Bullet theory

However, once this concept developed into "bullet theory", it took on a strong color of voluntarism. What adds this color to it is mainly the research on the propaganda history and skills of World War I at that time. World War I was a war for the world by imperialist powers, and it was also the first large-scale and organized war in human history to mobilize all forces to carry out propaganda and psychological warfare in an all-round way. In order to unite themselves and disintegrate the enemy, the warring parties used almost all available propaganda means, from news reports, pictures, books and periodicals, movies and records to posters, slogans, leaflets and street speeches. The war ended in the victory of allies such as Britain and the United States. In the subsequent study of war history, many people explained the end of the war for different motives, but they all had a similar tendency, that is, they tried to exaggerate the role of propaganda warfare and psychological warfare. It is true that successful wartime propaganda played an important role in the victory of the allied forces, but the end of the war was the result of the comparison of manpower, material resources and international strength between the two sides. However, in the eyes of some war history researchers, propaganda seems to be the only determinant of the progress of the war, which exaggerates the role of propaganda to an inappropriate degree. At that time, even lasswell, one of the founders of communication, could not get rid of this view. Lasswell and many people's enthusiasm for learning propaganda skills at that time was obviously inseparable from their belief in propaganda.