'Influence' is a slippery concept, yet one of tremendous relevance for those wishing to understand global politics. From debates on the changing sources of power in the international system, through to analyses of its value as an alternative to the active use of force as a policy instrument, influence has become a recurrent theme in discussions of international relations and foreign policy. In order to provide a better understanding of the multifaceted and shifting nature of influence, this volume looks at how the British government employed various forms of pressure and persuasion to achieve its goals across the twentieth century. By focusing on Britain - a global actor with great power objectives but declining physical means - the collection provides a wide range of case studies to assess how influence was brought to bear on a wide array of non-western cultures and societies. It furthermore allows for an assessment of just how effective - or ineffective - British efforts were at influencing non-Western targets over a hundred years of operations. By shedding important light on the efficacy of British efforts to sustain and advance its interests in the twentieth century, the volume will be of interest not only to historians, but to anyone interested in contemporary problems surrounding the operation of influence as a foreign policy tool.

In nineteenth-century France, authorities feared the inflammatory power of the stage, but sought to exploit it as an effective means of propaganda. The focus of this book is on theatrical representations of Napoléon Bonaparte during France’s Second Empire (1850-1870), a period marked by the impérialisation of the capital through the renaming of streets and public spaces. Many heroes of the revolution and the wars of the Empire appeared with Napoléon in these plays. Several featured members of his family, Joséphine and her son, Eugène, the actor Talma, or the fortune teller Lenormand. Already popular during the July Monarchy, these Napoléon-themed dramas enjoyed a renewed interest with Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte’s rise to power. Although based on historical fact, they were subject to prior government censorship, as were all dramatic works at that time, and were often substantially modified. Intended for a predominantly working-class audience, these historical dramas were carefully revised by the censors so that the narrative they presented strengthening the ties between the First and Second Empires and removed any suggestion of regime change. These dramas highlight the central role theatrical works about Napoléon played in shaping collective memory and myths of national identity during the Second Empire.

Compiled from the vast World War I archives of the Hoover Library at Stanford, this volume is a systematic analysis of propaganda organization, content and effects in the 1917-18 period. Stress is on British and American effort and results. A nine-page bibliography is included.

This book analyzes the factors that determined the organization, conduct and output of Nazi propaganda during World War II, in an attempt to re-assess previously inflated perceptions about the influence of Nazi propaganda and the role of the regime's propagandists in the outcome of the 1939-45 military conflict.

This book considers the mediation of empire by the foreign mission movement. It gives depth and substance to general claims that empire permeated the lives of Scots in the 19th century and that Scots articulated a strong sense of national identity in the context of the empire.

Propaganda is subjective information primarily used to influence an audience and further a political agenda. In China, it has a long history but has been most effective in modern society. What exactly is propaganda? Why does it exist and why does the public tolerate it? The book answers these questions by tracing back to the emergence and development of integrated propaganda and scientific propaganda. On this basis it focuses on the emergence of propaganda concept in China, the establishment of Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China’s propaganda concept, intellectuals and propaganda, the debate on the propaganda concept in China after 1949 as well as the emergence of Propaganda 3.0 that coordinates integrated propaganda and scientific propaganda. Setting propaganda in the framework of modernity, the book explains how various groups have legitimatized propaganda since the 20th century. From a reasonable and neutral standpoint, the author describes the confrontation among various propaganda concepts and discourses, displaying a panorama of the mutual conflicts between nations and individuals, control and freedom, ideas and bodies. Not only will scholars and students studying journalism and communication find this book interesting, but professionals working in journalism, advertising, public relations and publicity will also find it engaging and enlightening.

This book offers the first sustained analysis of the interactions between British writers, propaganda and culture from the Second World War to the Cold War. It traces the involvement of a series of major cultural figures in domestic and international propaganda campaigns and throws new light on the global deployment of British propaganda and cultural diplomacy in colonial and post-colonial theatres such as Cyprus, India and Sierra Leone. Chapters re-evaluate the propaganda work of prominent writers including Arthur Koestler and Dylan Thomas in the light of new archival research, study how organisations including the BBC, British Council and Ministry of Information engaged with new media forms, analyse cultural representations of propaganda service and investigate how British literature and culture was deployed and projected as a form of soft power across the globe. Featuring contributions from a variety of disciplines, including literary studies, visual culture, book history and radio history, this book brings together a constellation of established and emerging scholars to show the crucial role played in shaping and mediating the techniques and content of British information campaigns of the mid-twentieth century.

Explores five case studies in Britain, the USSR, Germany and Italy to determine whether or not propaganda films reached the audiences at which they were targeted, and where they did, whether the films made the impact on those audiences that the propagandists had expected.