If the World Wars Again - 1. We Will Be Flooded with Propaganda

Sep 29, 2026

The text examines how Americans at the start of World War I were shaped by isolation, limited foreign reporting, and ignorance of European politics. It argues that propaganda, secret treaties, and controlled media narratives manipulated public opinion and prevented verification of facts during wartime decisions. It then presents a warning framework for a future conflict, starting with the claim that Americans would again be flooded with propaganda.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryReligion & Spirituality

FormatPDF

Pages36

Reading Time1 h 31 min

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If the World Wars Again

1. We Will Be Flooded with Propaganda

工F THE woRLD WARS AGAIN SMITH School of Theology at Claremont 10011413046D 743.9S6 The Library SCHOOL OF THEOLOGYAT CLAREMONT WEST FOOTHILL AT COLLEGE AVENUECLAREMONT,CALIFORNIA 43.4F THE WORLDWARS AGAIN By··· ROY L.SMITH,D.D.,Litt.D.Pastor of ... First Methodist Episcopal ChurchLos Angeles First Church Pulpit—Booklet Number 27—Published byFirst M.E.Church,813 South Hope Street,Los Angeles Theology LibrarySCHOOL OF THEOLOGYAT CLAREMONTCalifopnia From the libpary of WM.MCKINLEY WALKER Theology LibraryCHOOLOF THEOLOCAT CLAREMONTCalifornia IF THE WORLD WARS AGAIN If the World Wars Again THE WORLD WAR,beginning in 1914,took America by且 i Th thueandmileeof th。A*lantic and auesurprise. Three thousand miles of the Atlantic,and ourtraditional policy of isolation,had separated us almost com-pletely from European affairs for more than a hundred years.American newspapers carried comparatively little foreign news,and such as did appear was written by foreign press bureaus.Notmore than a half dozen American papers maintained foreign cor-respondents who could furnish reliable European news writtenfrom the American viewpoint. The number of Americans who had travelled abroad,up to1914,was relatively small.Such information as they broughtback was limited,usually,to descriptions of cathedrals,Swissscenery,Greek ruins or French theaters.Colleges and universi-ties offered few courses in contemporary European history,andthe net result was widespread ignorance of the trends of thoughtin the outside world.The European mind was almost unknownto the American mind. Trained,as we had been,in the American system of gov-ernment by which public policies are openly discussed,and bywhich the government itself is made keenly sensitive to thethought and will of the people,we were unaware of the meth-ods by which European governments kept their people in igno-rance of secret alliances,treaties,agreements and deals.Wedid not know,for instance,that governments lied to their peo-ple.We believed that the word of honor of a great nation wassomething sacred.We did not understand,either,the way inwhich the money of one nation was able to manipulate thepolitics of other nations.We knew nothing of French invest-ments in north Africa,British investments in the Orient,orGerman investments in Asia and Africa.The Belgian Congowas only a name,to us,usually associated with some missionaryventure.Most of us had never heard of the "Berlin to Bagdadrailroad”with its far-reaching political implications. School of Theologyat Claremont A10√2/ The net result of all this ignorance was stark amazementin America when the war actually broke out.We could notbelieve it had happened,and we never dreamed that it couldlast nearly five years and involve the whole world.We knewnothing of the feverish preparations that had been going onfor years.We had had no comprehension of the significanceof the sinister events that multiplied in Europe,and which wereusually printed on the inside pages of our American newspapers.The assassination of a crown-prince of whom we had neverheard,in a province we could not locate on the map,and in atown whose name we could not pronounce had absolutely nomeaning to us.Whatever we knew about European historyhad happened previous to 1850. We were swept into the conflict by deceptions and subter-fuges.We knew nothing of the real causes of the war,andtheir economic ramifications.Our sense of justice was out-raged by the rape of Belgium,because we were in ignoranceconcerning the system of secret treaties then in vogue in Europe,with its alliances and theoretical “balance of powers.”We hadno way of knowing,for instance,of the manipulation of Frenchand Italian public opinion by newspapers of Paris and Rome,secretly purchased by the Russian government.Moreover,wedid not know that the European governments maintained elab-orate press and propaganda bureaus in New York,Washingtonand Chicago,for the purpose of

FAQs

Why does the text say Americans were shocked when the war broke out in 1914?

It attributes the shock to long-standing isolation, limited reliable foreign news, and widespread ignorance of European political developments, alliances, and secret agreements.

What does the text claim about the causes of World War conflict and Americans' understanding?

It argues that Americans did not know the real causes or their economic implications, and that misinformation prevented them from recognizing underlying issues until after the war.

What is the first major fact the text asks Americans to face if the world wars happen again?

It states that Americans would be flooded with propaganda, describing how atrocity stories and doctored materials can strongly influence public opinion.

Sep 29, 2026

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