_Defensive propaganda_ is designed to maintain an accepted and operating form of social or other public action. (Soviet propaganda for the Five Year Plans is a conspicuous instance.) _Offensive propaganda_ is designed to interrupt social action not desired by the propagandist, or to predispose to social action which he desires, either through _revolutionary_ means (within the same society) or _international_, either diplomatic or belligerent (between different societies). Another set of distinctions arises from the purpose which the propaganda officer or group may have in mind for the people whom he addresses. These distinctions, like offensive-defensive, are theoretical rather than practical, and did not often appear in the actual operations, although all the more hush-hush plans made elaborate references to them: _Conversionary propaganda_ is designed to change the emotional or practical allegiance of individuals from one group to another. _Divisive propaganda_ is designed to split apart the component subgroups of the enemy and thereby reduce the effectiveness of the enemy group considered as a single unit. (An instance is provided by the Allied effort to make German Catholics think first as Catholics, then as Germans.) _Consolidation propaganda_ is directed toward civil populations in areas occupied by a military force and is designed to insure compliance with the commands or policies promulgated by the commander of the occupying force. _Counterpropaganda_ is designed to refute a specific point or theme of enemy propaganda. (Japanese charges of American atrocities usually followed American charges of Japanese atrocities.) Except for those terms that are firmly rooted in the literature of propaganda, most of the distinctions can be forgotten; the basic distinctions are those determined by the task involved, and not by the propaganda content.