Abstract

The competition for the benevolence of the United States during the First World War is traditionally regarded in historiography as a confrontation between English and German propagandas, and thus the French less widescale but effective activity in this field remains poorly studied. Meanwhile, French propaganda focused on the political, financial and intellectual circles of North American society ensured mutual understanding and promoted close cooperation between the two republics in this global conflict. The sociocultural proximity of France and the United States, their historical ties, and the lack of any major contradictions allowed the French to involve methods that are now considered to be classified as “soft power”, so that the Americans did not regard them as the propaganda effect. The cumulative result of the activities of France and Great Britain made it possible to accelerate the entry into the war of the United States, which took over financing and industrial support of the exhausted countries of the Entente, and transported a two-million military contingent to the Old World by 1918. The unique and unprecedented experience of the formation and manipulation of public consciousness, accumulated during the First World War, later laid the basis of the methodology of studying public opinion and influencing the mood and consciousness of the masses. The study is based on the documents from the diplomatic archives, national archives and the Service historique de la défense of the French Ministry of Defense, previously uninvolved in the research on this issue in Russian historiography. The author attempts at comprehensive consideration of the historiographic material. The main focus of the article is the tasks, organization and methods of the French propaganda campaign. The most striking cases help illustrate all its main aspects. Particular attention is paid to the role of persons responsible for organizing events and establishing propaganda structures and agents performing special missions in the United States. The study covers the period of the US neutrality in 1914-1917.