Committee on Public Information

The Committee on Public Information or Creel Commission (abbreviation CPI , German: Committee for Public Information ), was a propaganda instrument set up in 1917 for George Creel by the US government under Woodrow Wilson . By influencing the media, censorship, advertising campaigns and propaganda techniques, it was possible to psychologically influence the population in such a way that the initial rejection of the war in enthusiastic approval of broad masses to the official war program "to make the world safe for democracy" and to fight for democracy , was transformed. The war opponents, above all the German Reich, were demonized, dehumanized and presented as an acute threat to freedom of the USA itself.

Emergence

The Democrat Wilson had won the presidential election of 1916 with a "peace platform" and the promise of social democratic labor laws and strict neutrality to the European war; his Republican adversary Charles Evans Hughes had advocated mobilization and military preparations.

The committee was formed a week after the declaration of war on Germany by Presidential Executive Order 2594 (April 13, 1917). It consisted of George Creel as chairman, and Robert Lansing ( US Secretary of State ), Lindley M. Garrison ( US Secretary of War ) and Josephus Daniels ( US Secretary of the Navy ) as ex officio members . The Wilson consultant Walter Lippmann and the PR specialist Edward Bernays were also involved .

The organization had about 20 offices and departments with locations in nine foreign countries.

The committee's activities were restricted from July 1, 1918, and suspended in the United States on November 11, 1918. Foreign operations ended on June 30, 1919. The CPI was dissolved on August 21, 1919 by Executive Order 3154.

Propaganda techniques

Initially, the CPI worked with factual material that it sought to combine with a positive image of American war efforts. However, it soon began to produce masses of raw propaganda depicting the Germans as vicious monsters. Hollywood filmmakers have directed films such as “The Claws of the Hun”, “The Prussian Cur” (The Prussian son of a dog, Horst von der Goltz ) and “ The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin ” (Der Kaiser, die Beast of Berlin).

Writings were published warning US citizens about German spies. A variety of patriotic organizations such as the American Protective League or the American Defense Society were formed. These groups bugged phones and opened mail to track down "spies and traitors." Their espionage was aimed at anyone who criticized the government's policies or advocated peace. She paid particular attention to German-born Americans such as Henry L. Mencken , some of whom were lost their jobs or were publicly humiliated.

The Creel Commission used magazines, radio, and films to get their news out. Another distribution channel was a volunteer corps of around 75,000 members who made public speeches across the country. Also known as the Four Minute Men, the Corps worked in 5,200 wards and delivered 755,190 speeches.

reception

The Creel Commission is often referred to as the cornerstone of the public relations industry in the United States today.

Quote

“We did not call it propaganda, for that word, in German hands, had come to be associated with deceit and corruption. Our effort was educational and informative throughout, for we had such confidence in our case as to feel that no other ar-gument was needed than the simple, straightforward presentation of facts. "

We didn't call it propaganda, because in the hands of the Germans that word had taken on the meaning of deception and corruption. Our efforts were aimed at educational and informative purposes, because we had such great confidence in our cause that we were sure that no other argument was necessary than the simple and clear presentation of the facts.

Documentation

Psywar - The real battlefield is your mind , 2010 (extensive presentation of the organization's activities)

literature

George Creel: How We Advertised America , New York: Harper & Brothers, 1920
George Creel: How We Advertised America: The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe , Publisher: Kessinger Pub Co (January 2008), ISBN 0548820929 (10), ISBN 978-0548820926 (13)