Comparison of Ottoman and British War Magazines in the Context of Propaganda in the First World War Period: The Case of The War Illustrated and Harp Mecmuasi

In the World War I, which was the first total war, it is seen that the mass media were used intensively for propaganda purposes. During the war years, the press was kept under strict control, and the messages desired to be given to the public and the soldiers were conveyed directly through the newspapers and magazines issued by the state itself. In terms of conveying the messages directly to the target audience, war magazines or military magazines published in this period, have an important place. In the current literature, the number of studies comparing the propaganda activities of the Ottoman Empire during the World War I, with the propaganda activities in the countries it fought, is quite insufficient. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to comparatively examine the propaganda activities of Great Britain, as the superpower of the period, and the Ottoman Empire, in the years of World War I, and to reveal the similarities and differences in the propaganda of the two opposing states. In this regard, the contents and discourses of The War Illustrated magazine which published in Great Britain during World War I and the Harp Mecmuast magazine which published in the Ottoman Empire were comparatively examined. As a result, it is determined that the propaganda campaign carried out in The War Illustrated, was in accordance with Domenach's five basic rules of strong propaganda, on the contrary propaganda campaign carried out in the Harp Mecmuast did not comply with these rules sufficiently.