Propaganda has been a powerful tool throughout history, used by governing bodies and dissenters alike to shape opinion, control narratives and maintain power. From ancient civilisations to modern social media, propaganda has resourcefully evolved, adapting to both new technologies and new political realities.
In ancient civilisations without mass media, rulers relied on architecture, art, and religious narratives to legitimise themselves and their authority. Ancient Egyptian rulers were deemed gods or god-chosen, reinforcing their power through astonishing monuments like the Pyramids as well as inscriptions and religious imagery. Pharaoh Ramses II, for example, had elaborate carvings and temples built to depict his military victories, even exaggerating or fabricating them as a visual corollary to his image of the great warrior.
The Roman Empire perfected the use of propaganda, with emperors like Augustus commissioning countless statues, coins and public works that glorified their reign. Augustus in particular used iconic literature such as Virgil’s Aeneid to link his rule to Rome’s destiny, ensuring loyalty and support.
During the Middle Ages propaganda became deeply tied to religion, as both monarchs and the Church sought to influence the masses. The Church used religious propaganda to rally support for the Crusades, promising spiritual rewards for participation. Papal decrees and sermons painted the wars as a divine mission, ensuring widespread mobilisation. European kings used religious narratives to justify their rule, promoting the idea that their authority was God-given. This was reinforced through church-controlled education, art and literature, ensuring that any challenge to power was seen as heretical.
With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, propaganda took on new dimensions, allowing ideas to spread faster and reach wider audiences. Martin Luther’s challenging 95 Theses of 1517 spread like wildfire thanks to this new piece of informational weaponry. Both Protestants and Catholics used pamphlets and woodprints to vilify each other, feeding European religious conflict.
Revolutionary movements relied on propaganda to inspire action. American patriots used newspapers and pamphlets, such as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, to rally support for independence. Similarly, during the French Revolution, newspapers, posters and slogans shaped public sentiment and provided justification for political changes. Napoleon Bonaparte mastered propaganda, commissioning paintings and proclamations that depicted him as a hero. He ensured that only favourable newspaper reports were published and even rewrote history to portray his defeats as victories, seizing archives from conquered territories across Europe, particularly the Vatican archives, to centralise control over historical documentation.
The 20th century saw propaganda reach unprecedented levels, particularly with the rise of totalitarian regimes and the expansion of mass media, namely radio, film and television.
Governments on all sides of World War I used posters, films, and newspapers to maintain morale and demonise the enemy. British and American propaganda portrayed the Germans as barbaric, while Germany on their part emphasised national pride and military strength. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Propaganda, used mass rallies, posters, and film to spread their ideology. The film Triumph of the Will (1935) glorified Hitler and presented the Nazi Party as the future of Germany. Antisemitic propaganda also fuelled widespread discrimination and violence, demonstrating the dangerous power of state-controlled messaging.
Under leaders like Lenin and Stalin, the Soviet Union used propaganda to glorify communism and suppress dissent. Posters depicted workers and soldiers as heroic figures, and newspapers like Pravda ensured that only pro-government narratives were shared. The cult of personality around Stalin was built through carefully curated images, and state-approved literature.
During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union used propaganda to promote their ideologies. Films, radio programs and advertisements in the United States regularly extolled the joys of freedom, capitalism and the American Dream. Meanwhile, the Soviet Union depicted Western countries as corrupt through media and education to strengthen communist loyalty.
In the 21st century, propaganda has metamorphosed once again to exploit the digital age. Political campaigns, state actors and extremist groups can now make use of social media platforms like Facebook, X and TikTok to spread misinformation, amplify political divisions, and shape public discourse.
Troll farms and bots spread false narratives, exploiting existing social tensions to manipulate voters. Russia has been accused of using online propaganda campaigns to influence elections, including the 2016 American Presidential election. The Chinese government tightly controls online content, using platforms like Weibo and WeChat to promote state-approved messages while censoring dissent. The “Great Firewall” prevents access to foreign media that might challenge government narratives.
Modern propaganda isn’t just limited to governments, though, as corporations and political parties use targeted advertising, data analytics and AI to imperceptibly tailor messages to specific demographics. As artificial intelligence and deepfake technology improve, propaganda may become even more deceptive. Fake videos, voice recordings and AI-generated news articles can create entirely fabricated events, making it that much harder to distinguish between reality and fiction. This raises serious ethical and political concerns about how societies can combat misinformation in the digital age.
Propaganda has been a central force in human history, shaping politics, wars, and societies. While its methods have evolved, from ancient carvings to AI generated videos, the goal remains the same: to regulate perceptions and resulting behaviour. As we move further into the digital age, critical thinking, media literacy and fact-checking will be crucial in resisting manipulation and ensuring informed decision-making. Most importantly, propaganda relies on a lack of education. Being uninformed, especially angry and uninformed, means being easily moulded by whatever politicians have to say. As such, engaging in diverse media from multiple standpoints is becoming an invaluable method of not only being more sceptical of what you see in the world around you, but protecting yourself from propaganda, because nobody is immune to it.
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