The Use of Cigarette Packs and Papers as a Tool of Political Propaganda in the Last Period of the Ottoman Empire

Abstract

Propaganda refers to activities carried out deliberately to change mass opinions and turn them into action. From the 19th century onward, the elected governments’ utilization of the power of propaganda to maintain and sustain their power has expanded the meaning and scope of the concept. In the same century, separatist movements, which increased in parallel with the idea of nationalism, involved propaganda in their activities. Cigarette papers are one of the tools that can be used as a means of propaganda with their visual and textual content. In the Ottoman Empire, the idea of utilizing cigarette papers for propaganda purposes was put into practice in the late 19^th century. This included their use to generate income for committees and sometimes politically for the construction of national identity. The censorship that marked the reign of Abdülhamid II also determined the State’s reflex in its fight against propaganda. In this respect, the propaganda on cigarette papers was directly related to the perception of propaganda.

Examining the propaganda aspect of cigarette packs and papers in the Ottoman Empire, the present study aims to analyze the scale, form, and objectives of propaganda in the light of Ottoman archival sources. The main question of the study is how cigarette papers were used for political propaganda and which audiences were targeted. The extent to which Ottoman administrators perceived cigarette packs and papers as propaganda and the countermeasures they took against it are also analyzed.

The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest.