Heinrich von Kleist's "The Battle of Hermann" reflects the precarious situation of the German nation during the Napoleonic Wars by depicting the protagonist Hermann's "Machiavellian manipulation" and extreme methods, and defends the use of extraordinary means in extreme situations. The drama is regarded as a political propaganda play against Napoleon and France, but it has also been criticized for its overly clear political orientation. Kleist had extensive experience in wartime propaganda and planned to establish the political journal Germania to resist French tyranny. There is an intertextual relationship between "The Battle of Hermann" and Kleist's political article "A Course in French Journalism". The latter explores the issue of wartime public opinion propaganda, while the former showcases the news propaganda strategies during the National Liberation War. On the one hand, Kleist emphasizes the importance of public opinion propaganda, and on the other hand, by imbuing wartime propaganda strategies with enemy characteristics, he satirizes and disintegrates his own propaganda strategies, demonstrating his ambiguous stance.

Time bomb thrower: Kleist and Puo wartime propaganda

The Napoleonic Wars marked the beginning of the modern era of warfare, introducing new features of national warfare and changing the war thinking of Europeans. Napoleon opened up a new battlefield in the field of public opinion by controlling the news industry, while Austria and Prussia were initially unable to resist, but gradually realized the importance of establishing official newspapers. Prussian reformist member Gneisenau emphasized the power of literature in war, and writers became the targets of the Prussian reformists, playing the role of "time bomb throwers" and preparing the German people mentally for the national liberation war. Kleist was exactly the "time bomb thrower" needed by Prussia and Austria. He undertook intelligence work, investigated public opinion in Saxony during the war, and sought more support for the national uprising plan. Kleist's literary creation and publishing activities received support from the official propaganda department of Austria and were part of Austria's wartime propaganda work.

Hermann's Journalism: A Literary Performance of Wartime Propaganda Strategies

Kleist's' The Battle of Hermann 'reveals that the so-called' Battle of Hermann 'was actually a propaganda war by showcasing the protagonist's pre war preparations, such as intelligence gathering, ideological mobilization, and public opinion preparation. As a theoretical summary of Kleist's wartime propaganda strategy, the "Tutorial" guides readers to understand the operational logic of French wartime journalism through mathematical teaching materials, and provides homework and answer analysis for writing news and founding newspapers. The success of public opinion propaganda in France can be attributed to the government's establishment of a newspaper system, which creates a false sense of freedom of opinion through the mutual coordination between official and private newspapers. The Tutorial reveals the specific methods used by the French government to boast about good news, conceal or mix bad news with false information, and to master the skills of informing the public of bad news when it cannot be concealed.

French or German: The Collapse of Ambiguous News Positions and Propaganda Strategies

Explored Kleist's complex attitude towards news propaganda strategies in "The Battle of Hermann". The article first points out that although Kleist criticized French journalism in "The Course," he seemed to hold a positive attitude towards Hermann's propaganda methods, indicating that he may have inwardly identified with the enemy's means of concealing and distorting information. The article further analyzes the Enlightenment views of German literati on journalism, believing that journalism should be honest and harmless, unrelated to the government. However, Kleist's exposure of French journalism in "The Course" and his praise for the upright tradition of German journalism seem to contradict his suggestion to emulate French journalism.