Western Civilization: Propaganda of the Protestant Reformation

     During the early years of the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants both used propaganda to promote their own agendas. This propaganda came by way of printed texts and pamphlets. This was not possible before, but with the invention of the printing press, printed materials became much more accessible. If not for the printing press, mass printed propaganda would not have been possible and the Reformation may not have been so successful.

     These pamphlets came about because of anger toward the church and accusations of corruption. Dissenters within the Catholic Church were upset over abuse of power by the papacy and began creating and circulating pamphlets with arguments against the church and a call for change.

     In response to these accusations and pamphlets, the Catholic Church began campaigns against the Protestant propaganda. Some Catholic propaganda pamphlets were produced, but they were never nearly as effective as their Protestant counterparts. The Catholic Church never truly grasped the use of printed propaganda material and suffered because of it.

     Overall, the Protestants absolutely outperformed the Catholics when it came to propaganda during the early years of the Reformation. The invention of the printing press changed the game and gave the perfect medium of communication for the rebellious Protestants. In the end, the Protestants just had the better propaganda.