User:Texdc7/sandbox
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Atrocity Propaganda is used in accordance with psychological warfare to demonize the enemy and spread deliberate fabrications or exaggerations of the truth about their crimes in wartime to help bring nations to action and provoke public outcry. Patriotism is often not enough to bring men to action – propaganda is also necessary.[1] In the short-term the objective is to damage the enemy. Atrocity propaganda has been very effective in shaping the psychology of the public and is often the tool of choice by the propagandist. According to Paul Linebarger, propaganda consists of the planned use of any form of mass-produced communication designed to affect the minds and emotions of a given enemy, neutral or friendly foreign group for a specific strategic or tactical purpose.”[2] Thus, sensational stories about the enemy engaging in mass killing, pointless burnings of villages, raping, and pillaging are effective in strengthening the resolve of the propagandist’s nation, as well as, garnishing support of neutral nations.
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Successful propaganda has a lasting effect and is based on truth, is linked to policy and is timely. Atrocity propaganda does not fulfill these requirements and is thus known to be the least effective form of propaganda in the long-term. If the lies are discovered, atrocity propaganda has even been proven to have a negative effect on individuals. However, war is violent and the “cruelty and suffering are inherent in it and the exaggeration and invention of atrocities soon becomes the main staple of propaganda. […] At best, human testimony is unreliable, even in ordinary occurrences of no consequence, but where bias, sentiment, passion, and so-called patriotism disturb the emotions, a personal affirmation becomes of no value whatsoever.”[3] “So great are the psychological resistances to war in modern nations," wrote Harold Lasswell, "that every war must appear to be a war of defense against a menacing, murderous aggressor. There must be no ambiguity about who the public is to hate."[4] Atrocity propaganda typically appeals to the heart, not the mind, thereby gripping a nation by its most primal instincts to rise in support against the enemy.