Leni Riefenstahl's Film Triumph Of The Will

The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, affected Germany terribly. Pauley says that, “Virtually all Germans were equally convinced that it was an instrument to suppress, exploit, and permanently humiliate Germany” (37). The Treaty exclusively blamed Germany for the outbreak of World War I, forced massive reparations on the German economy, shrunk the German army, took away German colonies and returned Alsace-Lorraine to France, and did not allow Austria to merge with Germany through self-determination (Geary 14). The Weimar Republic, which only recently took over the German government, was blamed signing the Treaty. The German citizens were extremely enraged by the terms of the Treaty mainly because they were unaware of how poorly the war was going; German propaganda told them that Germany was winning on the

Leni Riefenstahl’s film Triumph of the Will shows this view perfectly. At the start of the film, Hitler descends from the clouds in his airplane in the same way a god would come down from the heavens to bless his people. The crowds await him with as much enthusiasm as they could muster; they lined the streets cheering and playing music in a parade in Hitler’s honor. This was not always the people’s view of Hitler; he was originally seen as a revolutionary calling for the end of the Weimar Republic. Over time, Hitler created the image of the “fearless leader and tireless crusader who scorned compromise in the battle for the soul of Germany” (Carr 33). Carr describes Hitler as “a man in whom they could believe. In his presence they could suspend all rational judgement, and wallow in the ecstasy of complete dependence on a messianic figure” (9). Hitler asked his audiences to “reject the reality of the external world, disregard the proof of their own eyes and immerse themselves totally in a dream world which would one day become reality through their faith in him and their own will to victory” (Carr