Terror from the Skies: The Propaganda of Aerial Warfare in the Emerging Mass Media of the First World War

Abstract

Aerial warfare was developed and used in the First World War to terrorize soldiers and population centers, and modern mass media played a dominant role in spreading the fear of the new innovation of war to a global audience. This view of the propagandistic value of aerial warfare played a major role in combat strategies and tactics of the war as military and political leaders began to utilize psychological operations. This paper explores the historical context of this era in light of the emerging broadcast media of the day. The study concludes with observations of the characteristics of this new ‘terror propaganda,’ the use of which continues today.[This is a published version of an article published in "Southwest Mass Communication Journal" in May 2019, available online: https://journals.tdl.org/swecjmc/index.php/swecjmc/article/view/16].