Mr. David Hanna shares congratulations to senior, Justin Murdock recipient in the pre-collegiate category of the George Watt essay contest and published in The Volunteer.
As mentioned in the article, Justin "wrote about propaganda from competing political interests in Spain in his wonderful essay “The Omnipresent Weapon.” Justin’s essay came out of a class on the Spanish Civil War taught by Mr. David Hanna".
Here is an excerpt from Justin's essay:
Justin Murdock, “The Omnipresent Weapon”
No Pasarán! Bombs rained upon the Iberian Peninsula – whether literal ones from the piercing Condor Legion or metaphorical as propaganda posters plastered streets. From Barcelona to Bilbao, both were incessant throughout the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish people witnessed the first of many things: a vast international conflict succeeding the Great War, a major political ideological clash on the European stage, and the most infamous civilian bombings to date. With all that came the aggressive use of a deadly, increasingly popular weapon: propaganda. “The Omnipresent Weapon” makes a thorough examination of the propaganda used by the two Spanish factions, the Republicans and Nationalists, by analyzing the intentions and artistic decisions made in the posters. Through such, considering modern political corruption and strife, readers may reflect upon the true gravity of propaganda usage upon Spanish society in the civil war and global conflicts to come. Read the full text here.
