Wartime Propaganda: From Controlling the Narrative to Manufacturing Noise

Written by: Abdullah Al-Umairah

Wars do not change much
but the tools used to tell them evolve.

From Berlin in the 1930s, where the narrative was crafted within a single ministry,
to Washington in the age of open platforms, where thousands of narratives collide at the same moment,
one question remains constant:

Who owns the story?.. And who owns the mind of the audience?

First: What do they have in common?

Despite the difference in systems, the tools intersect:

• Repetition: embedding an idea until it becomes familiar
• Creating the enemy: simplifying the conflict into “us” and “them”
• Simplifying the message: reducing complexity into a clear statement
• Turning the conflict into a moral story: right versus wrong
• Linking the audience to fear or pride
• Imposing a narrative that appears most believable

These are not passing techniques
but the foundation of propaganda science in wartime

Second: Where do they differ?

The difference is fundamental in the environment:

Goebbels operated within a totalitarian system that monopolized media and closed the public sphere
Trump operates within an open, multi-voiced environment that cannot be fully controlled

But the key distinction:

Goebbels controlled all platforms
Trump does not control… but penetrates

He uses sudden statements, repetition, and headline-making to impose himself within a crowded media landscape

Third: Why does Trump dominate the discourse?

Visibility is not random… it is a function.

He condenses the institution into his persona
Precedes official spokespersons
Creates the headline… and forces others to react to it

Here, the president shifts from a “decision-maker” to:

A driver of the narrative

not merely a speaker of it

Fourth: What did Goebbels want?.. And what does Trump want?

Goebbels:
To manufacture total loyalty to the system, and mobilize society behind war and the leader

Trump:
To impose the frame through which events are understood:
“We are stronger… our opponents are collapsing… and any future outcome is the result of our pressure”

The difference:

The first seeks to close the mind
The second seeks to steer the debate within it

Fifth: Repetition… theory or habit?

Repetition is not a weakness in messaging
but a deep psychological tool:

A repeated idea becomes familiar
What is familiar appears true to some audiences

In the past:
The message flowed from top to bottom

Today:
It multiplies through:

• Platforms
• Audiences
• Algorithms

Transforming repetition into a cognitive tsunami

Conclusion

Goebbels ran a closed propaganda machine
Trump runs an open narrative storm

The first:

Imposes a single truth

The second:

Repeats a narrative until it becomes the frame within which everything is discussed

Methodological Note

This analysis does not compare the identity, objectives, or political nature of regimes,
nor does it place Hitler or the Nazi system within the same context as any contemporary experience.

It focuses exclusively on analyzing media tools and propaganda methods in wartime,
as techniques that may reappear in different forms… despite differences in systems and environments.

Final Line

In Goebbels’ time,
the danger was in controlling the truth

In our time,

the danger lies in drowning it… while tools may resemble each other, contexts must not be reduced

Image Caption

All roads lead to a single narrative