Ministry of Information, Cattala



The Ministry of Information (MOI), governed by the Minister for Information, was a Cattalian Government Ministry from 1939 until 1951, having been proposed by King Charles in the early stages of the Second World War to prevent Cattalian morale becoming low and to encourage the public to remain calm despite the rumours of an invasion. Initially located in Celestine, the ministry went underground after the Italian occupation and began publishing newspapers and coordinating the resistance during the war. It was also supported by Cattalian exiles in London, and was funded by the Cattalian Government-in-Exile.

=Initial concept=

The Ministry was created on the advice of the King, who believed that a propaganda and publicity department, inspired by the Nazi's Propaganda Ministry, except on a more moderate scale aimed at encouraging public support and morale, not broadcasting ideologies and threats. The idea was approved by the Government, wary of the effects that fear of invasion were having on the public. However the newspapers were opposed to the ministry, believing it would be a form of censorship and was criticised openly by editorials all the way up to the occupation.

=Role after occupation=



Despite early successes in preserving morale and encouraging Cattalians to join the army in case of war and keeping people unified, when the Italian occupation began it appeared as though the Ministry would be closed immediately by the puppet government installed by Mussolini. Within hours of the attacks on Celestine, the PNF and Italian army closed all Cattalian ministries and the Ministry of Information offices were sacked.

The Ministry's staff had fled the city, having been caught in the midst of the bombing of Celeste, which led to the King's surrender. Over the next three years the Ministry operated underground, continuously moving around Cattala and spreading the message of resistance and formed armed militia to oppose the fascist occupation. It was most successful in the countryside, where entire villages would work together and form guerilla armies that conducted sabotage missions and sporadically fought against Italian and German troops stationed near their communities. Several thousand Cattalians died between 1940 and 1943 due to the guerilla warfare. The Ministry actively encouraged this and took part in the derailment of trains and providing intelligence to Allied forces in Britain and Russia.

As the war in Cattala neared its end, the resistance grew in strength as aid and support from Britain and America began to arrive from Africa. The Ministry began spreading news of the French Resistance through clandestine newspapers and pamphlets delivered by rogue postman. The Italian-controlled public services, dedicated to the war effort, were often infiltrated by the Ministry of Information as it became more organised and formed the central command of the Cattalian resistance's propaganda.

By the time of the 1943 Invasion of Cattala, the Ministry was co-operating with the now-national Amadeus Resistance Army that was fighting a guerilla war against the Axis powers. During the invasion by the British 8th Army, the Ministry of Information informed the army of German and Italian positions and provided morale-boosting propaganda to the troops and guerilla army. Planes captured from Axis air bases were used to drop pamphlets announcing the progress of Europe's liberation and encouraged people to join the resistance as the allies moved through Cattala and into Sicily.

=Post-war role=



After the end of the war in Cattala, the Ministry of Information continued to exist but returned to its original role of spreading propaganda to boost public morale and informed the public of the Allied progress in the liberation of Europe. The Ministry's most famous poster in 1944 was of a triumphant Britannia rescuing a near-death Catherina national personification from a furious and vast Italia, who is wearing the Nazi colours.

As the reconstruction of what was now Celeste continued, the Ministry returned to Benefici House and continued its role of producing propaganda works to raise morale and encourage people back to work and back to pre-war normality. It's main role was to aid the redevelopment of Cattala and to prevent a food or goods shortage, which was feared by the temporary Allied-run government. Between 1944 and 1948, the Ministry gradually became smaller and smaller, and was close to being axed altogether before the referendum of 1949. The wartime government commissioned the Ministry of Information to encourage people to vote for independence and for the monarchy to be reinstated, as this was the option that was unanimously supported by the political parties. The Ministry spread posters and advertisements across the country and was nearly unopposed in its campaign. The referendum was won by the monarchist movement, and the Ministry was hailed as a key reason that turnout and support was so high.

In February 1950 the Ministry of Information was dissolved and parts of its post-war government marketing department moved to the private marketing industry.