WEAPON OF WORDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 September 1939, Page 7

WEAPON OF WORDS

LEAFLETS FOR GERMANS. SUCCESS IN THE GREAT WAR. The scattering of millions of propaganda leaflets over Western Germany from aeroplanes is evidence that British war policy in this respect has begun where it left off in 1918. The Military Intelligence .Department in 1917 arranged for the dropping of leaflets from aeroplanes, but two ol the pilots were captured and tried by court-martial. The German command threatened to shoot any others that fell into its hands while engaged in such work, and the War Office thereupon forbade the practice. In February, 1918, the Ministry ol Information was set up and Lore Northcliffe was given charge of the section responsible for propaganda in enemy countries. He made a beginning on Austria-Hungary, the weakest link, and as a result of co-operation with France and Italy succeeded in sowing disaffection among both soldiers and civilians of the subject peoples, notably the Czechs, Slovaks, and Southern Slavs. , The propaganda was distributed along the Italian front by aeroplanes, balloons, rockets and contact patrols. Leaflets were even scattered over Vienna. One early result was large desertions, which incidentally supplied valuable military information. The Austrian offensive planned for April 1918. was delayed by this disaffection until June.

Having got the plan working successfully, Lord Northcliffe turned his attention to the Germans. He gathered round' him a number of remarkable men possessing expert knowledge of Continental politics, of the psychology of enemy peoples, and of publicity methods. This organisation secured r supply of German type and began tc print a series of small leaflets in simple language, telling of Allied successes on the Western and Italian fronts and in the Balkans and Palestine, with illustrative maps.

The leaflets also carried diagrams and figures to show the rapid growth of the American forces in France. They laid stress on the solidarity of the Allies, their resources and the magnitude of their industrial war effort. and declared that it was useless for German soldiers to go on fighting in a losing cause. Clever use was also made of cartoons prepared with knowledge of German mentality.