The 10 principles of war propaganda in the Ukraine
[3nd edition/23, page 3]
“The Basic Principles of War Propaganda” is a book written by the historian Anne Morelli and is based on the work of Arthur Ponsonby regarding propaganda in the First World War. In the book, Morelli summarizes and synthetizes Ponsonbys findings into 10 principles being used for war propaganda and illustrates them with examples from wars of modern times, e.g. in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. The following article explains all of the principles and illustrates them on the basis of the Ukraine war.
1. We don’t want war, we are only defending ourselves!
Since populations usually do not prefer to be sent out to slaughter and being slaughtered and wars are usually seen negatively, no government of a modern country will ever admit her desire for war. They are always against war and they do it only because it is an inevitable emergency where they have no choice but to send troops, e.g. to defend themselves, some self-proclaimed values like freedom and democracy or to restore peace with arms. At least that is what they tell their populations since they need their consent.
And so the Russian propaganda tells its citizens, that despite wanting peace, they have to defend themselves against Ukrainian Nazis led in a proxy war by the USA. While western propaganda tells the people that they have to support Ukraine at any cost with weapons and even under the risk of further military escalation since it is the only way to regain peace. You may wonder how there are wars at all if all political leaders are self-proclaimed pacifists inspired by the will for peace. Their actions, in Russia’s case, starting the war and in the case of the West, e.g. expanding the military alliance NATO into the east, proof them to be liars, so do not listen to their nonsense.
2. Our adversary is solely responsible for this war!
The aim of war propaganda is to make populations support murder and slaughter. There is no room for reflected perspectives regarding the reasons, since the slightest shades or doubts in the own morals and actions may reduce the consent of the people for such an inhumane task as war. So naturally, war propaganda knows only black and white. The complete fault for the war lies on the side of the adversary, the own side was forced to react and had no other choice. That’s the undeniable truth, swallow it.
So regarding the Ukraine war, no history exists before February 24th, 2022. The war started on this day and since the Russians started it, it is completely their fault. The permanent NATO expansions into the east since 1990 against verbal promises, the overthrow of the Ukrainian government in 2014, the nationalist government fighting against everything Russian in the country and bombing Eastern Ukraine for eight years, the Minsk agreements being a deception to give Ukraine more time for military build-up by the western countries and the Ukraines plans of 2021 to retake the Crimea by force have nothing to do with the current war. Russia started it, and Russia is the only one to blame, if you think otherwise, you have fallen for Kremlin propaganda.
3. Our adversary’s leader is inherently evil and resembles the devil
War propaganda works by channelizing the hate of the own population towards the adversary country. The problem is, a whole country or its population is pretty much an anonymous mass. It is way easier to project your hate on a specific face, so it is only natural for war propaganda to demonize the enemy’s leader since no one would doubt he is the most responsible person for his country’s actions. As a result, the conflict will be personalized since the whole adversary country will be reduced to one person and her actions. The enemy’s leader will be characterized as the devil himself, as a monster or maniac that has to be stopped. If possible, also deformities of the physical appearance will be highlighted since people tend to assume negative characteristics in ugliness. For the mass media, it is quite easy to write a large number of negative articles focusing only on the personal aspects of the respective leader so that the people know who they have to hate.
From the first day, the Ukraine war was characterized as Putin’s personal war to restore the former tsardom of Russia. The history that led to this war is ignored in the same way as there are people in Russia criticizing Putin for waiting too long to start the war. He is characterized alternately as a devil, maniac, or idiot. At the beginning of the war, it was stated that he may be sick and has little time to live. But he is still there and in apparently good healthy condition. Also, politicians and media as well suggest that every problem is solved when Putin is gone, overturned, or killed. They are ignoring the fact that there are hardliners in Russia that might take over and could escalate the conflict even further.
4. We are defending a noble cause, not our particular interests!
Since economic and geopolitical interests are improper reasons to persuade the own population to support a war, those true goals have to be masked with morality. As a result, war propaganda will always argue with selfless, honorable motives like defending democratic values or human rights, stopping evil tyrants to massacre innocent children, or protecting their own country or an allied country. On contrary, the enemy’s motives and actions are described as egoistic, bloodthirsty, and barbaric as the society of the adversary’s country is described as morally primitive.
In the Ukraine war, it was actually quite easy to label the support of Ukraine with weapons and to increasingly escalate the situation as a noble goal since Russia attacked the country. After all, the Ukrainians are only defending their country from a barbaric aggressor and as free countries with high democratic and moral values, it is our duty to support them at all costs. That Ukraine bombed their own people in the Donbas region for eight years and that the “Western values” appear to be quite selective since the USA starts wars and murders people with drones all the time is completely concealed. Also, Ukraine, the most corrupt country in Europe with a distinct Nazi cult for Stephan Bandera suddenly declared a defender of democracy and human rights. So the support of those “heroic” defenders is declared as a defense of Europe itself.
5. The enemy is purposefully committing atrocities; if we are making mistakes this happens without intention
Every war comes with cruelties and crimes on both sides. But war propaganda focuses only on the crimes on the enemies’ side. It is only natural that the own side does not commit atrocities since committing atrocities would contradict the self-proclaimed noble goals made up for the population. So if there is sufficient evidence of war crimes of the enemy, it will be sensationalized to the fullest extent. And if there is no sufficient evidence, war crimes will be invented. The mass media will swallow it since they are part of the propaganda system, and there will be no critical reflection. On the other hand, the war crimes of the own side will be completely concealed if possible. If the evidence is too strong to conceal, the atrocity will be labeled as an unfortunate accident and individual case, while the enemy commits crimes systematically.
In the Ukraine war, we are told that Russia’s soldiers systematically murder people and rape women as part of their strategy. While it appears to be sure that Russian soldiers also commit atrocities, supposed Russian crimes like the massacre in Bucha at least rise some serious questions about what really happened for numerous reasons. On the other hand, obvious crimes of Ukrainian soldiers like executing captured Russian soldiers, filmed and uploaded by the offenders themselves, are mostly ignored by the Western media as well as the self-justice “tradition” to strap people with cling film naked at lamp posts.
6. The enemy makes use of illegal weapons
This principle pretty much complements the previous one. While the own side follows honorable rules even at war, the enemy’s site, since being cruel and barbaric, does not hesitate to use underhanded and dirty tactics and methods. Naturally, this includes the use of illegal weapons. So in the narratives of war propaganda, the enemy is either using illegal weapons or is planning to use them. If there is actual evidence for the use of illegal weapons, both sides often accuse each other of being responsible.
Over the period of the Ukraine war, there have been numerous rumors that the Russians plan to use chemical weapons in Western media while Russian media told that the Ukrainian army plans to use them or build a dirty bomb. Apparently actually used by the Russians were cluster bombs and grenades despite being internationally proscribed. But the Western countries are not a bit better since the USA and Great Britain also used such weapons in their wars and Ukraine officially demanded their delivery. Furthermore, Uranium ammunition against tanks is now delivered to Ukraine by Western countries despite clear evidence from past wars that they contaminate the people and environment with radiation. Not to mention the mutual accuses of Ukraine and Russia to each other for shooting at the nuclear plant in Saporischschja (interestingly the Russians were accused to shoot at a nuclear plant they keep occupied themselves and only at this nuclear plant).
7. We suffer few losses, the enemy’s losses are considerable
It appears to be a tendency for people to follow victors. Also, if one war party admits many losses, her own population might question the reasonableness of continuing an endeavor of sacrificing so much human life. So naturally, war propaganda highlights the winning side and the winning side can only be the own one, independently of what’s actually happening on the battlefield. So every territorial gain, even if it may be small, will be exaggerated to the fullest and labeled as a decisive victory, and every destruction of the enemy’s troops and material will be overestimated and described as a devastating strike. On the other hand, territorial losses will be labeled as strategic retreats, and the own losses of men and materials are concealed completely. The incapable enemy is senselessly scarifying all of his armies and it is only a matter of time before he is defeated. With an enemy described on the verge of defeat the whole time, you may wonder why the war lasts so long anyway.
Since February 24th, 2022, when Russia attacked Ukraine, western media permanently exaggerated the superiority of the Ukrainian army. They are better equipped, and trained, and have better leadership and morals. According to the media, you should think the Ukrainian army must have conquered Moscow by now since they apparently only won. On the other hand, Russia should have collapsed economically a long time ago through the “effective” sanctions. And of course, only the losses of the Russian army are colossal, not to forget to mention that their equipment is trash and their soldier’s morale low. They already lost this war, they just don’t know it, and that’s what our media tell us. But apparently, the actual situation does not look too well for Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian government lately presented plans for what to do with Crimea after reconquering, an endeavor whose success is even doubted by the Pentagon. I should not forget to mention that the Russian population is exposed to the same kind of propaganda, just switch the proclaimed winning and losing side.
8. Recognized intellectuals and artists support our cause
War propaganda is all about using everything you have to influence public opinion to justify the actions of your party regarding war efforts. This includes also persons who, due to their expertise or celebrity, can act as opinion leaders. Philosophers, scientists, and historians do their best efforts to underpin the necessity of war with supposed intellectual or scientific evidence. But even if they pretend not to, they are more acting like political activists instead of intellectuals aiming to objectively assess the situation. Furthermore, artists like musicians and caricaturists are being used to evoke support for the war from a more emotional side.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, so-called intellectuals or experts permanently trying to explain why escalating measures like weapon deliveries are without any alternative and de-escalating measures like negotiating for peace are the worst you can do. Often in TV interviews, they are allowed to say a few superficial sentences confirming the desired narrative. Public talk shows are occupied either with completely one-sided rounds or with rounds consisting of one person with an alternative opinion (e.g. pro negotiations for peace) intended to get completely verbally destroyed by the conforming majority of participants. There are benefit concerts for Ukraine, Ukrainian singers win contests like the European Song Contest (ESC) and Ukrainian writers automatically win literature prices, even if their work is full of hate and racism against Russians.
9. Our cause is sacred
This principle can be understood in a literal way within a religious context, where the war is labeled as a crusade by the will of god. Such an understanding may work in countries with a highly religious population and a lower degree of secularization. But it can also be understood in a more symbolic way, that the war is labeled as some kind of crusade for democracy, human rights, or other higher values against an enemy aiming to destroy these values. So basically as a classic “good versus evil”-story.
In the Ukraine war, the second understanding appears to be the more suitable. The war is described not only as a heroic act of self-defense of democratic Ukraine but also as an act of defense of the whole Western civilization. If Ukraine falls, then Europe is lost, that’s what we are told (despite on the other hand it is always highlighted how weak the Russian army and economy are). So an act of support for Ukraine is also an act of defense for our self-proclaimed higher Western values. On the other hand, Russia’s army is dehumanized as an army of hell, or, to be more precise, as an army of Mordor since Russian soldiers permanently are called Orks.
10. Whoever casts doubt on our propaganda helps the enemy and is a traitor
The last principle is an overarching one that complements all the others. As I already mentioned, war propaganda knows only black and white. This simplified perspective is utilized not only for the description of the enemy but also for people on their own side. You are either for the course or against the course of your country, there are no grey shades between. That means, if you do not completely support the war, if you have even the slightest doubts about the rightfulness of the actions and propaganda based on the principles mentioned before, it does not matter how diplomatic and logically you present your opinion. You will be considered as someone to have to be fought against. In the best case, you will be labeled only as influenced by the enemy’s propaganda and thereby as someone nobody should listen to. In worse cases, you will be considered a collaborator or traitor and be actively fought against, with repressions like the loss of a job, sanctions, or even with legal measures.
Since the start of the Ukraine war, everyone who does not see Putin as the devil himself and Russia as the country of darkness is categorized as a friend of the Kremlin. Don’t even start with historical facts that support the role of the USA, other Western countries, and Ukraine in escalating the situation to war – all of this is Russian propaganda and you are a propagandist if you mention this fact. Racism against Russians suddenly woke up, Russian sportsmen are prohibited to participate despite having nothing to do with the war and some Russians even lost their jobs despite living in foreign countries for many years, just because they did not condemn the Russian government enough. Peace activists proclaiming negotiations insulted low down, public talk shows serve as verbal executions for them since one person has to argue against four or five hateful counterparts including the moderator. Especially the media increasingly lose all sense of decency and appropriate manners, using language that feels replicated from dark phases of human history.
In summary, the ten principles of war propaganda apply to the Ukraine war in the same way as they applied to wars in the past. The methods keep being the same, black/white painting instead of reflected perspectives, emotionalization, and moralization instead of evidence, and unfair combat against alternative opinions instead of democratic discourse. One should keep in mind that all war parties use these principles of propaganda, there is no exception. So the first and in my opinion most important measure to become immune to such propaganda is the awareness of being exposed to propaganda. If one has inherited this kind of thinking, consuming different sources of information in favor of the own country as well as the enemy’s country may help to acquire a more reflected perspective about what is actually happening.
By Peter Mueller
