--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The First World War; the Russian…" description: "\"“The First World War; the Russian revolution of 1917; Hitler's revolution of 1933; the second World War; the further development of revolutionary wars ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/jacques-ellul-4407_cold-war_the-first-world-war-the-russian-revoluti_1707314.jpg" --- # The First World War; the Russian revolution of 1917… ![“The First World War; the Russian revolution of 1917; Hitler's revolution of 1933; the second World War; the further development of revolutionary wars since 1944 in China, Indochina, and Algeria, as well as the Cold War—each was a step in the development of modern propaganda. With each of these…” quote by Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/jacques-ellul-4407_cold-war_the-first-world-war-the-russian-revoluti_1707314.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/jacques-ellul-4407_cold-war_the-first-world-war-the-russian-revoluti_1707314.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/000/jacques-ellul-4407_cold-war_the-first-world-war-the-russian-revoluti_1707314.jpg) > ““The First World War; the Russian revolution of 1917; Hitler's revolution of 1933; the second World War; the further development of revolutionary wars since 1944 in China, Indochina, and Algeria, as well as the Cold War—each was a step in the development of modern propaganda. With each of these events propaganda developed further, increased in depth, discovered new methods. At the same time it conquered new nations and new territories: To reach the enemy, one must use his weapons; this undeniable argument is the key to the systematic development of propaganda. And in this way propaganda has become a permanent feature in nations that actually despise it, such as the United States and France.”” [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Historical events have shaped propaganda, making it more sophisticated and pervasive, even in societies that claim to oppose it. **In simple terms:** Propaganda evolves with history and spreads even in dissenting nations. Key Takeaway Recognize and critically assess persuasive messages. Themes politics media history Mood cautious inquisitive Type analytical critical When to use this quote - elections - social media campaigns - public policy debates Key Concepts information control psychology Questions to Reflect On - What signs indicate hidden propaganda? - How does propaganda affect democratic societies? A Different Perspective Propaganda can be subtle and hard to detect. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cold war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cold-war/) [First world war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-world-war/) [Propaganda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/propaganda/) [Revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolution/) [Russian revolution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russian-revolution/) [Second world war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/second-world-war/) [World war](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-war/) ## Related quotes > [The aim of modern propaganda is no longer to modify ideas, but to provoke action.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-aim-of-modern-propaganda-is-no-longer-to-modify-ideas-but-to/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-goal-of-modern-propaganda-is-no-longer-to-transform-opinion-but/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [I strongly believe that a small Jewish clique which has contempt for the mass of Jewish people worked with non-Jews to create the First…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-icke/i-strongly-believe-that-a-small-jewish-clique-which-has-contempt-for/) [David Icke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-icke/) > [The chief fruit of the First World War was the Russian Revolution and the rise of Communism as a national power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whittaker-chambers/the-chief-fruit-of-the-first-world-war-was-the-russian-revolution-and/) [Whittaker Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whittaker-chambers/) > [“Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess grandmaster and Putin opponent who said, “The point of modern propaganda isn’t only to misinform or push an agenda.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/garry-kasparov-the-russian-chess-grandmaster-and-putin-opponent-who/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [The first modern propaganda agency was the British Ministry of Information a century ago, which secretly defined its task as to direct the thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-modern-propaganda-agency-was-the-british-ministry-of/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garry-kasparov/the-point-of-modern-propaganda-isn-t-only-to-misinform-or-push-an-2/) [Garry Kasparov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garry-kasparov/) > [“The point of modern propaganda isn't only to misinform or push an agenda. It is to exhaust your critical thinking, to annihilate truth." (quoting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-rodham-clinton/the-point-of-modern-propaganda-isn-t-only-to-misinform-or-push-an/) [Hillary Rodham Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-rodham-clinton/) > [In the appendix to my History of the Russian Revolution I give a detailed and documented study of the ideas of the Bolshevik party…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-trotsky/in-the-appendix-to-my-history-of-the-russian-revolution-i-give-a/) [Leon Trotsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-trotsky/) > [“We should be used to it," Tatiana reasons. "There have always been lines separating us from the rest of the world, whether they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-miller/we-should-be-used-to-it-tatiana-reasons-there-have-always-been-lines/) [Sarah Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-miller/) > [In the early days of the Russian Revolution in 1917, I was completely in sympathy with it. I felt that it established a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chiang-kai-shek/in-the-early-days-of-the-russian-revolution-in-1917-i-was-completely/) [Chiang Kai-shek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chiang-kai-shek/) > [“A few weeks later, in the middle of a cold December night, the pair, along with 247 other radicals, were herded onto a freighter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcgrath-morris/a-few-weeks-later-in-the-middle-of-a-cold-december-night-the-pair/) [James McGrath Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcgrath-morris/) > [There is no need to exaggerate the part played in the creation of the Bolshevism and in the actual bringing about of the Russian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/there-is-no-need-to-exaggerate-the-part-played-in-the-creation-of-the/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“The Russian Revolution and its imitators (Chinese, Cuban, Vietnamese, Cambodian) tried to atomize society so thoroughly--to war against the mediating structures that stand between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-krauthammer/the-russian-revolution-and-its-imitators-chinese-cuban-vietnamese/) [Charles Krauthammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-krauthammer/) > [ \[Marxism will\] in a generation or so \[go\] into the limbo of most heresies, but meanwhile it will have poisoned the Russian Revolution. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/marxism-will-in-a-generation-or-so-go-into-the-limbo-of-most-heresies/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More by Jacques Ellul > [The individual, by means of the discipline imposed on him by sport, not only plays and finds relaxation from the various compulsions to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-by-means-of-the-discipline-imposed-on-him-by-sport-not/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Propaganda begins when dialogue ends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/propaganda-begins-when-dialogue-ends/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Christians were never meant to be normal. We’ve always been holy troublemakers, we’ve always been creators of uncertainty, agents of dimension that’s incompatible with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/christians-were-never-meant-to-be-normal-we-ve-always-been-holy/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [It is inconceivable that the God who gives Himself in His Son to save us, should have created some people ordained to evil and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/it-is-inconceivable-that-the-god-who-gives-himself-in-his-son-to-save/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Technological society leads to increasing numbers of people who cannot adapt to the inhuman rhythm of modern life with its emphasis on specialization. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/technological-society-leads-to-increasing-numbers-of-people-who/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [It is the multiplication of men who are exluded from working which provokes war. We ought at least to bear this in mind when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/it-is-the-multiplication-of-men-who-are-exluded-from-working-which/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [The orchestration of press, radio and television to create a continuous, lasting and total environment renders the influence of propaganda virtually unnoticed precisely because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-orchestration-of-press-radio-and-television-to-create-a/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [“No society can last in conditions of anarchy. This is self-evident and I am in full agreement. But my aim is not the establishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/no-society-can-last-in-conditions-of-anarchy-this-is-self-evident-and/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [The qualities which technique requires for its advance are precisely those characteristics of a technical order which do not represent indivisual intelligence...The individual, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-qualities-which-technique-requires-for-its-advance-are-precisely/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Education no longer has a humanist end or any value in itself; it has only one goal, to create technicians.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/education-no-longer-has-a-humanist-end-or-any-value-in-itself-it-has/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [The goal of modern propaganda is no longer to transform opinion but to arouse an active and mythical belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-goal-of-modern-propaganda-is-no-longer-to-transform-opinion-but/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Freedom is completely without meaning unless it is related to necessity, unless it represents victory over necessity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/freedom-is-completely-without-meaning-unless-it-is-related-to/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [When there is propaganda, we are no longer able to evaluate certain questions, or even to discuss them](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/when-there-is-propaganda-we-are-no-longer-able-to-evaluate-certain/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [True technique will know how to maintain the illusion of liberty, choice, and individuality; but these will have been carefully calculated so that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/true-technique-will-know-how-to-maintain-the-illusion-of-liberty/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [No one knows where we are going, the aim of life has been forgotten, the end has been left behind. Man has set out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/no-one-knows-where-we-are-going-the-aim-of-life-has-been-forgotten/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) [Explore all 106 Jacques Ellul quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) ## More Cold war quotes > [“A clear look back on the Cold War's battlegrounds, along with a sense of relief that the world survived forty-five years of confrontation, evokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-clear-look-back-on-the-cold-war-s-battlegrounds-along-with-a-sense/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. 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Whether you like it or not,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/if-you-don-t-like-us-don-t-accept-our-invitations-and-don-t-invite-us/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [Ever since the end of the Cold War, it has been our paramount interest in Europe to strengthen NATO and to extend it -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-malinowski/ever-since-the-end-of-the-cold-war-it-has-been-our-paramount-interest/) [Tom Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-malinowski/) > [“And so this is where the post Cold War has brought us: to the recognition that the very totalitarism that we fought against in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-d-kaplan/and-so-this-is-where-the-post-cold-war-has-brought-us-to-the/) [Robert D. Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-d-kaplan/) > [And so the greatest of American triumphs... became a peculiarly joyless victory. 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With each of these events propaganda developed further, increased in depth, discovered new methods. At the same time it conquered new nations and new territories: To reach the enemy, one must use his weapons; this undeniable argument is the key to the systematic development of propaganda. 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