In Russia during the early 1900s anti-Semitism was spreading rampantly. This is demonstrated to the extreme with the Kishinev Progrom that occurred in 1903. During a few days in April in the town of Kishinev Russia brutal riots destroyed the businesses and houses of Jewish citizens, and many of them were even killed. This event seems to be a prelude to the Kristallnacht that was carried out by Nazi Germany. And just like later in Nazi Germany anti-Semitic propaganda soon spread throughout the region to justify these actions.
Soon the supposed plan outlined by the leaders of the Jewish people called “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” was distributed. This document describes a brutal and autocratic methodology for the Jewish people taking over the world and enacting their power over the worlds citizens. The text displays the Jewish people as a group out to end liberties for all others. This propaganda put the Jewish people into a negative light and allowed for Russia to carry out acts of violence on Jewish people with a supposedly just reason.
This text’s introduction discusses how some of the goals and methodologies discussed in the text have proven to be real by how various events have transpired. This introduction firstly poses the important point of how extreme bias can become and still be distributed as truthful or fact. Secondly, this introduction discusses how propaganda and stereotypes are often based partially in truth, which increases their validity in the eyes of the public and increases their ability to drive people to horrible acts.
Furthermore, this document seems to be similar to the stereotypes that western society, and particularly the U.S. has placed on the Islamic people in recent history. And as we can see these stereotypes and propaganda have again led to violence.
This document provides an important insight into the use of propaganda and psychological warfare as strategies of oppression and violence in the 20th and 21st century. And the document proves to be an unfortunate foreshadowing of the effectiveness of these strategies and the very real backlash that can follow the spreading of these beliefs.