Propaganda use in Germany and Italy in the twentieth century.

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Propaganda is defined in the Encarta dictionary as “information put out only by an organization or government to promote a policy, idea or cause.” In other words making sure your side of the story is viewed as the correct one. Germany and Italy both widely used propaganda in the twentieth century in order to validate their policies and ensure their citizens supported government policies. This was accomplished through the use of art, music and literature.

The German leader, Adolf Hitler, was very astute in realizing the benefit of a propaganda campaign. Hitler placed so much value in propaganda that he chose Doctor Joseph Goebbels to be his Minister of Propaganda. One of Doctor Goebbels main tasks in his position were to ensure that no person within Germany would come in contact with any forms of media that would be considered either against the Nazi party or showed them in a bad light. Going along with this precept Goebbel was also tasked with making sure the policies of the Nazi party were promoted in the most convincing manner. In order to guarantee the success of these tasks, Goebbels established the Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1933. The function of this organization was to fully control all form of media within Germany. This included art, music, literature, radio and anything else they felt got across a point of view. They had such a stringent control over what was produced that in order to be published in Germany you would have had to have been a member of the Reich Chamber. Of course this led to a flux of propaganda within Germany (Trueman).

Art work was a powerful weapon in Nazi Germany. Hitler asserted that “The art of propaganda lies in understanding the emotional ideas of the great masses and f...

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