Falsehood In War-Time -- Containing an Assortment of Lies Circulated Throughout the Nations During the Great War

World War I atrocity stories created and disseminated to promote war aims.Just what it sounds like- an account of propaganda lies circulated in the British and American press during World War I. The most memorable example may be the oft-repeated press accounts of German soldiers cutting off the hands of hundreds, maybe thousands (reports vary) of Belgian war orphans. The public seems to have accepted the story without question as an indication of German inhumanity. No doubt it flamed their fighting spirits. One kindhearted businessman collected funds to construct an orphanage for these poor kids after the war. He showed up in Belgium in 1920 with the funds. To assess what the capacity of the orphanage should be, he traveled throughout the country and inquired extensively about these children. After a year working together with the church and other humanitarian groups, he could not produce a single child, nor a single verifiable story, of anybody who had had their hands cut off.The most surprising thing I learned from this book is not that the British, American, French and German governments concocted lies, spread rumors, or doctored photos to sell WWI to their citizens; and it’s not that the same governments so blithely admitted to it after the fact; it’s that the people so duped and led into such a staggering catastrophe didn’t care when they learned the truth. Governments continue to pull out the same old propaganda techniques every time they need to convince their citizens that involvement in the war is necessary. Atrocity stories, especially ones involving infants or children, are an old standby. In WWI it was the “handless Belgian babies” lie. In the first gulf war it was the “babies taken from incubators and left to die” lie. Now it’s the “beheaded children” story used against nearly every terrorist organization, often using the same photograph repeatedly for each story. Then and now, atrocities do happen; unfortunately, it’s impossible to know when we’re being lied to and when we’re not. Reading this book has convinced me to take all such stories with a large measure of salt – they're usually lies. Why do citizens in democratic countries continue to fall for them every time?For World War II false propaganda see CODY, Benjamin: "Twas a Famous Victory: Deception and Propaganda in the War with Germany" (1974). Preface. Introduction. I. The Commitment To France. II. Serbia And The Murder Of The Archduke. III. Invasion Of Belgium As Cause Of War. IV. Germany's Sole Responsibility For The War. V. Passage Of Russian Troops Through Great Britain. VI. The Mutilated Nurse. VII. The Criminal Kaiser. VIII. The Belgian Baby Without Hands. IX. The Louvain Altar-Piece. X. The Contemptible Little Army. XI. Deutschland Uber Alles. XII. The Baby Of Courbeck Loo. XIII. The Crucified Canadian. XIV. The Shooting Of The Franzosling. XV. Little Alf's Stamp Collection. XVI. The Tattooed Man. XVII. The Corpse Factory. XVIII. The Bishop Of Zanzibar's Letter. XIX. The German U-Boat Outrage. XX. Constantinople. XXI. The 'Lusitania'. XXII. Report Of A Broken-Up Meeting. XXIII. Atrocity Stories. XXIV. Faked Photographs. XXV. The Doctoring Of Official Papers. XXVI. Hypocritical Indignation. XXVII. Other Lies. XXVIII. The Manufacture Of News. XXIX. War Aims. XXX. Foreign Lies-- (A) Germany. (B) France. (C) The United States. (D) Italy.