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A Prosaic People? Literature, Propaganda, And National Identity In Second World War Britain, William L. Maines

Honors Theses

During the early years of the Second World War, a typically unofficial and loose coalition of British newspapers, publishers, propagandists, and booksellers mobilized Britain’s imagined literary past and present as a part of the war effort. They defined the nation through its imagined literary proclivities— its penchant for literary production and consumption, and its “unique” attitude toward literary freedom— and in opposition to the literary tyranny of Nazi Germany. Marshaling the nation’s mythological literary heritage, they enlisted Shakespeare and Milton in the war effort, portraying them as temperate and civilian English heroes. While the rhetoric of “British bookishness” hardly went …

Tactics, Politics, And Propaganda In The Irish War Of Independence, 1917-1921, Mike Rast

M. C. Rast

This thesis examines the influences on and evolution of the Irish Republican Army’s guerrilla war strategy between 1917 and 1921. Utilizing newspapers, government documents, and memoirs of participants, this study highlights the role of propaganda and political concerns in waging an insurgency. It argues that while tactical innovation took place in the field, IRA General Headquarters imposed policy and directed the conflict with a concern for the political results of military action. While implementing strategies necessary to effective conduct of the war, this Headquarters staff was unable to reconcile a disjointed and overburdened command structure, leading its disintegration after the …

Treason And Talking: Three Wartime Broadcasters, Mary M. Roberts

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Radio propaganda was one of the chief weapons of psychological warfare used by the Nazis. When Hitler came to power, one of the aims of Nazi propaganda was to make his new order acceptable to the powers abroad, before preparing the ground for his expansionist moves. The new ruler of Germany regarded propaganda, rather then diplomacy, as the more suitable instrument to attain the desired end.

As a result of this new weapon in propaganda, there came many problems for the home front. How could they maintain the faith and morale of the people being submitted to this constant barrage? …