Nazi Propaganda | EssayIvy.com

Running head: NAZI PROPAGANDA 1

Nazi Propaganda

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NAZI PROPAGANDA 2

As a totalitarian movement, Nazism understood the power of electronic media during the

early 1930s when it was still in its infancy. The Nazis understood the power and influence of the

media even as there were faults in their professional ethics. Despite being known for the extent

of its brutality and the millions of deaths it cause, the Nazis put in place a complex and elaborate

media scene which was meant to hide its intolerance (Barovic, 2015).

The Nazi Germans are a common group of people who applied extreme propaganda

during their reign, whereby the majority of the aspects of the German popular culture were used

to spread propaganda from the 1930s to the end of the world wars. Joseph Goebbels, who was

the Third Reich’s official propaganda minister and a member of Adolf Hitler’s innermost circle,

was in charge of the most German propaganda, and he was very good at it. Goebbels strictly

controlled radio broadcast and film production which were the leading media at that time.

Goebbels was a master at staging live activities, including parades and rallies, and he usually

created powerful posters and symbols for Nazi Germany during their rule (Axelrod, 2017).

Goebbels had a refined method of propaganda which he applied for the Nazis so that the

media could keep being the controller of the hearts and minds of the German citizens who had to

be kept in obedience and submission by the government that was being led by a dictator and one

that was somehow open to various forms of terror. This is because Goebbels believed that

propaganda was important during the war when used together with politics (Axelrod, 2013).

Goebbels is quoted saying,” This is the secret of propaganda: the one who wants to include

propaganda, completely saturate the ideas, cannot see that it is permeated. It is understood itself

to propaganda aims, but the intention has to be so smart and cleverly hidden, to whom the

intention to be fulfilled, it does not feel” about the nature and essence of the Nazi media system

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(Knopp, 2009). Therefore, the notion of the Nazi propaganda was based on the principle of

common good, which came before other people’s notions of a good society (Axelrod, 2013).

Goebbels’ excellence in public speaking and the fiery addresses he could make to mass

audiences created a mobilizing effect. One of his first means of propaganda for the Nazi,

referred to as Gleichschaltung, was put in place to place all media under state supervision. This

meant that the radio, television, all newspapers, and even film had to work in adherence to the

wishes of the Nazi (Barovic, 2015). Goebbels also passed a directive that all editors in Germany

were supposed to be racially and also politically clean, in line with the Press Law of 1933. All

editors had to be of German nationality. Editors were order not to publish anything that could be

perceived as a mistake by the public. They were also required not to mix their personal interests

with those of the public so that they could not by any means weaken the strength of the Third

Reich and so that they could not insult the honor and dignity of Germany. This was in line with

the aims of the Volksgemeinschaft of the Nazi party’s propaganda, whereby the media was

supposed to maintain true harmony of these classes by representing a nature that showed how

ambitious the party was towards keeping a proper ideology that was based on totalitarianism

(Cull, Culbert & Welch, 2003).

During his reign as the leader of party propaganda for Hitler, Goebbels ensured that the

Department of Radio and the Chamber of radio monitored the broadcast of all the radio stations,

because he understood that radio was a technological achievement because it allowed every

German to hear Hitler speak from anywhere (Barovic, 2015). Goebbels appointed a head of radio

propaganda, Hans Fristch, who had a show that was listened to by a crowd of up to 16 million

Germans. He is the individual who came up with the best comments about the Third Reich, thus

he was appointed to interpret athe actions and attitudes of the ruling Nazi party on behalf of the

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party. Fritsch is known for how he proclaimed that no leader in German history had reached the

levels of Hitler’s genius on national radio through his show, ‘Hans Fritsch Speaks.’ He designed

the public speeches Hitler used to make that preceded the introduction of advertisements in the

radio.

Examples of slogans that Goebbels came up with include, ‘One nation, one state, one

leader,” in praise of the Third Reich. However, he also came up with negative messages on the

radio, for example, “The Jews are our misfortune!” and, “You are nothing, the people is

everything,” in reference to the Jews who lived in Germany (Barovic, 2015). All these slogans

and reports were meant to convince Germans that the Nazi policy was correct, and also that other

people were not allowed to make public opinions that were different from those of the regime.

This form of propaganda was being used to exploit stereotypes and also sentiments of the

majority of the Germans, especially by targeting the citizens who were either considered enemies

or unworthy of being German citizens. For instance, Jews, Gypsies, communists, political

dissidents, homosexuals, and even the mentally and physically disabled Germans were targeted

by the propaganda messages on the media.

Goebbels ensured that the Nazi propaganda machine was based on the unfairness that

was said to have been created by the Treaty of Versailles. The themes of these machines were

‘The humiliation of Germany and the unfairness of the Versailles Treaty,’ ‘The weakness of

Weimar parliamentary republic,’ and ‘The evil of World Jewry, Bolshevism, and Capitalism

contrast against the patriotic Nazi German’ (Narayanaswami, n.d). These themes made it

possible for the media to deify Hitler as a messianic figure who was to be followed; to define

enemies such as the Jews and Bolsheviks and justifying their treatment; and to rally the masses

for war and even eugenics.

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The deification of Hitler by the Nazi party in the media was done through such

representations as Lemi Riefenstahl’s film, “Triumph des Willens,” a theme that was then made

prevalent in any other form of media, including posters and print. Posters and printed formats

portrayed Hitler as a messianic figure, and this worked by triggering the responses of viewers

through social bias, whereby the perceived qualities of the individual who was being portrayed

would spill over into their personality. The posters also created an authoritative stance which was

meant to trigger the authority bias among people, whereby they could only develop and present a

favorable response to authority. Portraying Hitler as a godlike figure could easily catch the

attention of a viewer or user through the halo bias and trigger them through association.

Additionally, there were posters and messages that were made to trigger the bandwagon effect,

whereby citizens could do or believe the things that other people did.

In defining the enemy, the propaganda carried out by the Nazi against Jews, Bolsheviks

and other undesirables, was explicit. Jews, for example, were portrayed as degenerates, ugly,

seedy, individuals who were associated with vermin, greedy, fat, and as unpleasant elements who

supported the enemies. These unpleasant attributes by which the Jews were referred created the

selection bias, which elicits various cascading biases. The negativity bias, by which people are

more likely to pay attention to negative images, was taken advantage of by Goebbels and the

Nazi party, whereby they associated Jews with these unpleasant mental images. As a result, a

clustering illusion was created, which made Germans see how unpleasant the Jews and other

desirables were. This form of propaganda was successful because it created a superiority bias

amongst Germans by portraying them as superior individuals. This propaganda format was also a

success because it created a self-serving bias environment, whereby Germans were the ones said

to be responsible for the success of Nazi Germany, while Jews and undesirables were blamed for

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the failures (Narayanaswami, n.d.). As a result, this propaganda became readily acceptable, even

in the presence of contradictory evidence. Trait ascription biases, which propagate stereotypes

that are oversimplified, also created a negative image about the Jews and Bolsheviks. The media

was also used to show artifacts that portrayed why interracial relationships were forbidden

because of the supposed differences among them, especially because of the idea that non-

Germans were the inferior and agents of the enemy. By the 1940s, the German propagandists

were even using movies to drive negative propaganda against the Jews, for instance, by referring

to them as Jewish conspirators in their movies (Luckert & Susan, 2009). Examples of these

propaganda movies include The Jew and The Rothschilds, in which historical episodes were used

to come up with contemporary commentaries on ‘Jews Questions.’ Jews were even forced to

emigrate as the Nazi propagandists demonized them and deported them as a result of the hatred

towards them (Luckert & Susan, 2009).

Rallying the masses, the other intention of the propaganda by the media, was

implemented through messages on radio stations, posters, and the television, to support the Nazi

cause. These media formats portrayed the hardworking German family as one which was being

punished unfairly by the costs of the World War I’s reparations. As a result, the in-group bias,

which is the tendency of a group of people to offer preferential treatment to those they perceive

to be members of their own group, was created, and in combination with the anti-Jewish

propaganda, was successful towards the distancing of the German majority from other

undesirables. The propaganda made it possible for the creation of the herd instinct by which

those who were did not support Hitler’s policies just stayed silent and slowly adopted the

behaviors of the general majority for them to avoid any form of conflict for their own safety. As

a result, a herd mentality was reinforced, which reduced the opposition to the Nazi cause. For

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instance, the media created posters showing the cost of healthcare for the disabled and the sick,

and portrayed it to be too costly during the economic times which were tumultuous. This helped

to forge the idea of mercy killing of these people, so that the interests of the greater good could

be favored. Other propaganda was created to influence people to join the military, so that the

Nazi could carry out its expansionist policies and plans successfully, by asking Germans to join

the service to help in the service of the nation and to fight enemies that prevented its expansion

and for reasons of patriotism (Narayanaswami, n.d).

Narayanaswami (n.d.) points out that the success of the manipulation that was carried out

by the Nazi Party under the guidance of Hitler and Goebbels was due to behavioral manipulation.

Behavioral principles such as cognitive biases amongst other psychological drivers were used in

the creation of posters, radio messages, television shows and ideas and even on the press to

create malignant ends. Cognitive biases, which are the situation instances of deviation in one’s

judgment, usually stem from a stimulus. They are triggered for different reasons, and influence

one’s mental behavior to be able to make quick decisions and to cope with new situations. For

the Nazi propaganda, cognitive biases were applied to stimulate and to induce certain responses

amongst the German population. By destroying free press, the Nazis, under the guidance of

Goebbels could easily use propaganda to manipulate people. The negative effects of Nazi

Propaganda could be felt after the World War II, for instance, after people realized how it had

been easy for them to be manipulated by their governments and the dictators who led them (Nazi

Propaganda about Austria, 1938).

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References

Axelrod, A (2013). Goebbels, Joseph. Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 1. Facts on File, 2013.

Accessed from http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/264714?q=Nazi

Propaganda.

Axelrod, Alan. (2013). ‘Propaganda.’ Encyclopedia of World War II, Vol. 2. Facts on File,

Accessed from http://online.infobase.com/HRC/Search/Details/264942?q=Nazi

Propaganda.

Barović, V. (2015). Radio and television in the Nazi media system. Vojno delo, 67(6), 176-181.

Cull, N. J., Culbert, D. H., & Welch, D. (2003). Propaganda and mass persuasion: A historical

encyclopedia, 1500 to the present. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.

Knopp Gvido, (2009.), Hitler’s Henchmen. Phoenix Mil, Sutton Publishing Limited.

Luckert, S., Bachrach, S. (2009). State of deception: The power of Nazi propaganda.

Washington, DC: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Narayanaswami, K. nd Analysis of Nazi Propaganda A Behavioral Study.

Nazi Propaganda about Austria, 1938.

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