Wellington House
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Wellington House was home of British propaganda during World War I. At the outbreak of World War I, both allied and opposition forces tried to gain public support, as well as support from foreign countries. This attempt was made using propaganda. The British used Wellington House to control most of its print and photo propaganda headed towards their allied forces, as well as the United States.
The main reason countries began using propaganda was because it was seen as highly effective. Many thought propaganda was as effective as bombs were during wartime. Even though it did not cause the physical damage, the attraction was due to the defamation of its target. This was an important tool in discrediting the opposition as well as destroying the good reputation of a competitor or enemy.
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[edit] History
Wellington House began its propaganda campaign on September 2nd, 1914 when Charles Masterman invited twenty-five leading British authors to Wellington House. Once arriving at the headquarters of the War Propaganda Bureau, their agenda was to discuss ways of best promoting Britain's interests during the war. All of the authors at the conference agreed to the utmost secrecy regarding their future work. Of the twenty-five invited authors, several of the men wrote pamphlets for Wellington House. These were the first forms of propaganda printed for the war efforts. They would later be used to help promote the government's view of the situation.
One of the first pamphlets to be published was the Bryce Report on Alleged German Outrages, that appeared at the beginning of 1915. This pamphlet attempted to give credence to the idea that the German Army had intentionally tortured Belgian civilians. A Dutch illustrator, by the name of Louis Raemaekers, was recruited to provide highly emotional drawings that appeared in the pamphlet.
Along with Raemaekers, another artist was brought in by Masterman to create emotional images about the Germans. Masterman recruited Paul Nash as an official war artist. Nash later complained about the control over subject matter, he said, "I am no longer an artist. I am a messenger who will bring back word from the men who are fighting to those who want the war to go on forever. Feeble, inarticulate will be my message, but it will have a bitter truth and may it burn their lousy souls." The War Propaganda Bureau proceeded to publish over 1160 pamphlets during the war.
Only two photographers, both British army officers, were allowed to take pictures of the Western Front. The penalty for anyone else caught taking a photograph of the war was the firing squad. Masterman was fully aware that properly disclosed pictures would help the war effort, and he did not want other pictures to undermined his ideas.
For the next two years, Wellington House was the main center for the British propaganda organization, working very effectively, but in such secrecy that even Parliament was largely ignorant of its existence.
[edit] Nearing the end of the War
In 1918 the British government decided that a senior government official should take over responsibility for national propaganda. Wellington House was then turned into a government agency called the Department of Information. On March 4, Lord Beaverbrook the owner of the Daily Express, was decreed Minister of Information. Charles Masterman remained in the propaganda organization working under Beaverbrook as Director of Publications. In addition, John Buchan worked as Director of Intelligence, Lord Northcliffe, the owner of both The Times of London and the Daily Mail, was put in charge of all propaganda directed at enemy countries, and Robert Donald, editor of the Daily Chronicle, was appointed director of propaganda in neutral countries.
[edit] Aftermath
After the war concluded, both Germans and Americans were upset with the false statements made in some of the British propaganda literature, most notably the Bryce Report. When claims made in the Bryce Report were never substantiated it created an uproar in both Germany and the United States. This reaction gave propaganda the negative image it has carried with it to this day.
[edit] References
"Charles Masterman." Google Images. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PHmasterman.jpg. Accessed 7 Feb. 2007.
Raemaekers, Louis. "The Kaiser walks with war and hunger." Google Images. http://www.worldwar1.com/misc/toon007.jpg. Accessed 7 Feb. 2007.
Sanders, M L. "Wellington House and British Propaganda During the First World War." The Historical Journal 18 (1975): 119-146. JSTOR. 5 Nov. 2006.
World Information.org. U.S.-Propaganda in World War I. 2007. http://world-information.org/wio/infostructure/100437611661/100438658409. Accessed 7 Feb. 2007.
[edit] External links
Short article on the Bryce Report, a report published by Wellington House
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/brycereport.htm
