racked down on anyone suspected of supporting a compromise peace. Many of the crackdowns and treason charges were just a result of war hysteria or calculated politcal opportunism. Expanded police powers also included control of public information and opinion. The censorship of newspapers and personal mail was already an established practice. Governments regularly used their power to prevent disclosure of military secrets and the airing of dangerous opinions considering war efforts. Theother side of using police power on public opinion was the "organizing of enthusiasm," which could be thought of as: Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people; the organization embraces within its scope only those who do not threaten on psychological grounds to become a brake on the further dissemination of the idea. World War I provided a place for the birth of propaganda which countries used with even more frightening results during World War II. Governments used the media to influence people to enlist and to brainwash them war into supporting the war. The French prime minister used his power to draft journalists or defer them in exchange for favorable coverage. The German right created a new mass party, the Fatherland Party. It was backed by secret funds from the army and was devoted to propaganda for war discipline. By 1918, the Fatherland Party was larger than the Social Democratic Party. Germany had become quite effective at influencing the masses. The economic impact of the war was very disaproportioned. At one end there were those who profited from the war and at the other end were those who suffered under the effects of inflation. The opportunities to make enormous amounts of money in war manufacture were plentiful. War profiteers were a public scandal. Fictional new rich, like the manufacturer of shoddy boots in Jules Romains's Verdun had numerous real-life counterparts. However, gover...
