XIV (1661-1715) 121 Munitions_00_Prelims 5 4/11/03, 10:38 vi Contents Part Four Propaganda in the Age of Revolutionary Warfare 16 The Press as an Agent of Liberty 129 17 The American Revolution 133 18 The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars 145 19 War and Public Opinion in the Nineteenth Century 158 Part Five Propaganda in the Age of Total War and Cold War 20 War and the Communications Revolution 173 21 The First World War 176 22 The Bolshevik Revolution and the War of Ideologies (1917-39) 198 23 The Second World War 208 24 Propaganda, Cold War and the Advent of the Television Age 249 Part Six The New World Information Disorder 25 The Gulf War of 1991 285 26 Information-Age Conflict in the Post-Cold War Era 298 27 The World after 11 September 2001 315 28 Epilogue 320 Bibliographical Essay 325 Index 332 Munitions_00_Prelims 6 4/11/03, 10:38 1 Acknowledgements I am indebted to the British Academy for financial support aiding the research for the original edition of this book, and to the following colleagues for comments and suggestions: Dr Tracy Rihill for her observations on the ancient sections; Dr Graham Loud for his views on the medieval period; Professor F. R. Bridge for his comments on the early modern period. My research students over the years have extended my knowledge still further: Ilse Howling, Fiona Assersohn, Damien Stafford, Kate Morris, Dr Nick Cull, Dr Sue Carruthers, Dr Gary Rawnsley, Paul Rixon, Hossein Afkhami, Steve Bell, and Graham Cook. A book like this takes many years of gestation and I am delighted therefore to acknowledge the assistance of many supportive professional colleagues and friends, especially Dr Tony Aldgate, Dr Steven Badsey, Philip Bell, Professor Robert Cole, Professor David Culbert, Professor David Ellwood, Professor Ian Jarvie, Professor John Grenville, Dr Frank MacGee, David Murdoch, Dr John Ramsden, Professor Jeffrey Richards, Peter Stead, Dr Richard Taylor, Dr Geoff Waddington, Professor Donald Cameron Watt, Professor David Welch, Dr Ralph White, Professor John Young. My colleagues at the ICS in Leeds also deserve mention for bringing different disciplinary perspectives to my thinking: Dr David Morrison, Howard Smith, Dr Brent MacGregor, Dr Simeon Yates, Dr Richard Howells, Dr Steven Lax, Judith Stamper, Dr Robin Brown. Former students offered considerable help in various aspects of the research, especially Debbie Whittaker, Cheryl Johnson and Ian Bremner. But as a whole, my history students from 1978-90, and my communications studies students since 1990 will probably never appreciate how significant they have been in helping to shape my thoughts on this topic. At least my wife, Sue, knows of her contribution. Munitions_00_Prelims 7 4/11/03, 10:38 Preface to the New Edition This book first appeared in 1990, with a second edition in 1995. It was, until recently, the only single volume history of propaganda from the ancient world to the present day. No such volume can purport to be comprehensive, but it has proved necessary to update the final chapters and to add new ones that embrace the Balkan wars (including the 1999) Kosovo campaign and, of course, the so-called ‘war’ against international terrorism. As I write this new preface, the world is gearing up for another possible war against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Leaflets have already been dropped there. This book attempts to place the conduct of propaganda during these events within a wider historical context. It retains its main thesis that propaganda is a much misunderstood word, that it is not necessarily the ‘bad thing’ that most people think it is. As a process of persuasion, it is value neutral. Rather, it is the intention behind the propaganda which demands scrutiny and it is that intention which begs value judgements not the propaganda itself. Much has happened since 1995, not least the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, or ‘9/11’ as it is now currently being described in shorthand. We are in the middle of another major propaganda campaign, although it is often difficult for us to identify it for what it is because we are living through it. News and views are all around us, speculation is rife, sides are being polarized. Indeed, the issue of Iraq notwithstanding, we may be on the verge of the greatest propaganda campaign ever seen as the West struggles to convince the Muslim world that this is not a war against Islam when many in the Islamic world genuinely believe that it is. President George W. Bush warns that the United States is in it ‘for the long haul’. If so, then we will see a new global struggle for hearts and minds that may be on a par with the Cold War. This book should, until its next edition, provide some clues as to how to identify propaganda for what it is, how it has evolved and – most impor- tantly – to judge for oneself the intentions behind those undertaking it. Crag Bottom Farm, Two Laws 31 December 2002 Munitions_00_Prelims 8 4/11/03, 10:38 Introduction Looking Through a Glass Onion: Propaganda, Psychological Warfare and Persuasion From the perspective of our modern information and communications age, the word ‘propaganda’ continues to imply something evil.

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