Abstract

Although communication has been long in development, the “communication revolution” is a modern prodigy. Propaganda has been around almost as long as communication, but became a revolutionary force only through the “communication revolution.” As Lasswell wrote in 1939: “This is the Age of Propaganda. Popular discovery of propaganda was made in the World War of 1914-1918.” World War I inaugurated a new era of “crisis politics” in Europe, resulting in Communism in Russia, fascism in Italy, Nazism in Germany, Falangism in Spain, and a multitude of anti-democratic movements around the world. This process of crisis politics was accelerated after World War II, which saw the fall of the European empires and the emergence of new nations beyond Europe.