How Successful was Nazi
Propaganda?
Nazi Germany
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What we will learn today
In this presentation, you will consider
1.
What is propaganda?
2.
The role of censorship.
3.
Who was Josef Goebbels?
4.
What propaganda techniques did Goebbels use?
5.
How effective were those techniques?
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Introduction
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Propaganda
Photograph
courtesy of the
Imperial War
Museum,
London.
This picture shows Hitler ascending to the
speaker’s podium at the 1934 Nuremburg rally.
What kind of effect do you think this spectacle
had on ordinary Germans who attended?
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What is propaganda?
Propaganda is best thought of as being ‘political
advertising’. It is designed to get people to think and
believe what you want them to.
For the Nazis, this involved:
persuading Germans to believe in Nazi ideas and
love their Führer
convincing those hostile to the regime that the Nazis
were so powerful that opposition would be futile.
Propaganda has been widely used by governments to
distort facts, maintain popularity and boost morale.
Are there any circumstances in which a government
could legitimately use propaganda?
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Censorship
Alongside their propaganda machine, the Nazis practised
strict censorship. People who disagreed with Nazi ideas
were silenced.
In order to get any work published or performed in Nazi
Germany, you had to be a member of the Reich Chamber
of Culture. Writers, film makers and artists were denied
membership if their views were un-Nazi.
Books which did not fit in with Nazi doctrine were
publicly burnt.
Essentially, the Nazis controlled everything that the
German people read, heard and saw.
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Censorship
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Who was Josef Goebbels?
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The propaganda empire of Josef Goebbels
RMVP (Ministry
Reich Chamber
of Enlightenment
of Culture
and Propaganda)
11 departments,
7 chambers,
responsible for:
responsible for:
Legislation
Press
Broadcasting
Radio
Press
Film
Film & theatre
Literature
Literature
Theatre
Fine arts & music Music
Folk culture
Fine Arts
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Central
Propaganda
Office
2 departments:
Offices for Films,
Broadcasting,
Culture and
Coordination
Offices for Party
exhibitions, Trade
Fairs and Mobile
Technical Units.
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The Arts:
Painting, Architecture and
Literature
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Hitler and the arts
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Broadcasting:
Newspapers, Radio, Film
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Newspapers
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Radio
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Film
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Conclusion
Evidence of success:
In the short term, propaganda played an important role in
getting Hitler into power and then advertising his main
ideas. The general lack of resistance to the Nazi regime is
an important indication that propaganda was effective.
For young people, propaganda had a lasting effect. Despite
the loss of World War II, a poll conducted by the USA in
October 1945 showed that 42% of German youths believed
that reconstruction would best be carried out by a ‘strong
new Führer’.
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Conclusion
Evidence of failure:
In the longer term, great thinkers such as Thomas Mann
and Albert Einstein emigrated to escape oppression. In
this way, Germany lost many of its best scientists and
intellectuals.
Older and more educated people were generally less
susceptible to propaganda, having been brought up with
different values and ideas.
There was some resistance, for example, churchman
Martin Niemöller spoke out against the Nazis. The
concentration camps were full of political prisoners. It is
hard to tell if the lack of resistance to the Nazis was due to
propaganda or the police state.
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Plenary discussion points
Based on this presentation alone:
Was propaganda mainly used to highlight real
achievements, or to deliberately mislead the people?
Can the use of propaganda and censorship by a state
ever be justified?
Based on comparing this presentation to earlier ones:
What was more important in controlling the German
people: propaganda or the police state?
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