ABSTRACT
The preceding analysis demonstrated that the nature of propaganda during the civil wars and Interregnum can be appreciated on a mechanical level, in terms of the ways in which it was produced, the men who by whom it was commissioned and written, the forms it took, and the logistical methodologies adopted relating to composition, financing, printing and publication. The sophistication of propaganda can also be appreciated, however, at a conceptual level, by demonstrating how contemporaries understood the power of print and appreciated its utility in order to attack, and respond to, opponents and factional rivals, and the ways in which it could be deployed to achieve tactical goals. The focus of this chapter will be upon four key themes. The first involves recognising the ways in which attempts were made to undertake ‘news management’, in terms of the manipulation of political intelligence, and the ways in which news was presented to the public in order to maximise the impact of certain events and to minimise the significance of others. The second theme concerns attempts to ‘manufacture consent’, and the ways in which sophisticated political management incorporated control of a broader agenda, by testing popular opinion, nudging it in certain directions, and manipulating evidence regarding the public mood and desires. Thirdly, it explores the way in which print was employed in order to undertake ‘ventriloquy’, in terms of giving voice to those with different views and ideas, in order to exploit the potential which they offered at key moments, as well as in terms of mimicking opponents in order to undermine factional rivals, and counterfeiting their texts in order to hijack their readers in the interests of a different agenda. A final theme concerns propaganda ‘campaigns’, and concerns the ways in which print became a weapon in political processes, and was manipulated in close coordination with political manoeuvres and initiatives, whether parliamentary, legislative or judicial, as well as the development of multi-media print initiatives at times of acute political, military and diplomatic significance.
