Editing Psychological warfare (section)

===World War I===
[[File:James Bryce.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Lord Bryce]] led the [[The Bryce Report|commission]] of 1915 to document German [[Rape of Belgium|atrocities committed against Belgian civilians]].]]
The start of modern psychological operations in war is generally dated to [[World War I]]. By that point, Western societies were increasingly educated and urbanized, and mass media was available in the form of large circulation [[newspaper]]s and posters. It was also possible to transmit propaganda to the enemy via the use of [[Airborne leaflet propaganda|airborne leaflets]] or through explosive delivery systems like modified artillery or [[mortar (weapon)|mortar]] rounds.<ref name="PSYOP">{{cite web|url=http://www.psywarrior.com/WWIAllies.html|title=Allied PsyOp of WWI|access-date=17 December 2012}}</ref>

At the start of the war, the belligerents, especially the British and Germans, began distributing propaganda, both domestically and on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western front]]. The British had several advantages that allowed them to succeed in the battle for [[world opinion]]; they had one of the world's most reputable news systems, with much experience in international and cross-cultural communication, and they controlled much of the [[undersea communications cable]] system then in operation. These capabilities were easily transitioned to the task of warfare.

The British also had a [[diplomatic service]] that maintained good relations with many nations around the world, in contrast to the reputation of the German services.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMRBAAAAIAAJ|title=Psychological Warfare|author=Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony|year=2006|publisher=University of Chicago Press|access-date=7 February 2013}}</ref> While German attempts to foment revolution in parts of the [[British Empire]], such as [[Ireland]] and [[India]], were ineffective, extensive experience in the [[Middle East]] allowed the British to successfully induce the Arabs to [[Arab revolt|revolt]] against the [[Ottoman Empire]].

In August 1914, [[David Lloyd George]] appointed a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP), [[Charles Masterman]], to head a [[Wellington House|Propaganda Agency]] at Wellington House. A distinguished body of literary talent was enlisted for the task, with its members including [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], [[Ford Madox Ford]], [[G. K. Chesterton]], [[Thomas Hardy]], [[Rudyard Kipling]] and [[H. G. Wells]]. Over 1,160 pamphlets were published during the war and distributed to neutral countries, and eventually, to Germany. One of the first significant publications, the ''[[The Bryce Report|Report on Alleged German Outrages]]'' of 1915, had a great effect on general opinion across the world. The pamphlet documented [[Rape of Belgium|atrocities]], both actual and alleged, committed by the German army against Belgian civilians. A Dutch illustrator, [[Louis Raemaekers]], provided the highly emotional drawings which appeared in the pamphlet.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Battle for the Mind: German and British Propaganda in the First World War|url=http://quadri.wordpress.com/2008/04/25/the-battle-for-the-mind-german-and-british-propaganda-in-the-first-world-war/|website=Quadri.wordpress.com|date=25 April 2008}}</ref>

In 1917, the bureau was subsumed into the new [[Department of Information (United Kingdom)|Department of Information]] and branched out into [[telegraph]] communications, [[radio]], newspapers, magazines and the cinema. In 1918, [[Viscount Northcliffe]] was appointed Director of Propaganda in Enemy Countries. The department was split between propaganda against Germany organized by H.G Wells, and propaganda against the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] supervised by [[Wickham Steed]] and [[Robert William Seton-Watson]]; the attempts of the latter focused on the lack of ethnic cohesion in the Empire and stoked the grievances of minorities such as the [[Croatia|Croats]] and [[Slovenia|Slovenes]]. It had a significant effect on the final collapse of the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] at the [[Battle of Vittorio Veneto]].<ref name="PSYOP" />

Aerial leaflets were dropped over German trenches containing postcards from [[prisoners of war]] detailing their humane conditions, surrender notices and general propaganda against the [[Wilhelm II|Kaiser]] and the German [[general]]s. By the end of the war, [[MI7b]] had distributed almost 26 million leaflets. The Germans began shooting the leaflet-dropping pilots, prompting the British to develop unmanned leaflet balloons that drifted across [[no-man's land]]. At least one in seven of these leaflets were not handed in by the soldiers to their superiors, despite severe penalties for that offence. Even General [[Paul von Hindenburg|Hindenburg]] admitted that "Unsuspectingly, many thousands consumed the poison", and [[Prisoner of War|POWs]] admitted to being disillusioned by the propaganda leaflets that depicted the use of German troops as mere [[cannon fodder]]. In 1915, the British began airdropping a regular leaflet newspaper ''[[Le Courrier de l'Air]]'' for civilians in German-occupied France and Belgium.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmC1mS35ROcC|title=British Propaganda in the Twentieth Century: Selling Democracy|author=Taylor, Philip M.|year=1999|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|access-date=7 February 2013|isbn=9780748610396}}</ref>

At the start of the war, the French government took control of the media to suppress negative coverage. Only in 1916, with the establishment of the Maison de la Presse, did they begin to use similar tactics for the purpose of psychological warfare. One of its sections was the "Service de la Propagande aérienne" (Aerial Propaganda Service), headed by Professor Tonnelat and [[Jean-Jacques Waltz]], an Alsatian artist code-named "''Hansi''". The French tended to distribute leaflets of images only, although the full publication of [[US President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]]'s [[Fourteen Points]], which had been heavily edited in the German newspapers, was distributed via airborne leaflets by the French.<ref name="PSYOP" />

The [[Central Powers]] were slow to use these techniques; however, at the start of the war the Germans succeeded in inducing the [[Sultan]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] to declare 'holy war', or [[Jihad]], against the Western [[infidel]]s. They also attempted to foment rebellion against the [[British Empire]] in places as far afield as [[Ireland]], [[Afghanistan]], and [[India]]. The Germans' greatest success was in giving the Russian revolutionary, [[Lenin]], free transit on a sealed train from [[Switzerland]] to [[Finland]] after the overthrow of the [[Tsar Nicholas II|Tsar]]. This soon paid off when the [[Bolshevik Revolution]] took [[Russia]] out of the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.psywarrior.com/GermanWWIPSYOP.html|title=German WWI PsyOp|access-date=17 December 2012}}</ref>