Issue n. 6 of the CEIWJ investigates the theme of the “close encounters in war” in connection with propaganda, psychological warfare and public diplomacy. Besides strengthening morale, the aim of any war propaganda campaign is also to demoralize the enemy and break their will to fight. The term itself is not new. It originated in the seventeenth century, when Pope Gregory XV established the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, with the objective to spread Catholicism among the peoples of the newly-discovered lands. Because of its use over the centuries, the term has gained very strong negative connotations, evocative of some kind of sinister activity. In the twentieth century, propaganda has come to be seen mostly as manipulated information. Insofar as the use of propaganda to support war became systematic and incredibly effective during the twentieth century, the contributions collected in this present Issue are exclusively focused on contemporary conflicts that occurred within the lapse of one hundred years, between 1914 and 2023.

The entire Issue n. 6 and the single contributions can be downloaded below:

Issue n. 6 (2023): Close Encounters in War and Propaganda. The Battles for Hearts and Minds

Introduction to Issue n. 6, by the Editors

Fernanda Bana Arouca: Propaganda, Censorship, and the Shaping of the Brazilian Experience in the First World War

Marina Bantiou: The Satirical Cartoon in War Propaganda: The Case of the Greco-Italian War (1940-1941)

Carole Darmon: Vicarious Combat – Bringing the Korean War to American Homes: Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly’s Hear It Now (1950-1951) and See It Now (1951-1958)

Alma-Pierre Bonnet: War Propaganda or Political Opportunism? How British Prime Ministers Have Used the War in Ukraine for Political Gain

Julien Paret: Words at War: The Impact of Language on Perceptions and Representations of the Enemy in Russia-Ukraine War