Is there a reason the Nazi and Soviet ministries of propaganda were called the Ministries of Propaganda and not something a bit more... propagandistic, like in dystopian fiction (Ministry of Truth) or more modern authoritarian states (Ministry of Publicity)?

by SaintShrink

Technically, it's the Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda and the Department for Agitation and Propaganda, respectively, but it occurred to me that in most dystopia fiction, and many real world authoritarian states, the name of the departments devoted to propaganda are a bit more veiled, with the North Korean version officially being the Publicity and Information Department, 1984 being the Ministry of Truth, etc.

Am I just reading too much into this? Am I cherry picking? Did propaganda have a different connotation in those days? Did they just not care?

quiaudetvincet

Not to discourage further answers, but this answer by u/tlumacz will be of interest for you, detailing that back in the 1930's/40's, the word 'Propaganda' didn't have the negative connotation we hold it to today.