Thanks to the effectiveness of suppressing the anti-war effort, the government was largely unimpeded in convincing American citizens of the need to help battle Germany and its brutal influence. In fact, there were instances where vigilantes backed by the State targeted those who opposed the war, resulting in beatings, shootings, and even lynchings.17 As far as the general public was concerned, the Germans were the enemy and those who responded to their threat were men fulfilling their duties to protect. Therefore, anyone who opposed the war was essentially acting in accord with the enemy, posing a danger to the safety and well-being of the nation and its citizens.
Overall, the propaganda effort during the First World War was very effective – perhaps a little too much. The aftermath of the war brought deep concern regarding the usage of information for mass manipulation by the media and unprecedented interest in the study of propaganda. This included the study of specific messages and the psychology and sociology of human attitudes during the 1920s and 1930s.18 Marketing research became a legitimate field of study during the 1920s when consumer buying habits and the effectiveness of advertisements were analyzed. This was further refined during the 1930s and applied to measure political preferences, effective techniques still in use today.19