Overall, three key conclusions emerge from this study. First, between 1914 and 1918, the French public had access to photographs which vividly depicted some of the most atrocious aspects of life at the front. Second, this discovery highlights the fact that the idea of an authoritarian and omnipotent censorship office is incorrect, at least as far as the illustrated press is concerned: the censorship of the illustrated press was relatively benign. Finally, the publication of such violent photographs in the press was not the result of official photographic propaganda. This chapter has shown that there was no official photographic propaganda campaign within France, as well as showing the extent to which the term 'propaganda' encompassed a different meaning to that which it has today.
展开▼
