How Successful was Nazi Propaganda? - Bexhill Academy Propaganda.pdf · Alongside their propaganda machine, the Nazis practised strict censorship. People who disagreed with Nazi ideas

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How Successful was Nazi

Propaganda?

Nazi Germany

For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

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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?


Introduction


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?


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.

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?

For the Nazis, this involved:


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.


Censorship


Who was Josef Goebbels?


The propaganda empire of Josef Goebbels

RMVP (Ministry

of Enlightenment

and Propaganda)

Reich Chamber

of Culture

Central

Propaganda

Office

11 departments,

responsible for:

Legislation

Broadcasting

Press

Film & theatre

Literature

Fine arts & music

Folk culture

7 chambers,

responsible for:

Press

Radio

Film

Literature

Theatre

Music

Fine Arts

2 departments:

Offices for Films,

Broadcasting,

Culture and

Coordination

Offices for Party

exhibitions, Trade

Fairs and Mobile

Technical Units.


The Arts: Painting, Architecture and

Literature


Hitler and the arts


Broadcasting: Newspapers, Radio, Film


Newspapers


Radio


Film


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’.


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.

Conclusion


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?

Documents

How Successful was Nazi Propaganda? - Bexhill Academy Propaganda.pdf · Alongside their propaganda machine, the Nazis practised strict censorship. People who disagreed with Nazi ideas