THE ROLE PLAYED BY PROPAGANDA IN NAZI GERMANY

PowerPoint Presentation

Jeff Moses 20111

PROPAGANDA IN NAZI GERMANY:1933-1939

Learn More > NGfl Cymru Microsoft UK Partners in learning NetworkVirtual Classroom Tour2010NGfL Cymru Innovative Education Forum 2011

JM 20112Click on film to start / pause Double click to resumeNazi anthemJeff Moses 20112Rudolf Hess (Deputy Fuhrer) speaking at Nazi Party gathering. This controversial figure later fled to Scotland in 1941. At the Nuremberg Trials, Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In 1989 he was found dead in his cell at Spandau Prison, Berlin. Along with Albert Speer, Hess was one of a handful of senior Nazis to escape the gallows.


Jeff Moses 20113WHAT IS PROPAGANDA?

the systematic spreading of ideas and information in order to influence the thinking and actions of the people at whom it is targeted. the organised spreading of Information to promote the views of a government or organisation with the intention of persuading people to think or behave in a certain way.the long-term process of moulding or controlling peoples thinking through exposure to propaganda, aimed especially at the young througheducation.


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KEY NAZI PROPAGANDA DRIVERS


Click on film to start / pauseDouble click to resume TOMORROW BELONGS TO MEJM 20116

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THE MESSAGE HOW Sport Parades Rallies Schools Youth movements Social policies Books Architecture HOWNewspapers Radio Cinema Posters Art Sculpture

Tomorrow belongs to me next slide


The little-mouse doctor

We shall go down in history as the greatest statesmen of all time, or as the greatest criminals.

Goebbels Movie next slide

JM 20117Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels (29 October 1897 1 May 1945)

A German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. His mission was to promote the Hitler package to the masses. A powerful orator only Hitler was better. One of his first acts was the burning of books rejected by the Nazis. Fiercely anti-semitic, he issued the orders for Kristallnacht, the night of anti-Jewish attacks in November 1938. He exerted totalitarian control over the media, arts and information in Germany. Goebbels accused many of Germany's ethnic and national minorities (such as the Poles, the Jews, the French) of trying to destroy Germany.7


Click on film to play / pauseDouble click on film to resume DR. JOSEPH GOEBBLESJM 20118GOEBBELS SPEAK8Fascinating extracts of Goebbels . Ambitious, but also privately insecure, he felt that Hitler never truly rewarded him with power bestowed on other senior Nazis.

These extracts reveal that, his skills as an orator were bettered only by Hitler.


9Jeff Moses 2011Paul Joseph Goebbels, 1897-1945NLN Materials - Materials - Learning Object - Investigating Hitler 1I want to create one single public opinionGoebbels once said: It is the task of state propaganda so to simplify complicated ways of thinking that even the smallest man in the street may understand. What do you think is meant by the term a free press? Is it possible, as Goebbels claimed, ..to create one single public opinion? If so, can you think of any current examples where regimes try to control and terrorise?

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Dr Joseph Goebbels one of Hitlers key palladins Source: NGFL Cymru9

A truckload of confiscated books arrives and is doled out to the students for burning.

Below: Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels addresses the gathering - putting it all in context for his young audience.

Nazi salutes and anthems accompany the smouldering pile.

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JM 201110Click on film to start / pause Double click to resumeNazis take power movie11


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Mendelssohns Violin ConcertoWagners Ride of the ValkyriesAudio mendelssohn/wagner


Jeff Moses 201113ACTIVE LEARNING ZONERead the following sources:Source 1 Propaganda is the most modern of weapons. We have suffered under it, we have learned from it. Having learned from experience its necessity, we now use it. We owe our rise to it and will have to depend on it even more in the future. It is a powerful tool in moulding the nature and thinking of the new, modern man.Source: 1934 Nazi pamphletSource 2Goebbels : The finest kind of propaganda does not reveal itself; the best propaganda is that which works invisibly, penetrating into every cell of life in such a way that the public has no idea of the aims of the propagandists.

Source 3


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LEARNING AND REFLECTION ZONE

Compile a list of bullet points identifying key points the sources make about propaganda. To what extent does Source D show the ease with which the Nazi regime was able to control the German press? Create a short presentation (no more than 7/8 slides) explaining how the Nazis used propaganda in at least one of the following areas:

Sport Film Art Architecture Youth Music RaceJeff Moses 201115


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Dr Joseph Goebbels Reich Propaganda MinisterPresident of the Reich Chamber of CultureDirector of NSDAP Propaganda


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GOEBBELS AND HIS PROPAGANDA EMPIRE Vast bureaucratic empire giving Goebbels enormous power over the cultural life of the nation. Could determine who could not be employed in all seven fields of culture.


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A key reason why Hitler enjoyed a successful relationship with the German people lay in their perception that he was improving their lives. Evidence such as falling unemployment and a successful foreign policy helped this message. This cartoon was published in the Westflische Landzeitung (a regional newspaper). The top map emphasises Germanys weaknesses after the First World War while the bottom shows how Hitler had transformed the country by 1939.Use the link to access the problem solving activity on the NLN resource.

Problem Solving Slot (Link to NLN below)NLN Materials - Investigating Hitler 1


NFL source18

How new technology made it all possibleMost crucial was the new medium of the radio.April 1934 creation of Reich Radio Company. 13% of staff dismissed on political and racial ground and replaced with cronies. Mass production of cheap radio sets the Peoples Receiver (Volksempfanger). 1935 7 million sets; by 1945 16 million. Hitlers speeches could reach 56 million out of 70 million pop. Key speeches announced by sirens, and work put on hold so all could hear public announcements. Medium of mass communication controlled entirely by the Nazis. Wardens appointed reported on attendance and co-ordinated important national moments.

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Jeff Moses 201120Press Problem 4700 daily newspapers in 1933 loyal to publishing companies, religion or political organisations.

Solution Nazi publishing house, Eheer Verlag, bought up newspapers, so that by 1939 controlled two-thirds of German press. News agencies merged into one, DNB. This was state controlled, with result that material vetted even before it got to journalists. 82% of press under Nazi ownership. Goebbels introduced daily press conference at the Propaganda Ministry to provide guidance on editorial policy. Editors Law of October 1933 made newspaper content sole responsibility of editorWhat is your opinion?

PRESS MANIPULATION Do you believe everything you read in Britains news media? Would you expect Germans living under Nazi tyranny to believe Goebbels? Are the press too powerful today?


Photograph of woman saluting following Nazi occupation of Sudetenland 1938. Source: Anschluss Tears Wikipedia. 20

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TERROR - PAST AND PRESENT


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Hitler Montage next slide

What are all of these photos trying to portray?Hitler had an official photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann.A series of photos was widely reproduced, some as postcards, others inside cigarette packets.

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FUHRER POWERJeff Moses 201123

Hitler Montage Clips

Hitlers highly effective and menacing oratorical skills can be seen in this video montage.


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Great National Leader Youth RedeemerFather of nation Defender CaesarFamily Fuhrer The FutureProtectorSaviour of Germany Supreme LeaderGodfather of the Young

HITLER SPEECH MONTAGEHitler montageDAS FUHRER24Jeff Moses 2011


Jeff Moses 201125Film / Cinema Until 1942 four big film studios allowed to remain privately owned. But Propaganda Ministry gradually increased share ownership and then nationalised. Reich Film Chamber regulated content of films and employment within industry. About 14% of films had overtly political content. All films had some political message. Leadership was glorified, Blood and soil, also demonising of Jews and communists. Pacifist films banned outright. Leni Riefensthal emerged as leading director. Her film Triumph of the Will glorified militarism and portrayed Hitler as the lone hero who saved Germany and put the country on the path to regeneration and victory. Newsreels had clear political message showing stage managed events.

Lenni Riefenstahl with Goebbels one of the greatest movie-maker talents employed by the Nazis. Her film Triumph of the Will is regarded as a propaganda masterpiece that charts Hitlers rise to power.

Do you think films influence peoples political intentions?NLN Materials Investigating Hitler 1


Goebbels with Riefensthal 1937. Hitler congratulating Riefensthal 1934. Source Wikipedia25

Meetings and Rallies

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What effect do you think such rallies had on non- participants30Rallies transformed a person from a little worm into a large dragon. Goebbels Why did the rallies have such impact?


Jeff Moses 201127Organisation/Methods of Propaganda Deliberate attempt to create a new type of social ritual. The Heil Hitler greeting, the Nazi salute, the Horst Wessel anthem and the preponderance of militaristic uniforms were all intended to strengthen the individuals identity with the regime.

30 JanuaryThe seizure of power (1933)20 AprilHitlers birthday1 MayNational Day of Labour21 JuneSummer SolsticeOctoberHarvest Festival

Nazi Rituals

Establishment of public festivals to commemorate historic days in the Nazi calendar, for instance:


Jeff Moses 201128THE POLITICS OF HATREDGoebbels was fiercely anti-semitic and an influential adviser to Hitler. The media were used mercilessly to promote vicious propaganda against the Jews. He personally ordered the Kristallnacht, the night of anti-Jewish attacks in November 1938

Title: Brood of SerpentsCaption: The Jews symbol is a worm, not without reason. He seeks to creep up on what he wants.September 1934Title: The Curse in the BloodCaption: Every little Jewish baby grows up to be a Jew.


GOEBBELS SPEECH ON CULTUREJM 201141

Click on film to start / pause Double click to resumeGoebbles speech culture29


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Nazi anti-semitic propaganda, often co-ordinated by Goebbels was irrational and cruel. His rants against the Jews (see link) were frequent as were his hypocritical preaching about decadence. Goebbels personal life was in stark contrast to his political spin. He often visited nightclubs and abused his powers to engage in relationships with young women actresses. His notorious affair with the Czech actress Lida Baarova threw Hitler into a disapproving rage. This vile Nazi propagandist organ, Der Sturmer, used obscene content and lies to vilify the Jewish people.


The Olympics31Jeff Moses 2011

Click on to play film Hitler demanded an Olympic stadium that exuded power and might Memorials to fallen soldiers were placed within the gigantic complex linking sport with military glory The Olympics were about celebrating the physical superiority of the Aryan race. Germany topped the league tables but dont mention Jesse Owens (inset right)


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BERLIN OLYMPICS 1936 CLIP BERLIN 1936Jeff Moses 201132


Jeff Moses 2011The Hitler Youth, League of German Maidens (BDM) and DAF organised sporting activities for the masses - helping to develop the fit bodies that soldiers and child bearers required. Mass gym displays represented a healthy, regimented nation.

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The English soccer team giving the Nazi salute in the Olympic stadium, Berlin 1938. How do you think the Nazi regime exploited this photograph?What do you think the reaction would have been in Britain?


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The caption reads The object of the exercise all together Olympic visitors - quick march.

What message is the artist of this photo-montage, John Hearfield, trying to put across about the Nazis?


THINKING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY

Study Nazi generated art on the next slide.

What do you think they are trying depict?

Are they true to life?

Explain how you think art can be used by political systems to influence the masses? Create a short presentation illustrating Nazi, and other more recent examples of propagandist art.

Culture: Nazi Art versus Degenerate Art

Once in power, Hitler began to remove degenerate (corrupt) art and foster healthy Aryan art. Hitlers view on art was to be imposed on the nation: clear visual images that ordinary Germans could understand and be inspired by were the order of the day.Nazi art was to be clear, direct and heroic.

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Skills: Oral and WWO.36

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NAZI ART


Painting 1: German rural idyll circa 1936 artist unknownPainting 2: Water Sport Albert Janesch37

Jeff Moses 201138People were not drawn as individuals but as heroic idealisations: the healthy peasant, the brave warrior, the supreme athlete, the productive woman. Hitler was portrayed as the wise, imperious leader.NAZI ART

The Hitler MythSource: VLN Investigating Hitler. The video clip is an extract of Goebbels explaining his view of culture.


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Degenerate Art MovieJeff Moses 201140


Jeff Moses 201141DEGENERATE ARTIn 1937, two parallel exhibitions were held in Munich. One represented what Hitler considered the best of German art, the other what it labelled degenerate art. Over 5,000 exhibits were labelled the work of degenerates, cultural Bolsheviks, fumbling daubers. They included works by Gaughin, Van Gogh, Picasso. Two million attended the exhibition. The exhibits were later destroyed, sold abroad or seized by Goering!


Description of Artwork:Hitler used the word "degenerate" to describe any art that was modern, expressionist, or non-objective. He also condemned work done Jews, homosexuals, or people he believed to be mentally retarded. Works that went against Nazi ideas--feminist art, anti militarist art, internationalist art, or "Bolshevik" art were also degenerate. Kandinsky and Van Gogh were amongst those whose work was labelled degenerate.

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The Sick Child painted by the acclaimed artist Edward Munch was labelled degenerate in 1937. The Nazis banned all of his paintings which were auctioned in Berlin a year later. This painting was given to the Tate.

Carnival by Max Beckmann was also labelled as degenerate filth. The artist was dismissed from his teaching post by the Nazis and later fled abroad. Beckmann once commented; I have only tried to realise my conception of the world as fully as possible.


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MAX BECKMANN


Like many artists of the Expressionists movement Max Beckmann was enlisted in the German army and was deeply affected by war. Critics believe his paintings "began to emphasize the horrors of was and of a society he saw descending into madness" (Gardner p.1033). This particular painting "Night" is of a room that has been intruded.

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Catalogue cover for the Exhibition of Degenerate Art. Expressionism was singled out as being the epitome of modern degeneracy.

The Nazi Degenerate Art Classifications


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Hitler and his cronies touring the Munich art exhibitions. DISCUSSION AND REASONING POINT

With reference to the pictures from both exhibitions and the Nazi Degenerate Art classification (slide 44), explain what they show aboutThe attempt by the regime to use artThe aims of the regime

The video clip offers an interesting insight Click to play

Degenerate with movie


Art in the Third Reich, 1937 official art magazine.The Fuhrer wants the German artist to leave his solitude and speak to the people. This must start with the choice of the subject. It has to be popular and comprehensive. It has to be heroic in line with the ideals of National Socialism. It has to declare its faith in the idea of beauty and the Nordic and racially pure human being.

Nazi Art46Jeff Moses 2011

PROBLEM SOLVING AND RESEARCH ACTIVITY1. Explain what the Nazis meant by Degenerate?2. Why do you think Hitler used this word to describe certain works of Art?3. What were Hitlerss intentions?4. How was propaganda used to influence people in Germany regarding these works?5. Carry out independent research on Degenerate Art. Explain, using images, why the artists you selected had their paintings censored.


Jeff Moses 201147SculptureSculpture was immediately accessible to people via the huge statues that adorned many of the new public buildings. All new buildings were required to display sculptures conveying the Nazi message. Out went Art for arts sake and replaced with perfect body shapes, reflecting the racially pure Aryan race.Hitlers favourite sculptors, Arno Breker and Joseph Thorak churned out hundreds of heroic pieces.


NAZI ARCHITECTUREJeff Moses 201148


Advances in construction materials and techniquesallowed more impressive buildings to be constructed to demonstrate the power of the state.

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50Hitlers Germania: the planned rebuilding of Berlin

How might such buildings be used as evidence about theThird Reich?

Think about style, Nazis values and the impression such buildings were designed to make.

Hitlers Chancellery


Albert SpeerAlbert Speer (March19, 1905 September1, 1981)Was, for a part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Third Reich.Speer joined the Nazi Party in 1931. His architectural skills made him increasingly prominent within the Party and he became a member of Hitler's inner circle.Speer also made plans to reconstruct Berlin on a grand scale, with huge buildings, wide boulevards, and a reorganized transportation system.His attempts to avoid bureaucracy worked well. He kept the wishes of working men and women in mind and, in the process, won many new friends.The Nazi who said sorry", he accepted responsibility at the Nuremberg trials and in his memoirs for crimes of the Nazi regime.

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Jeff Moses 201152VERDICT

Difficult for historians to assess effectiveness of Nazi propaganda

Extent of influence has implications for thorny issue of public opinion

Initial judgements glibly assumed that Nazi propaganda major achievement due to its pervasiveness. But recent research from oral history has raised serious doubts about its ability to penetrate all sections of the German psyche.

Propaganda succeeded in a sense that it:

cultivated the Hitler myth of him as an all-powerful leader strengthened the Nazi regime after Germanys economic and political crisis, 1929-33 appealed effectively to reinforce traditional family values and nationalism influenced opinions of those most susceptible.


Jeff Moses 201153HOWEVER, IT FAILED IN ITS ATTEMPT:

to denounce the Christian Churches to seduce the working classes away from their established identity through the ideal ofVolksgemeinschaft to develop a distinctive Nazi cultureJudgements can only be provisional and tentative. Nazi propaganda was most successful when it exploited and perverted existing widely held prejudices, fears and ignorance.

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