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" A necessary weapon of war : "
Bhattachary, Sanjoy.
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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1092647
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TLets244050
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| Main Entry
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Bhattachary, Sanjoy.
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| Title & Author
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A necessary weapon of war :\ Bhattachary, Sanjoy.
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| College
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School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)
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| Date
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1996
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| student score
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1996
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Abstract
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This thesis studies official policies of propaganda at different levels of thecolonial administration in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and the eastern UnitedProvinces during the Second World War. By contrast to the available research, it treats'propaganda' as a complex political strategy, whereby information and a variety ofmaterial benefits were disseminated, always biased towards a particular viewpoint, withthe purpose of mobilising support for specific ideological campaigns, for example thepublicity launched against the Indian National Congress between 1942 and 1944.Attention is given to the objectives of policy, the structures used to disseminate officialpropaganda, the limitations imposed on these efforts by the available technology, theaudiences targeted, the themes advertised, and the impact of these activities on wartimeand post-war politics. Contrary to earlier work on the topic, this thesis argues thatcolonial policy aimed not merely to suppress information inimical to that released by thestate, but also to collect intelligence about the morale of specific audiences, theirresponses to the various nationalisms being articulated at the time, and the themeswhich needed to be addressed at particular junctures of the conflict. The thesisconcludes that evidence of propaganda policies permiL<; generalisations about the natureof the colonial state in the 1940s. It suggests that the authorities failed to mobilisesupport for unpopular wartime policies amongst the civilian population and thusincreasingly depended on the use of force; and that this failure contributed, in largemeasure, to the dissolution of the Indian Empire in 1947.
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History
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School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)
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