How successful was Nazi propaganda?
( How successful was Nazi propaganda? * Problems: * quantifying people's responses * impact of social, political, economic and religious context * effect of Nazi repression ( How successful was Nazi propaganda? * Mason, sceptical of effect of Nazi propaganda on all groups, for example the working classes * Welch, argues Nazi propaganda was successful in strengthening support for Hitler, but not its policies e.g. anti-Semitism and anti-Church propaganda was arguably counter-productive * Geary believes Nazi propaganda was most successful when it played on traditional German prejudices, e.g. nationalism, fear of Bolshevism etc. The function of propaganda does not lie in the scientific training of the individual, but rather in directing the attention of the masses toward certain facts...It must be directed toward the emotions, and only to a very limited extent toward the so-called intellect. The receptive ability of the masses is very limited, their intelligence is small, their forgetfulness enormous. Therefore, all propaganda has to limit itself to a very few points and repeat them like slogans until even the very last man is able to understand what you want him to understand. And that is the basis upon which Hitler set up his whole campaign. He wanted to aim his propaganda crusade exclusively toward the masses. In doing so they would accept it as a decree.
Propaganda in Nazi Germany 1930s
Propaganda in Nazi Germany 1930s Chris Murray Triumph of the will The "Triumph of the will" is a Nazi film created by "Leni Riefenstahl" in the early period of Hitler power [1934]. Its designed to show the Nazis in a good light in a believable way. Before watching it we can expect the following things: that it will show the Germans in a good light, it will be most probably biased on the account of what it was produced for. Also the fact that one of the most powerful men in Germany had asked for it to be made, no-one in their right-mind would show the Nazis in a bad light. First of all the films name indicates that the people of Germany can rebuild their homelands and the army can conquer any land with the right mindset. This suggests that they already have the power and only need people to accept their beliefs and vote for Hitler and the Nazi party. The film starts panning over clouds, the sun and a large aircraft. The clouds and sun often are related to the heavens suggesting that Hitler comes from "the heavens" as a saviour to rebuild germanys prosperity. Which leads us on to when it descends under the cloud line and the camera begins to pan and zoom around historical buildings. This suggests that he can rebuild Germany to its former glory. The music is arousing and patriotic indicating pride and power in the Nazi party. Interestingly the shadow of the plane on the
The Discussion of Nazi Propaganda Towards Youth.
The Nazi Entrapment: The Discussion of Nazi Propaganda Towards Youth Adolf Hitler is considered to be one of the most evil men throughout history. For the duration of the Third Reich, more than twelve million people perished. Hitler and his followers persecuted Jews, homosexuals, the gypsies, and the mentally and physically disabled. They died unfair and horrible deaths in gas chambers and concentration camps. For twelve years, this unspeakable and cruel victimization carried on in Germany. Neighbors turned against neighbors, homes and shops were destroyed, and millions of lives were exterminated. German children would report anyone including their own parents if they did not obey Hitler's orders. Boys that were only twelve years old would fight and die in battle for their beloved leader, Hitler. How did Hitler gain so much support especially from the youth of Germany? Why did he put so much emphasis on the development of the German youth? Did he really succeed in brainwashing millions of minds? Hitler created propaganda in every form possible. From radio programs to films, the message to hate Jews and to obey Hitler was prevalent. Men, women, and especially children were lured into the evil and malicious world of Nazism. According to "The History Place" website, the Hitler Youth was the largest youth organization in history with a membership of 7.3 million
Nazi Propaganda: How effective was it?
Nazi Propaganda: How effective was
The Role of Propaganda in the Nazi Takeover
The Role of Propaganda in the Nazi Takeover When one thinks of the term "propaganda", what comes to mind? Would it bring a positive response? Would it bring a negative response? When one thinks of "propaganda" in association with the Holocaust, what comes to mind? A positive response or a negative response? Most likely a negative response. Why is "propaganda" any different from what any political party or regime does, namely to disseminate its views? Is "propaganda" simply the name we give to views which we do not like or which we think to be untrue? And finally, was the role of "propaganda" in the Nazis' assumption of power overstated? (Daniel Goldhagen, 1996) As many people who are learned in the field of the Holocaust will agree, propaganda played an extremely vital part in the Nazis' rise to power, as well as their brain-washing of the German population into detesting all, of what they considered, "heretics" to the degree of accepting their murders. Validity of the accusations upon which they attempted to justify their action against the Jews was not an issue. The issue in this case was its power of persuasion. Although to achieve this goal the Nazi party deemed it necessary to monopolize the communications, media, and entertainment industries, Germany already had a strong anti-Semitic background. European anti-Semitism is an outgrowth of Christianity. Since the time of
Evaluate the impact of propaganda in the Nazi regime.
Evaluate the impact of propaganda in the Nazi regime Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in January 1933 and held power until the end of the Second World War in 1945. (Fulbrook 1990 p176-202) During this time of the Nazi regime, Hitler, along with his minister of propaganda, Dr Joseph Goebbels, took control of all media output, giving them 'one voice' towards the population of Germany. (Fulbrook 1990 p182) Having control of all the media output, such as literature, art, music, radio, films, and newspapers, gave the Nazis one of their greatest weapons during their time in power... an unopposed propaganda machine. (Snyder 1995 p273) Propaganda is seen as the art of persuasion, it is the ability to persuade others that 'your side' of the story is correct. It might take the form of persuading others that your military might is too great to be challenged or that your political might within a nation is too great or popular to challenge. (Rutherford 1985 p8) The Nazis however, were more concerned with using propaganda to build the 'myth' of Hitler, the image of him being the saviour of Germany and the myth of the 'Aryan' German. This myth being that the pure German was the superior race through nobility of blood. (Snyder 1995 p277) To evaluate the impact of propaganda within the Nazi regime, this essay will focus on the importance, or the worth of the impact to which the
How successful was Nazi propaganda in the period 1933-39?
How successful was Nazi propaganda in the period 1933-39? How is Success of Propaganda Gauged? The Nazi propaganda machine is at times impressive, at times unusual, at times terrifying. "...Everything is propaganda." The Nazis understood human psychology. It was Goebbels' simple realisation that, for instance in cinematic propaganda, there was a need for the viewer to be entertained. Otherwise, there would be no interest in watching at all. This is simply a single instance of the successfulness of Nazi propaganda. Goebbels realised this and corrected it. How can success be gauged? Maybe by considering the theories and practices of propaganda such as with the cinema - but how can one know how much propaganda was reaching people? - Therefore how successful it was? There was no market research, very few non-Gestapo conducted opinion polls to look at... and even if there were many others, the information would not be accurate - the opinions affected. Who would, in Nazi Germany 1933-39, tell a street researcher that they believed "Triumph of the Will" to be contrived and blatantly self-indulgent propaganda? If there had been polls conducted, the results would have shown exactly what Goebbels and Hitler wanted people to think - this was achieved by making sure that only certain things were safe to think - and more importantly safe to say. Goebbels, in his 1934 New Year
To what extent was the Nazi state a propaganda state?
To what extent was the Nazi state a propaganda state? In studying Hitler's rise to power previously, we were able to establish that propaganda was one of the key factors that helped to get him into power. However, once power had been obtained, I do not think that it was possible for the Nazi state to be a total propaganda state due to the necessity to keep people happy by delivering on promises and to make progress as a unified Germany. Nevertheless, propaganda would continue to play a significant role in the state following Hitler's 'takeover,' particularly in maintaining the 'Hitler myth' itself, and would in certain areas, determine policy. On the whole, prior to Hitler's arrival, Germany was not overtly anti-Semitic, and such racial sentiment principally existed in minority groups. However, Hitler and his propaganda machine led by Goebbels, were able to stir anti-Semitic feeling to a huge extent. Films such as 'Der Ewige Jude' showed Jews as parasites, while stereotypical posters identified the archetypal Jewish appearance. This in turn endorsed the racial extermination that followed, whether it be through active support or passive co-operation. Propaganda would play a great role in attempting to win the hearts and minds of German youth. Most importantly, youth were impressionable, so Hitler thought that propaganda would be sufficient to instil them with his
Outline the Different Forms of Nazi Propaganda and Comment on its Success
Outline the Different Forms of Nazi Propaganda and Comment on it's Success The Nazi Government extensively used Propaganda to influence the German nation and to promote the views of the Regime. It was utilised with the aim of coaxing the people to think and behave in a specific manner. Propaganda was vital for the Nazis as it won the support that enabled them to gain power. Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were the main force behind the Nazi propaganda machine, they intended to keep the population satisfied and to win the support for their political policies. The key theme behind the propaganda was to indoctrinate the people with their Weltanschauung idea ('view of the world' or philosophy), seeking to turn them into committed members of their Volkgemeinschaft. Did the Nazis achieve their objectives? Did the propaganda prove to be successful? All propaganda was created by Goebbels and Hitler it was spearheaded through the Reich Chamber of Propaganda and Enlightenment of which Goebbels was in charge. The Nazi government used several different forms of propaganda so that they took every opportunity to influence the typical German. They used the media in the form of the press, radio and film. They contaminated culture with their ideas, using paintings, sculpture, architecture, theatre and literature. They held meetings and rallies and had particular Nazi festivals. They
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Was Nazi propaganda used mainly to reassure or to frighten? [12 marks]
Was propaganda used mainly to reassure, or to frighten? We can evaluate whether propaganda was used mainly to reassure or to frighten the German public by looking individually at each medium of propaganda used by the Nazis. Newspapers were used mostly to reassure the German people by informing them of the successes of the German army abroad, their rallies and the powerful speeches of the Nazi leaders. It also reassured them by neglecting to include news of Nazi losses, even as they became more frequent towards the end of the war. However, one could argue newspapers frightened Jews through some of their clearly anti-Semitic articles. Film, like newspapers, was used mostly to reassure the majority of the population whilst deliberately scaring Jews. The Nazis’ intention to reassure can be seen through the lack of overtly propagandist films, which was only about one sixth of the films they produced. The best illustration of the Nazi film industry’s anti-Semitism was the film Der Ewige Jüde, which compared Jews to rats. At first glance, posters would have appeared to reassure the German people with positive slogans like ‘Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Führer’, encouraging Germans to be proud of their country and the work their leader was appearing to do. But on the other hand, some posters had an underlying tone which frightened some through anti-Semitism and other through
