World War I propaganda was very effective in influencing Americans. For one thing, propaganda about the war was propagated in a number of different formsùprinted literature, cartoons, posters, radio broadcasts, and music. Existing in all of these different forms, propaganda had many avenues for reaching Americans. For another, propaganda was specifically intended to appeal to the emotions of those who encountered it, and emotions are a very powerful persuasive factor in influencing people. Particularly in terms of a war, which is always a highly emotional issue for people anyway, the effect of propaganda can be deep. Many people who encountered propaganda during the war still remembered it and continued to talk about it decades later.
It should be clarified that American citizens were exposed to both pro- and anti-American propaganda, since propaganda was being disseminated by both allies and enemies during the war. The influence of pro-American propaganda had a much greater effect on Americans than anti-American propaganda put out by the nationÆs enemies; pro-American propaganda had the effect of drawing the nation together into greater unity of purpose behind the war. Anti-American propaganda served mainly to inflame American sentiments more greatly in favor of the conflict and spur them even more aggressively toward the winning of it.
One of the reasons for the great effectiveness of propaganda was that President Woodrow Wilson created an agency in 1917ùthe Committee on Public Information (CPI)ùto ôpromote the war domestically while publicizing American war aims abroadö (Duffy). One of WilsonÆs purposes in doing so was to remedy the obvious lack of public unity in America at the outset of World War I (Duffy). This was a significant issue in the potential success of the war, because ôunwavering public support was considered to be crucial to the entire wartime effortö (Duffy). The success of
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