German Influences on Ottoman Film Propaganda during World War I

When the Ottoman Empire entered World War I, it lacked the experience of other European countries in using modern propaganda techniques to mobilize its population for the war effort. The German Empire assisted the Ottomans to set up a propaganda machine in which cinema, the most modern visual technology of the time, also had a role to play. Through the analysis of primary sources such as films, photographs, memoirs, letters, and reports, this article sheds light on the forgotten role of the Germans in introducing film propaganda to the Ottomans during World War I.