TWO JOHN BULLS

Evening Star, Issue 23375, 19 September 1939, Page 10

TWO JOHN BULLS

GERMAN PROPAGANDA GOEBBELS HAS IT BOTH WAYS An extraordinarily distorted outlook upon the events of tho world is being forced, whether they like it or not, upon 80,000,000 Germans, and it colours the thought of even the most balanced English resident unless he is able to leave the Reich at frequent intervals, wrote the Berlin correspondent of ‘ The Times ’ on August 8. It is brought about by the work of the Ministry of Propaganda and Popular Enlightenment, which, under the direction of Dr Goebbels, controls the Press, art, literature, wireless, and cinema of Germany, and sees to it that the Gorman people hear only what ■ their rulers regard as politically expedient. Since a few weeks after the Munich Settlement of last September England has engaged the unfavourable attention of the German Government,' and hence the Propaganda Ministry, to an ever-increasing extent. When the occupation of Bohemia and Moravia in March caused the Western Powers to take' active steps against the possibility of aggression in the future the mask, in the phrase dear to German journalists, was said to have been stripped from the face of Perfidious Albion. There she stood, it was announced, as perfidious as ever, seedling to strangle Germany, to starve or otherwise destroy her people, seeing in them dangerous rivals to her own supremacy. Every medium of publicity was therefore enlisted to convince the German people, who possess a natural liking and regard for England, that the official view of the neighbour across the North Sea was not the true one. A ceaseless cannonade of propaganda before which even tho stoutest reason might quail has now gone far towards doing this. THE “WELL POISONERS.” It is a commonplace in Germany to refer to foreign journalists who display mistrust or dislike of the Third Reich as “ well poisoners,” and complaints of anti-British propaganda in the German Press are invariably met by counter-accusations of a similar campaign against Germany in England. The reply that unfriendly references to the Third Reich in the British Press are at any rate not the result of a policy systematically pursued is either met with silence or with the remark that “ international Jewry ” is carrying on a Press campaign against Germany, and that the Reich must therefore defend herself. As Dr Gobbels recently said at the opening of the Wireless Exhibition: —“ At a time when the struggle for German, vital rights has flared up with unprecedented vigour wireless must stand at the outposts against lies and calumny, and it is, therefore, with the Press, the sharpest spiritual weapon in the struggle for existence of our nation.” In the present campaign against England, which is regarded in official Germany as a bloodless war, these weapons were at the outset rendered sharper than ever by the opportunity, eagerly grasped by the authorities, of awakening the old dread of “ encirclement ” in tho German people. Having once ensured that this idea was firmly implanted in the popular mind, those who are responsible for forming the political opinions of the nation employed simultaneously two methods of attack, which have since formed the basis of' their offensive. THE TWO BRITAINS. On the one hand, Great Britain is represented as treacherous, effete, cowardly, and incapable of her own interest, with an Empire in a state of disintegration and collapse; on the other, a rascally, cunning John Bull is portrayed as preparing for war against a peaceful Germany and as enlisting, mox - e or less against their will. Frenchmen, Poles, and other peoples to shed their blood for British interests. the number of correspondents maintained abroad by _ the ‘Deutsches Nachrichtenburo,’ which is a more than semi-official news agency, and the correspondents employed by individual newspapers in London and elsewhere ensure a steady stream of news from Great Britain and the Empire, and this news—as if in accordance with‘official orders—is of a uniformly unfavourable character. Any circumstance which can be construed as damaging to England appears to be grist to the mill. It suffices, for example, that an obscure vernacular newspaper, in Shanghai should announce that “ England is finished ” for this pronouncement to appear in the main headlines of German nowspnuers. Great prominence is given, usually by correspondents in Damascus or Beirut, to Arab allegations of British atrocities in Palestine, although no prominence, and, indeed, no space whatever, is _ given to any other version of the affair. Allegations of British hypocrisy are supported by much historical research. Protests from England against the German treatment of the Jews are indignantly refuted on the ground that the English expelled all Jews from England in the thirteenth century. OLD CAMPAIGNS RECALLED. In the same way great play is made with the Zulu War, the Indian Mutiny, the Boer War, the Chinese Opium War, and other campaigns as illustrating the true spirit of the Englishman and his natural cruelty, which is stated to be immense. . . “ News'” from the Empire is thus startling enoiurh for the, German reader. The “ British oppressors are depicted as waging unsuccessful warfare, iu spite of their brutal methods, against the tribes of the North-west frontier; South Africa and Canada are represented as being on the point of breaking awav from the Commonwealth.” The recent activities of the I.R.A. in England are presented ns an outburst, of rage against tbe obstinate ami wicked insistence of tbe British Governments in keeping apart against their will two brandies of the same people. The bomb outrages themselves are reported with satisfaction as furnishing proof that England is now unable to keep order even at homo A series of articles entitled 1 Gome From England ’ is now appearing in Bp'liu’s most popular evening newspaper. Thev are accompanied by photographs of anxious Englishmen having bullet-proof linings fitted to their bowler bats, as though this was a usual feature of modern English life, while vendors of bullet-proof waistcoats are to be doing good business, particularly with “ politicians and their wives.” To refute the claim that England is an “ M nation,” the author of the articles. Herr Schwarz van Berk, cites the advertisements .for Patent medicines which appear in the English Press and' announces that ‘‘.every English breakfast table bears a series of bottles with all kinds of medicines and powders ” in order to counteract bad cooking. And so the series goes on with English cartoons reproduced with captions distorted to reverse their moaning. , . , Sometimes palpable errors of judgment have been* made. When several

squadrons of R.A.P. machines mad* the first practice flight over France the event was widely reported in the Press, which exaggerated the number of machines engaged, and excitedly denounced the exercise as war-monger-ing. The effect of this, however,, as conversations with simple Germans showed, was to reveal that Great Britain actually did possess an efficient Air Force, which was not the impression that German writers had previously tried to give. No mention has been made of the subsequent flights, and scornful cartoons endeavour, to correct the mistake.

While the publication of one-sided reports and the rejection of any items which cannot be made to serve the purposes of anti-British propaganda are a commonplace in Germany, great care is taken to publish reasonably adequate accounts of important speeches by British statesmen. ; Tha public mind is, however, prepared for what follows by headlines announcing “ Another sample of British hypocrisv ” “The war-mongers at work again,” and so forth. The report of the speech itself is generally interlarded by German editors or by the official news agency with exclamation marks and other indications, of doubt, which follow any expression of the British desire for peace or any criticism of German policy. Finally, the comment, which as a rule follows immediately after the news report, does everything possible to confuse the Issues dealt with in the speech. EFFECTS PERCEPTIBLE. it is not easy to judge the general success of this official attempt to rouse contempt and hatred of England. Although the German people are m many ways easily led, and are. if anything, more inclined to accept their opinions ready-made than are the pfeople of other civilised nations, a continuous barrage of abuse directed against one nation is more than many of them caa stand. There is half-humorous, half-: irritated talk of the “ newspaper war.” and much citing of the German equivalent of the proverb that “ sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” So long as the real guns have not opened fire, what does it matter? But the effect of the campaign, at. though probably less rapid and thorough than is desired in the WiU helmstrasse. is nevertheless perceptible. If war should come it would probably not he difficult to convince the majority of Germans that England had engineered the whole affair and that an innocent Germany had been attacked. In that case German propaganda would have succeeded at nome. however unfortunate for the Reich _tne results of its foreign propaganda might be.