The Power of Propaganda

Documentary as Propaganda - 1

Five soldiers recuperating in the sun, during World War I

The photograph's original caption reads, 'BRITISH OFFICIAL
PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE WESTERN FRONT - A FEW
OF OUR WOUNDED TOMMIES ENJOY A SUN BATH'.

British officer talking to a young French girl, France, during World War I

This image shows a British officer talking to a young French girl.
This photograph is in stark contrast to the horrors that those fighting
were exposed to.

The scene takes place during the early months of the Second World
War, outside the main seat of local government in the Machars: the
Macmillan Hall, Dashwood Square. The tank is a First World War
tank, for propaganda purposes. The tanks were used when funds were
being collected to help the war effort.

Strikers watching as soldiers and tanks roll along the Trongate, brought in to quell the rising insurrection, 1919

Strikers watch as soldiers and tanks roll along the Trongate, brought
in to quell the rising insurrection. Striking workers of 'Red Clydeside'
were demanding a shorter working week

The Power of Propaganda

More than any other power group, the Nazis realised the potency of film in a generation addicted to the cinema. In addition to recording actual events, such as the 1934 Nazi Congress in Nuremberg, the films, created principally by Leni Riefenstahl, composed and choreographed a mythical Adolph Hitler, to sell him as the god of the German People to his homeland and the rest of the world. Such is the power of propaganda.

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