Herd Instinct in Peace Time and War

Wilfred Trotter (1872–1939) – a talented English surgeon and outstanding sociologist. Developing the ideas of Gustave Le Bon, outlined in his famous book 'The Psychology of Peoples and Masses', he achieved a real breakthrough in the study of group behavior and ways to manage crowds, which are actively used today by political technologists and marketers. Wilfred Trotter's book on 'herd instinct' was published almost immediately after the end of World War I. Observing how the governments of warring countries resorted to various forms of propaganda and persuasion in an attempt to encourage the 'mass man' to support military actions, Trotter formulated a theory about the inherent herd instinct in humans, following which often contradicts three basic instincts: survival, nutrition, and reproduction. Trotter became interested in the phenomenon and tried to understand the mechanisms of the psyche that compel a person to obey a leader and the opinion of the majority contrary to their own interests.