Fairbloom, ENG2D

PropagandaDefinitions from research.calvin.edu :

“Propaganda is the art of very nearly deceiving one’s friends without quite deceiving one’s enemies.”

“Propaganda is a set of methods employed by an organized group that wants to bring about the active or passive participation in its actions of a mass of individuals, psychologically unified through psychological manipulation and incorporated in an organization.”

Goal

Offer “political advertising” for a particular position that may distort the truth or include false information. Propaganda rely on emotions and values to persuade an audience to accept a particular position.

Methods

Focuses on its own message, without considering other positions. Relies on biases and assumptions and may distort or alter evidence to make the

case. Ignores the consequences of accepting a particular position.

Hitler

Hitler used propaganda in order to gain trust and support from the German citizens.

Hitler popularized Nazism by targeting the emotions of the masses, taking advantage of new technologies and collaborating with intellectuals in order to gain power.

The German people suffered a humiliating loss in World War One; as a result, Hitler took advantage of Germany’s despair to gain political power. The aftermath of World War One left the Germans feeling embarrassed and extremely vulnerable. They were able to relate to Hitler’s struggles and difficult past. Hitler promised the people he would bring them out of their devastation.

Hitler used his power of rhetoric – strength with words and strong tone – to form connections with the citizens. When they were called barbarians in the news, he turned that negative title into a positive cheer: “Yes, we are barbarians! We want to be barbarians! It is an honorable title. We shall rejuvenate the world!”

The propaganda helped Hitler spread his messages and control the citizens; he even used it to brainwash the citizens to fall for his ideals: “The final solution to the Jewish question” was used as a euphemism for his intentions to destroy the Jewish race.

The propaganda was seen on posters, as well as through technological means: radios and television.

In his novel, Mein Kampf, Hitler describes the importance of persuasion through speech: “From time immemorial, the magic power of the spoken word

has been the force which has set into motion the great historical avalanches of a religious or political kind.”

Customer, By A. "Amazon.com: The Crisis of German Ideology : Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich (9780865274266): George L. Mosse: Books." Web. 12 Dec. 2010. <http://www.amazon.com/Crisis-German-Ideology-Intellectual-Origins/dp/0865274266>.

Von, Maltitz Horst. The Evolution of Hitler's Germany; the Ideology, the Personality, the Moment. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973. Print.

Hitler & 1984

The totalitarian society that we are going to see in 1984 “echoes Hitler’s German Nazi Regime in numerous ways. Hitler can be seen as a model for “Big Brother” (The Party in 1984)

Orwell’s review of Mein Kampf:

“I should like to put it on record that I have never been able to dislike Hitler. Ever since he came to power – till then, like nearly everyone, I had been deceived into thinking that he did not matter – I have reflected that I would certainly kill him if I could get within reach of him, but that I could feel no personal animosity. The fact is that there is something deeply appealing about him.”

Orwell held ambivalent attitudes towards Hitler, which are reflected in the attitude Winston Smith has towards Big Brother.

The main totalitarian regimes present at the time Orwell wrote 1984 were Hitler’s Nazi Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union. Germany and the Soviet Union glorified their respective leaders as demi-gods and saviors. The main tactic used by both leaders was the destruction of all individuality in order to promote their respective Partys’ needs over the individuals’. They demanded absolute loyalty from their citizens and resorted to violence whenever disloyalty was suspected.

Hitler infamously demonized his enemies in order to maintain focus and achieve his means: i.e. his hatred for Jews. We will see this in 1984 during the Two Minute Hate, Hate Week, through propaganda, anything referring to Emmanuel Goldstein, and the Ministry of Truth and Love.

Other similarities we will see include:

Thought Police and the reinvention of the Gestapo and NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs), which orchestrated large scale purges and terror.

The Spies and the Youth League as a reinvention of the Hitler Youth and the Little Octoberists, which indoctrinated young people to the Party and encouraged them to report disloyalty observed in their elders, even among family members.

Hitler 1984’s Party

“Work will set you free”

Party’s Slogans:

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

WAR IS PEACE

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

“Inside North Korea” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24R8JObNNQ4