German propaganda

The Germans targeted the French, and the occupied populations in particular, with intense propaganda. It attacked the British above all. They were the true warmongers; the French had allowed themselves to be drawn into a war for which they were paying the highest price. The British government - again, according to German propaganda - was pulling the strings and spreading lies. Every flyover and bombardment by the British Royal Flying Corps was an opportunity for fierce denunciation of British duplicity. The Germans also denounced the Allied propaganda: no, they (the Germans) were not barbarians. And they invoked the spirits of the great French, English and German writers. In this struggle between civilisation and barbarism, the Germans invoked culture, whose superiority over suspect proponents of civilisation, progress and freedom was clear. Racism was a fundamental element of the German propaganda. Thus, the Italian is presented as being intrinsically the traitor, a Judas interested only in profit, an interest seemingly shared by the other enemy powers ranged against Germany.