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Whether the medium was a newspaper, billboard, magazine, or movie, the efforts predominantly focused upon calculated emotional appeals, or tried and true tactics like demonizing the enemy. CPI propaganda typically appealed to the heart, not to the mind. Emotional agitation is a favorite technique of the propagandist, because any emotion may be drained off into any activity by skillful manipulation.

Ross (1996) provides an example of the technique of demonizing the enemy, which was typified by a widely distributed propaganda poster that portrayed an aggressive, bayonet-wielding German soldier above the caption “Beat Back The Hun With Liberty Bonds.” In this example, the emotions of hate and fear were redirected toward giving money to the war effort.

Perhaps the most effective propaganda technique used by the CPI was demonization of the enemy. The propagandists realized that the psychological resistance to war in modern nations was so great that every war must be made to appear to be a war of defense against a menacing, murderous aggressor. There could be no ambiguity about who the public was to hate. One widely used and effective strategy for demonizing Germans was the use of atrocity stories, which have been employed with unvarying success in every conflict known to man, largely because they trigger such a deeply felt, self-righteous indignation toward the enemy.

The CPI campaign also targeted specific groups with specially focused approaches. Emotional appeals and simplistic caricatures of the enemy influenced many Americans, but the CPI recognized that certain social groups had more complex propaganda needs. In order to reach intellectuals and pacifists, the CPI claimed that military intervention would bring about a democratic League of Nations and end warfare forever. With other social groups, the CPI modified its arguments, and interpreted the war as a conflict to destroy the threat of German industrial competition, which satisfied business groups; that it was to protect the American standard of living, which satisfied labor groups; that it was to remove certain baneful German influences in our education, which satisfied teachers; and that it was to preserve civilization, make the world safe for democracy, crush militarism, and establish the rights of small nations, which satisfied nationalist, religious and idealistic groups.

A continuing evaluation process was carried out through 1917 and 1918 to gauge the effectiveness of the massive campaign. With all the sophistication of a modern advertising agency, the CPI examined the different ways that information flowed to the population and flooded these channels with pro-war material. The CPI’s domestic division was composed of nineteen sub-divisions, each focusing upon a particular type of propaganda.

These sub-divisions worked hard and conducted exhaustive studies of the impact of various public relations and propaganda techniques on the American people. But evaluation of the effectiveness of movie-related efforts could also be rather easy at times. Pratkanis (1999) writes of one particular picture, To Hell With The Kaiser, that was so popular that Massachusetts riot police were summoned to deal with an angry mob that had been denied admission. When something so dramatic occurs, when people will fight each other for the chance to see a propaganda product, it is readily evident that a masterful public relations campaign is being conducted.

Any critique of the Committee for Public Information s propaganda campaign during the

First World War can only conclude that the efforts of the men and women of CPI were very effective. The research phase was personally directed with diligence and thoroughness by

George Creel, the muck-raking filmmaker picked by President Wilson to head CPI. A capable staff was hired and expanded with intense regard for their mastery of the psychology of the American public, and knowledge of public relations techniques. Objectives were identified

with decisiveness and dispatch and immediate measures taken to attain them. CPI was organized in an efficient manner which maximized the administrative skills of its department managers and provided for the flexibility in decision-making at all levels which characterizes an effective, responsive organization.

The planning phase went smoothly, guided again by George Creel, who motivated his people with frequent encouragement and constant focusing on what they were going to do. This hands-on management carried through into the execution and programming of the campaign. CPI staffers always knew what they were expected to do, what was being done at any given time,

and what was being planned next.

Evaluation meetings consistently measured the effectiveness of CPI s various techniques,

fine-tuned those that were not as successful as had been hoped, and increased the frequency

or scale of the techniques which were proving very effective.

As Winter explains, (1989) The profound change in the attitude of the American people from the rigid isolationist sentiments of President Wilson s first term, to the overwhelming support for the war in 1917 and 1918 is of course a function of many factors. But historians are nearly unanimous in the opinion that the propaganda efforts of Wilson s CPI deserve a great portion of the credit for such a dramatic change in public opinion in so short a time.

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