Propaganda
What Propaganda means in History GCSE, as defined for Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of Propaganda
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Propaganda in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: Pearson Edexcel
The dissemination of state-approved messages through posters, radio broadcasts and the press, promoting communist ideals and celebrating government achievements while demonising class enemies.
Hitler used his trial for high treason as a national platform of this kind, turning a short-term failure into a long-term success.
A government tool used in wartime, like the Ministry of Information, to maintain morale and control narratives.
Topics that use Propaganda
- Option 12: c1900–present: Warfare and British society in the modern era - 2 The experience of war (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Option 31: Key topic 2: Hitler’s rise to power, 1919–33 - 2 The Munich Putsch and the Nazi Party, 1923–28 (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
- Option 32: Key topic 4: Life in Mao’s China, 1949–76 - 1 Communist control (Pearson Edexcel GCSE)
Related terms
- Censorship
- Cult of Mao
- Home Front
- Ideological consolidation
- Ideological foundations
- Laogai
- Leadership and authority
- Little Red Book
Using Propaganda in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise History questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge