The Forms of Propaganda Used by the State in Nazi Germany
One of the purposes of dictatorship was to give the Nazis control of
people's lives. The more control they had, the more easily they could
put their aims into effect. The job of controlling people thus became
one of the main tasks of the Nazi state.
Party propaganda was evident throughout German society and served as a
means by which the state could effectively reach every German and
summon absolute loyalty to the Nazi party.
Following the Nazi party's rise to power in 1933, Hitler established
the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph
Goebbels - who was a master of propaganda that used all means at his
disposal to perpetuate the Hitler myth and propagate Nazi values. The
Ministry's aim was to eliminate all original thought and ensure that
the Nazi message was successfully communicated through the widest
variety of forms of communication available. Propaganda was used to
promote the ideological goals of the Nazi regime, convert passive
acceptance of Nazi rule into active support, stress the need for
'lebensraum' and the overturning of the Treaty of Versailles. In
addition to these aims, propaganda was also intended to conjure
beliefs of Aryan supremacy, the Jewish menace and communist danger.
Propaganda became a key element in welding together the political
attitudes of the nation. People in Nazi Germany could not talk, write
or even think freely. Goebbels used every known technique of
propaganda to make sure of this.
The Germans, with the encouragement of the Nazis, were enthusiastic
newspaper readers. Germany had over 4700 daily newspapers i...
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...ika that appeared
to be lying on an angle, to produce an even more dynamic illusion of
circular movement. It came to be the most powerful image of Nazism.
Combined, these methods of propaganda were extremely effective in
helping to Nazis gain the loyalty or the Germans.
It gave the Nazis ultimate control of people's lives, as well as all
forms of expression and communication. The propaganda, which was
deliberately aimed at the masses, effectively served several purposes.
It portrayed Hitler as a strong leader to whom every German should
give their loyalty, reinforced beliefs of Aryan supremacy, the Jewish
menace and communist danger. Additionally, these forms of propaganda
targeted the emotions of the German people and therefore pushed the
goals of the Nazi party in relation to military and territorial
expansion.
According to Welch, “The public’s reaction to anti-Semitic films reveals that propaganda had considerable success in persuading the population that a Jewish ‘problem’ existed, but equally that there was a limit to their tolerance of the type of virulently anti-Semitic propaganda to be found in films like Der Ewige Jude and publications like Der Stuermer.” Even after years of Nazi propaganda, even Goebbels wasn’t convinced that “such propaganda had persuaded Germans to condone open violence against
the account of what it was produced for. Also the fact that one of the
During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.
The year was 1939; the Nazi party, led by Adolf Hitler, was in power and Europe was in a state of distress and soon the whole world would be involved in a war that would devastate mankind for generations to come. World War II involved many great nations of the world, such as the Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan; and the Allied Powers: France, Britain, and Russia. On December 7, 1941, America would join the Allies after Japan attacked Hawaii’s coast at Pearl Harbor, Oahu. The war was a terrible fight; however, the fight wasn’t just fought on land, air, or water. There was a more subtle fight being fought by the Axis and Allied government’s movie makers and poster designers. These men and women played an important role in drawing up certain beliefs about their enemies and the war by spreading these types of thoughts to their fellow citizens to bring some type of unity for their nation. These psychological soldiers tried to promote a love for their country through the power of propaganda.
The Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will, is an excellent propaganda film that has many images that are meant to inspire, encourage, and invigorate the German people to be reborn. The film was made in 1934 during the rise of Adolf Hitler as the fuhrer of Nazi Germany. Hitler rose from the rank of a corporal in the German army to an inmate in a German jail. Hitler, once released, used fascist propaganda to promote the Nazi party. The propaganda promised to restore Germany as an economic leader in Europe while improving the lives of the German citizen. This pretense of a better life for German people won Hitler the dictatorship of Germany. Triumph of the Will is a good example of how propaganda entices the masses into
Propaganda posters were used by most countries involved in WWII to persuade their citizens to support patriotism and nationalism in their country. Most countries also used propaganda to persuade their citizens to support their cause and join their armed forces. The Allied Powers used propaganda to persuade their individual countries that winning the war was the only “road to justice”. Most of the propaganda posters distributed by the Axis Powers were aimed towards winning the war and supporting the beliefs of the Nazis. Most of the propaganda posters from WWII were used to recruit for the war, support the war, or spread the racial views of their country.
The Nazis are infamous for their heavy use of propaganda during their reign in the Third Reich, they used many means of propaganda such as posters, cartoons, radio, film, etc. The German citizens’ constant exposure to all of this propaganda from all directions had a deep psychological and psychoanalytical impact on them, it redefined their identity and who they were as well as what they thought of the world around them. Nazi propaganda often had deep symbolic meaning usually associated with anti-semitism and German nationalism, these elements were already present in the minds of the majority of Germans so it wasn’t hard for Adolf Hitler and the rest of the Nazi party to further provoke and enrage the emotions of people concerning these things, they merely had to tap into these pre disposed emotions in a way that would have the most favourable psychological impact for the Nazis. Some of the opinions and mindsets that German citizens had may have been there even before the Nazis came into power and made it seemed like they were brainwashing people with their propaganda, but with what justification can it be said that Nazi propaganda had a psychological and psychoanalytic impact on the German population to a great extent, rather than it being the work of pre set psychological states of mind of people due to the Treaty of Versailles, the Great Depression, Hyperinflation, and other sources which may have led the German population to support and hold anti-semitistic and nationalistic ideologies.
In reality, political photography and posters were most prevalent way of propaganda. Rather, photography and posters as more convenient ways were further understood within the relationship between Nazi party and masses.
Numerous elections were held and this allowed Hitler to scheme his way to the top by 'wheeling and dealing'. Although by 1928 hitler's party only has 12 seats in the Reichstag but their was another additional factor which made all the difference. Hitler s efforts and the parties drive to succeed The use of propaganda was a clever tactic of Hitler 's. he promoted ideas to the German people that they wanted to hear and relating to issues that appealed to them. He used this method in his attempt to win them over.
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In the early years of a Nazi controlled Germany, propaganda played an enormous role influencing the nation. The ideology behind Nazi’s investing substantial amounts of time and money into their propaganda was, they knew full well it was the most effective way to sway a nations opinion in their favour. Nazi messages were conveyed through different ways of propaganda such as; posters, music, poems, films, radicalistic events, public speeches, newspapers. All these forms of media aimed to reach as many people as they possibly could with their message.
When a person sees a new advertisement or commercial for their favorite shoe company, they immediately want to go and check out their latest designs. Similarly, propaganda uses different sources of media to encourage people to buy a certain item that will benefit their country or an organization. Propaganda was used in World War II to encourage citizens to buy certain tools or participate in certain events to help the soldiers fighting. Both video and radio advertisements were used by the Allied and Axis powers to encourage citizens to aid the war effort, resulting in a rise of nationalism and resentment towards opposing sides.
Managing the message for Hitler had a number of elements. Firstly, in its form; his speeches and the party propaganda. Second the content, with alternation between clarity and vagueness of policy, the “big lie” and sprachregelung.
The Nazi regime burgeoned on confusion and fear. A culture of extreme animosity created a panic ridden environment in which no one was safe and everyone was full of suspicion. The climate was best captured when Heinrich asked his mother the simple yet pithy question, “Do we go on playing?” (Toyland). It was not just the Jews who were at a loss for words because of the horrific deeds being done by the Nazi’s, but also the Non-Jewish Germans. However, this anti-Semitist sentiment did not rise out of thin air but was present for many centuries leading up to Hitler’s hegemony and has unfortunately remained deeply hidden inside some of the German people (Voth). Anti-Semitic propaganda was the driving force behind the hostility that was evident throughout the film and that the society of the Third Reich was steeped in.
Propaganda is a concept which involves using various communication approaches to convey or communicate massive information. Thus it is about information communication. And those approaches of propaganda can be ranging from books, newspaper, to the modern Media, television, movies whatever things that can contain and deliver information. However it is slightly different from other general idea of communication. It is not served for fully communicating information to the receiver, instead of hindering and even distorting it with the purpose of influence on the attitudes, cognitions and stands of the public to certain affairs, in order to provide chances for the specific groups or a person to gain benefits. Given this propaganda becomes a tool for political and different interest groups.