Propaganda: Persuasion, information, deception

Join us for a conference exploring propaganda and its impact on the British Army and wider society from the 1600s to the present day and beyond.

As a means of disseminating information, of rallying and mobilising populations, of celebrating victories and deceiving the enemy, propaganda has always been a part of conflict. But how has that changed over time? And what does it mean for the future? 

As conflict has evolved, so too has propaganda. We live in an age of information. Never before has anybody had such quick and easy access to virtually unlimited amounts of material, on virtually any subject. Yet this ease of access is not without its dangers. The flow of information is unregulated, unchallenged – and potentially devastating. 

International experts, including keynote speaker Professor David Welch, will discuss the role propaganda plays in all our lives: in war, in peace, and in the space in between. Ticket price includes lunch and a ticket to The art of persuasion: Wartime posters by Abram Games.

Terms and conditions of ticket sales

Programme

9.30am - 10am

Registration and coffee

10am - 10.05am

Welcome

10.05am - 11.15am

Keynote

• Know your enemy: The image of the enemy in times of peace and war
  Professor David Welch
• Q&A

11.15am - 11.25am

Coffee break

11.25am - 1.05pm

Panel 1: Influence

• The German stab-in-the-back myth and the British Army, 1918-40
  Professor Stephen Badsey (University of Wolverhampton)
• 'Everyone willingly giving a hand / To help Great Britain keep a firm stand.' Internalising propaganda at HM Factory Gretna
  Judith Hewitt (Manager of the Devil's Porridge Museum)
• British propaganda leaflets and news-sheets directed at Indian soldiers, civilians and diaspora communities during the Second World War
  Squadron Leader (Retired) Rana Chhina
• 'To accustom Turkish minds to a state of belligerency': The delicate balance of British propaganda in Turkey during the Second World War
  Dr Edward Corse
• Q&A

1.05pm - 1.45pm

Lunch

1.45pm - 3.05pm

Panel 2: New Frontiers

• The British Expeditionary Force in France, 1939-40: Phoney War, Phoney News?
  Phil McCarty
• Propaganda, information and civil-military co-ordination
  Steve Little (Consultant and Army Reserve officer)
• Winning the narrative in an information age
  Abigail Watson and Liam Walpole (Oxford Research Group Remote Warfare Programme)
• Q&A

3.05pm - 3.20pm

Coffee break

3.20pm - 4.45pm

Panel 3: Propaganda in the Modern World

• Cross-sector approaches to combatting state-sponsored disinformation and propaganda
  Nina Jankowicz (Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC)
  Alex Guittard (M&C Saatchi)
  Henry Collis (Deputy Director for International Security and Defence Projects in the Prime Minister's Office and Cabinet Office Communications Team)
• Q&A

4.45pm - 4.55pm

Concluding remarks and thank you