Censorship during World War 1
What does censorship mean?
Censorship is the removal or banning of anything regarded as harmful, offensive or dangerous from letters, books, films and newspaper articles.
Preventing the population from learning of bad news is another way of controlling and shaping people's attitudes and opinions. During World War 1, letters sent by soldiers to their families and friends were heavily censored to keep details of defeat and the terrible conditions in the trenches from the public.
ACTIVITY 1: READ THE FOLLOWING LETTER FROM A SOLDIER TO HIS WIFE. HIGHLIGHT ANYTHING YOU THINK WOULD HAVE BEEN CENSORED DURING WORLD WAR 1.
24th May, 1916
Dear Martha,
We are now in Northern France in Arras with the 14th Battalion. We have heard that we are going to launch a new offensive against the Germans on the Somme.
I am well and looking forward to the end of the war. I wish it would hurry up. Sadly, my old school friend Bill was killed last week by a sniper. He was standing at the entrance of his dugout and a German bullet went under his shoulder. I'll miss old Bill. These snipers are doing some terrible damage and we are all very scared. There's not much room for tears and grieving here as they think a dead man is no use to the army, so they got old Bill out of the way as quickly as possible. War is terrible and so few realise it.
On the bright side, the food is surprisingly good and some of my mates have made friends with some of the French girls. They seem to like the Tommies.
I miss you and send you my love,
Peter
ACTIVITY 2: Cut and paste below any parts of the letter from Peter that you think would have been censored before his wife received it. Explain why you have chosen these.