Propaganda In Churchill And Lenin

Short Essay 3

Propaganda is a useful tool for any politician or government, especially in unstable times such as during or after a war. Not surprisingly, aspects of propaganda can be found in both Churchill's "Iron Curtain Speech" and Stalin's "Response to Churchill". The speeches both contain elements of truth and distortions of that truth, and any dissection of them will reflect the author's cultural and national background. Keeping this in mind will serve to rationalize any conclusions reached during analysis.

Mr. Churchill's speech can be broken down into 3 more or less distinct areas. First, he up-sells the value of the United States in the post-war era. Second, he advocates the complete trust in the world organization, describing its worth in maintaining a peaceful world through the cooperation of all involved nations. Third, he condemns the Soviet Union and the expansion of communism, proclaiming those areas under soviet influence as behind an Iron Curtain. The progression of Churchill's speech is engineered to evoke emotional sympathy on the part of the listeners, so that they will prescribe to his viewpoint, which is that the Soviet Union is a dangerous power and must be dealt with in the near future in some form. While not overtly lying, Churchill uses versions of the truth to exact the reaction he desires from the relatively uneducated masses, likening the coming future to the pre-war events of the early 1930s. This generates fear and when that is combined with his ideas about uniting the English-speaking peoples, he creates a sense of comradely and united resolve against the Soviet Union, a resolve that is not entirely just and is based on a largely emotional reasoning instead of logical one.

Stalin's speech however tends to take more of a logical stand to refute any claims or positions that Churchill has on the state of the countries of Eastern Europe and the post-war period in general. The interviewer's questions were likely doctored so that pre-determined responses could be given, however presenting it as an interview adds legitimacy to the answers as it