![]() Across British and Australian histories of the Great War, the atrocity propaganda which supported it has attained a correspondingly poor reputation, partly because it had promoted a subsequently reviled war, and partly because it came to symbolise the mendacious qualities of propaganda itself. The sheer scale of the loss of life, contrasted with the Imperial ambitions that seemingly drove the war, became by the latter half of the 20th century emblematic of the pointless cruelty of war itself ( Gregory, 2008 Todman, 2005). ![]() Out of all of the horrific wars of the last century, the First World War has attained the reputation among many historians of both conservative and liberal persuasions as having been one of the most unnecessary and wasteful wars ever to have been conducted ( Evans, 1987 Ferguson, 1998 Gammage, 1990 Keegan, 1999 Lake, 1975 Robson, 1982 McKernan, 1980 Winter, 2012). This article contributes to the revision of Australian and British home front attitudes to the war by using atrocity propaganda as valuable primary source material, rather than merely dismissing it as lies, which to date has been the main approach of historians. Therefore, the just war elements contained in atrocity propaganda, which maintained that the British and Australians fought for the rights of small nations and the protection of non-combatants from military abuse, have not been given appropriate consideration until recently. Yet because propaganda had come to be regarded as a synonym for ‘lies’, very few historians from the mid-20th century onwards were willing to entertain the idea that some aspects of atrocity propaganda were truthful. However, atrocity propaganda, which focused on the abuse of Belgian women and children at the hands of German soldiers, was not all lies. ![]() Progressive liberal authors such as British parliamentarian Arthur Ponsonby condemned atrocity propaganda as a series of manipulative lies designed to dupe a naïve populace into supporting a morally meaningless war. All subjects Allied Health Cardiology & Cardiovascular Medicine Dentistry Emergency Medicine & Critical Care Endocrinology & Metabolism Environmental Science General Medicine Geriatrics Infectious Diseases Medico-legal Neurology Nursing Nutrition Obstetrics & Gynecology Oncology Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine Otolaryngology Palliative Medicine & Chronic Care Pediatrics Pharmacology & Toxicology Psychiatry & Psychology Public Health Pulmonary & Respiratory Medicine Radiology Research Methods & Evaluation Rheumatology Surgery Tropical Medicine Veterinary Medicine Cell Biology Clinical Biochemistry Environmental Science Life Sciences Neuroscience Pharmacology & Toxicology Biomedical Engineering Engineering & Computing Environmental Engineering Materials Science Anthropology & Archaeology Communication & Media Studies Criminology & Criminal Justice Cultural Studies Economics & Development Education Environmental Studies Ethnic Studies Family Studies Gender Studies Geography Gerontology & Aging Group Studies History Information Science Interpersonal Violence Language & Linguistics Law Management & Organization Studies Marketing & Hospitality Music Peace Studies & Conflict Resolution Philosophy Politics & International Relations Psychoanalysis Psychology & Counseling Public Administration Regional Studies Religion Research Methods & Evaluation Science & Society Studies Social Work & Social Policy Sociology Special Education Urban Studies & Planning BROWSE JOURNALSįollowing the end of the First World War, British and Australian atrocity propaganda fell into disrepute.
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