Words are weapons in warfare. Words affect how people think about themselves and about others. War is probably the time of the greatest language manipulation, when people are most likely to deceive others, least able to negotiate, and are under the most intense emotional stress -- of fear and anger -- with the greatest dangers of loss, death, and destruction.

PROPAGANDA is often used as a general attack word to label any claims or charges from opponents, rivals, or critics. Here, however, two terms are used with specific meanings:

War propaganda, here refers to persuasion targeted at an internal audience: to bond one's own group, to build morale (a belief in "being right" and in "being able"), to get people to agree, to get involved, to silence internal opposition, to incite to action, and to channel that response.

Psychological warfare, here refers to persuasion designed to demoralize or terrorize an external audience: the "other" -- the outsider, the foe, the enemy. Both kinds of persuasion pose a great danger today.

Unlike all previous eras, TV now gives persuaders quick access to huge audiences, and powerful new weapons are rather easily available to all nations, small groups, and individuals. After World War II, during what we call "peace time," (1945-1999), some 25 million people have been killed in "small" wars: local conflicts about dominance, territory, ethnic and religious issues, all of which were "justified" by words.

War propaganda can often be deliberately manipulated by professional persuaders (a "thermostat effect" calculated to heat up or cool a crisis).

However, once started, sometimes war propaganda can get totally out of control (a "wildfire effect") with unpredictable, long term effects. Years after a crisis, individual zealots may still base their hatred of others on "outdated" ideas from earlier propaganda.

Certain beliefs and attitudes, emotions and feelings, can rather easily lead to seriously harmful actions. There are many crazies in the world: mentally unstable, and angry about real or imagined problems.

Thus, if our goals are to resolve conflicts, to lessen tensions, to counter irrationality, and to promote peace, then it helps if we understand how language has often been used in warfare. From observation - and history - consider this basic premise: People intensify their own "good" and downplay their own "bad"; and, in aggression, people intensify others' "bad" and downplay others' "good." Applied to the war propaganda of any nation or group, these concepts are useful to sort out (as in the chart below) and to analyze common, predictable patterns in form and content:

INTENSIFY OWN "GOOD"

  • All people claim virtue and seek justice. Persuaders often repeat these key themes: to justify the Cause ("Our nation, our leader, our policies, our actions are right and just"); to bond the group together (themes of unity, loyalty, and pride); to focus energy for action (join, work, fight). Words are used to resolve the will, to stir the feelings, to trigger action. Basically: what to believe, to feel, and to do.
  • Rhetoric of the "Haves" (established governments; or strong rivals, such as the USA and the USSR during the Cold War) stresses defense/ protection of what they have. Fear is the key emotion, loss is the key threat.
  • Rhetoric of the "Have-Nots" (the poor, the dispossessed; for example, rebels, revolutionaries, "terrorists") stresses change/relief. Anger is the key emotion, continued deprivation is the key threat.
  • Such ideas can be expressed by direct explicit claims (as in praise words, "glittering generalities"); or by indirect suggestions by means of words, images, music, and other nonverbals associated with things already liked (Home, Family, Religion, God) by the intended audience.
  • Stories (narratives - including rumors, books, movies) present their characters as heroes, role models, for others to imitate their virtues (loyalty, bravery, endurance) and their actions (fighting hard, working, obeying orders).

INTENSIFY OTHERS' "BAD"

  • Verbal aggression, words used to stir emotions (anger, resentment, disgust, fear) to incite people to hate others and to seek revenge, is often the most intense form of war propaganda.
  • Everyone has predictable fears: e.g. about death, destruction, loss of possessions, freedom, or territory. Persuaders, on either side, can intensify such fears in order to excite, bond, and direct their own group to action (fight, work, revenge).
  • In war, expect intense: "name-calling" (invectives, attack words) and images associating or depicting the enemy either as diabolical or inhuman - a savage, animal, monster; "horror stories" (narratives - including rumors, books, movies) and "atrocity pictures" showing the enemy's evil deeds, atrocities, and bloody victims.
  • In war, all armies commit atrocities. But, people tend to believe the worst about their enemies - even a "big lie," if repeated often.
  • Urgency and danger are intensified by warnings using the language of extremes, absolutes,"ultimates" (Doomsday, Slavery): the greater the threat, the greater is the need for a war, or a higher military budget.

DOWNPLAY OWN "BAD"

  • Omission is the primary way people downplay their own "bad." Governments can suppress, conceal, hide, cover-up their "bad" (errors, crimes, problems, weaknesses, any unfavorable information) by means of secrecy, censorship, controls to ban the press or internal critics; silencing, eliminating, or "disappearing" the opposition. Degree of omission varies: even in peacetime, some societies are very "closed," others relatively "open."
  • Euphemisms are common to downplay one's own "bad": "softer words" which lessen, sweeten, minimize, understate, blur or obscure the "bad."
  • Denials ("saying it isn't so" -- a kind of "word magic") can include both deliberate lying to others and self-deception. Wishful thinking, alibis, and excuses are ways people downplay their own "bad": for example, denying that something is, or is bad, or is not that bad, or denying responsibility ("I didn't do it") or intent (I didn't mean it").
  • Confusion can mask or hide problems, often called a "smokescreen" effect. Confusion can be accidental (carelessness, errors). But, language also can be deliberately used to cause confusion: ambiguity, vagueness, unfamiliar words, contradictions, circumlocutions; in a wider context, frequent changes or variations, or anything which can distract, confuse, or overload the audience.

DOWNPLAY OTHERS' "GOOD"

  • Neglect is the primary way people downplay others' "good." Many people are egocentric and ethnocentric: they simply disregard, ignore, or lack concern for other groups, strangers, or foreigners. In war, people often know very little about their opponents' culture, history, customs, beliefs, or family life. Nations often ban the music, art, literature, pop culture (TV), or any favorable aspect of opponents.
  • Intolerance. People often deny (block out, won't listen to) any contrary ideas, opinions, or beliefs. People often won't consider the possible "rightness" of their opponents' Cause, of their opponents' legitimate needs and wants, of their opponents' genuine fears and grievances.
  • Disrespect. Words and attitudes are often used which are patronizing, or condescending toward others, treating others as less than equal, or less than human . Humor (mockery, sarcasm) is used to belittle, degrade, insult, or ridicule others.
  • Abstractions. It's easier to kill "things" than to kill human beings: mothers, fathers, children. Thus, in war, language becomes more abstract and general (including numbers, statistics, "body counts"), and people become less able to "see" (to visualize, to comprehend) the concrete details, the specific individuals.

 

This teaching aid about war propaganda is derived from the Intensify/Downplay Schema which -- from observation and history - is based on the premise that people intensify their own "good" and downplay their own "bad"; and, in aggression, people intensify others ' "bad" and downplay others' "good." (The common techniques --- how people intensify --- are by repetition, association, and composition; and --- how people downplay --- are by omission, diversion, and confusion.) Applied to the war propaganda of any nation or group, these concepts are useful to sort out and to analyze common, some predictable patterns in form and content.