History glossary
Propaganda
messages designed to shape what people believe about power, enemies, rulers, or events.
- Category
- Communication and power
What it means
Propaganda uses images, speeches, inscriptions, stories, or ceremonies to persuade people. Ancient rulers used it to show themselves as victorious, divinely chosen, generous, terrifying, or legitimate.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Holocaust
From legal discrimination to genocide, the Holocaust traces twelve years of escalating persecution that killed six million Jews and millions of others across Nazi-occupied Europe.
Nazi Germany
From Weimar collapse to WWII, Nazi Germany imposed totalitarian rule, expansion, and genocide.
The Cold War
Rivalry between East and West shapes global politics - through proxy wars, propaganda, and nuclear tension.
The Elizabethan Age
Elizabeth I’s reign brought stability, cultural flourishing, exploration, and victory over the Spanish Armada.
The Kim Dynasty
North Korea’s Kim dynasty built a nuclear-armed regime, maintaining power through crises and control.
The Korean War
A Cold War conflict that divided Korea, ending in stalemate and a lasting unresolved border.
The Russian Revolution
From the 1905 crisis to the creation of the USSR, the Russian Revolution transformed imperial collapse into a new one-party socialist state.
The Tudor Dynasty
The Tudors strengthened royal power, drove religious change, and shaped early modern England.
