The given text is a piece of British propaganda from the year 1914, by the British Pacifist Norman Angell. The title of the piece is ‘Why Fight For Russia?,’ and given the year of publication, we are assured that the text is concerned with the approaching tragedies of the Great War. Britain, along with Russia and France, fought together on the warfront to form the Triple Entente, but the text highlights the key reasons that Russia should rather be considered an enemy, based on a negative history with the British. Through this text, the author hopes to express the ideology that Russia is the enemy alongside which Britain should not fight, and hopes to persuade the audience of this ideology through the use of style and structure, in addition to the tone and mood of the piece.
The targeted audience in the text are majorly the middle working class of Britain. Proof of this is seen throughout, as the text seems to address political and social issues, that the particular audience would tend to concern themselves with. Significant evidence can be identified from the final five lines of the text. “Get your local notables to hold meetings…” (Line 36) This line suggests that the text reaches out to an audience with a significant amount of authority in their fields, or those who have the power or capability of making a significant change. Namely: the middle working class. The overall purpose of the text is to express the ideology of Russia being the enemy. As stated in bold text: “A War for Russia is a War against civilisation.”the British attitude towards autocracy is made clear its desired expression. The text also wishes to persuade the audience of this ideology, through facts and the appeal to pathos, among other techniques which will be discussed later. This sheds light on the possible desires of the target audience that hope to be satisfied, such as those of the audience that already oppose the Russians, and whose desires are therefore fed through this piece of propaganda.
The text begins with a rhetorical question as its title, already implying that fighting alongside should is a questionable matter. In the main body of the text below the title, the ideology develops as it begins to describe Russia through a lens of total rejection. This is supported by an abundance of factual information that is used to justify the negative claims made against Russia, as well as multiple appeals to pathos. This hopes to fuel disagreement within the viewers minds. Following this section are the words: “BRITAIN, STAND CLEAR!” This is considered to be the climax of the piece, the section noticed first by viewers. These words would seem to drive the public opinion away from Russian support during the war. Following that climactic statement, comes the final section of the text. This is considered to be the resolute call to action, where the text asks the audience to act upon all that they have been given to think about and muse on. The main themes lie within the actual ideology hoped to be effectively expressed, which, as stated previously, suggests that Russia is the enemy, and that “a war for Russia is a war against civilisation.”
The tone is significant in this particular text. Firstly, multiple statistics are given to justify any claims made against Russia. All of these statistics seek to shine a negative light on Russia. An example is given in the third paragraph. “...we spent £50,000,000 in the Crimea.” This is one of the many examples of statistics used through negative incentive. It portrays the downsides of Russia's history with Britain. Furthermore, the use of specific words and phrases can instil negativity in the minds of the audience. An example lies on line 16: “Russia is...the greatest enemy of British ideas.” The statement is as extreme as to accuse Russia of being the greatest of all enemies, even greater of an enemy than Germany, or any opposition in the war. This further enhances the mood, as it fuels anger and disagreement towards Russia within the viewers. This leans them more towards accepting the ideology expressed, thus achieving the overall purpose of the text.
Lastly, a collection of literary devices, in addition to the structure of the text, contribute greatly to the purpose of the piece of propaganda. First to take note of is the appeal to pathos, already briefly mentioned and discussed. In the heart of the text, the utter negativity of Russia's history with Britain is all but overly emphasised. Evidence of an appeal to pathos lies in paragraph 6 in a line used before. “The greatest enemy of British ideas of liberty and justice, the most opposed to all that we value in western civilisation.” Again, the use of the words “greatest” and “most” portrays Russia to be at the extreme end of the spectrum of negativity. Furthermore, emphasis should be put on the use of plural personal pronouns throughout the text. The use of “we” and “our,” in addition to the choice of words, more effectively draws out an emotional response, which will lead to a more guaranteed response to the call to action. This overall is a strong appeal to pathos, and thus effectively fuels the British public's opposing thoughts of Russia as a whole. Typical of propaganda, the text also consists of name-calling of the Russian people. In particular is line 23. “140 million Russians, the slaves of a corrupt autocracy. Considering that Britain at the time was very much against the political ideals of Russia and autocracy itself, this would again fuel disagreement, anger and opposition in the minds of the audience as individuals, thus achieving the purpose effectively once more. Also to note is the sheer a,punt of times that Russia is mentioned. In fact, Russia is mentioned in every one of the first 6 paragraphs, most of which following the sentence structure: “Russia is…” This is normally followed by statistics that shines negative light on them. This keeps the desired focus on Russia, which is very effective in response to the question “What is Russia?” in line 4.
The structure also strongly supports the purpose. Any given person viewing the piece of propaganda from afar would see two lines stand out more boldly and clearly than any others. Naturally, these two lines should summarise the main content or idea of the text without any required use of factual information, and it certainly does in this case. “Why Fight for Russia?” “Britain, stand clear!” Upon drawing the viewer's attention through the use of these two lines, both bolded, capitalised, and increased in size relative to the rest of the text, they are greeted with factual justification of the broader, bolder statements. This effectively persuades the audience to accept the expressed ideology. The structural layout of the text also expresses the main points in a clear, concise, and easily understandable way, as even singular sentence are given their own paragraph. This makes the information stand out more clearly, and it allows the audience to take in the information more easily.
In conclusion, the British truly did hope to express the ideology in the piece of propaganda that Russia should be rejected as an ally in the war, as they are a true enemy of Britain. To support and justify this statement, the given text has been analysed for evidence of the contribution of tone, mood, literary devices, and structure to achieving the main purpose of the text, which is to express and convince the British middle working class of the main ideology.
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