Masaryk’s Wednesdays are having a significant effect,” and that “what the shepherd’s [T. G. Masaryk’s] son is saying is much liked.”293 Čestmír Jeřábek discussed Masaryk’s broadcasts in his wartime diary, likening them to “conversations with a trusted friend who sits down at the table with us and speaks from heart to heart, letting out a joke or a quotation here and there, clapping us on the shoulder.” Convinced that this informal style brought Masaryk closer to his listeners, the writer suggested that “his words are as easy for them to understand as Aleš’s pictures or folk songs […] They are simple and yet wise. You get the impression that Jan Masaryk gets the same joy from them as those to whom they are addressed, probably because they are sincere.”294 In the introduction to the 1948 Czech edition of Masaryk’s published talks, Josef Kopta also concluded that listeners were won over by Masaryk’s sincerity, suggesting that he opened his heart at the microphone – speaking “as if he were at confession” – and they opened their hearts to him in return.295 Historians of propaganda have noted that subtle and indirect approaches can appeal to an audience, particularly when a saturation of direct propaganda leads to resentment.296 Jeřábek’s comments also suggest that Masaryk’s personal tone was perceived by some as being pitched at exactly the right level for his audience, showing the deep understanding of his listener’s context and background that characterises truly effective propaganda.297
293 Otáhalová and Červinková, Dokumenty z historie, 2:514–16. 294 Jeřábek, V zajetí antikristově, 59. Mikoláš Aleš (1852–1913) was a Czech painter, known for portraying national themes and supporting Czech causes in Austria-Hungary, such as the Czech National Theatre. 295 Josef Kopta, “Domov děkuje,” in Volá Londýn, by Jan Masaryk (Prague: Práce/Lincolns-Prager, 1948), 11. The introduction by Kopta, a First World War legionary, was written in the spring of 1946 and included in editions of Volá Londýn published in 1947 and 1948. The 1948 edition makes no reference to Masaryk’s death in March, so was presumably published very early in the year. Following the Communist takeover in February 1948, no further editions of Volá Londýn were published until 1990, and the work of the domestic resistance was strongly promoted over that of the London exiles. 296 In his 1940 book on propaganda, John Hargrave described this as the “Drop it in his tea” approach, indirectly propagating an idea in the audience’s minds; see Hargrave, Propaganda, 111–16. 297 In his ground rules for effective propaganda, Charles Roetter listed “a clear idea and knowledge of the target which is being aimed at” as being of critical importance; Roetter, Psychological Warfare, 14. An effective propagandist, according to Roetter, bases their arguments on the opinions of their audience, not their own.
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