How Successful was Nazi Propaganda? Nazi Germany This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable. For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation.

What we will learn today In this presentation, you will consider What is propaganda? The role of censorship. Who was Josef Goebbels? What propaganda techniques did Goebbels use? How effective were those techniques?

Introduction

Propaganda Photograph courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, London. Hitler, flanked by the massed ranks of the Sturmabteilung (SA), ascends the steps to the speaker's podium during the 1934 Nazi Party Rally at Nuremberg. 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. 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?

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: Radio Film Theatre Music Fine Arts 2 departments: Offices for Films, Broadcasting, Culture and Coordination Offices for Party exhibitions, Trade Fairs and Mobile Technical Units. Possible extension question: "Think back to 'Hitler's Role in the Development of the Nazi Party'. How could (a) Intentionalist and (b) Structuralist historians use this table to back up their arguments?"

The Arts: Painting, Architecture and Literature

Hitler and the arts

Broadcasting: Newspapers, Radio, Film

Newspapers Teachers could, of course, design an A3 grid which students could fill in, with each row of the table representing a different theme, each column one of the four key options.

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’.

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.

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?