The Effects of Nazi Propaganda on the German People During World War 2.

The Effects of Nazi Propaganda on the German People During World War 2.

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Propaganda is defined as information spread for the purpose of promoting some cause. As Germany prepared for and carried out the Second World War, a variety of propaganda forms were implemented. This was necessary because of a number of reasons; apparently, two main agendas were to be served by these forms. It was important to convince the public to fight and that it was necessary to fight.

The German’s had gone through a power struggle to establish the superiority of the Nazi Party over the Socialists; however, it lacked enough political support to go to war. The main body of German propaganda consisted of material increasing or fueling the wartime effort. As Fest (2002) postulates Hitler and a good number of other Nazi leaders harbored racism and wished to begin the extermination of races deemed inferior (p.390). Despite there existing some discontent between the German Jews and other Germans, it was necessary to convince the necessity of the German population against them. The anti-Semitic material formed the second main body of German propaganda. Until the conclusion of the Battle of Stalingrad, in 1943, German propaganda emphasized the prowess of German arms and the humanity that German soldiers showed to the people of occupied territories. Pilots and Allied bombing fleets were depicted as cowardly murderers and Americans in particular, as gangsters in Al Capone’s style. The same German propaganda sought to alienate America from British ties, and both these nations from the soviets (p.392).

A variety of forms were utilized in the delivery of the German wartime propaganda. Much of these, George (1973) examines, were communicated through the newly invented radio, speeches from Nazi leaders, posters and other visual and printed material, like books. Production in America was extremely important just like it was for the Germans. Germany maintained a highly mechanized army of tanks and therefore required additional production in order to combat the allied forces. Posters which demonstrated the importance of labor were commonly displayed after the beginning of the war, when increased production was deemed as highly necessary (p.214).

Once the Reich leaders noticed that their current forces would not be enough, the push for additional labor was strengthened. Several posters which sent out different messages were therefore used to garner this support. However those that promoted racism were uncommon and exclusively found in the World War II. These were avoided as they did very little to boost or aid the wartime effort owing to the fact that demeaned racial and political groups. Political cartoons and political advertising were a supplement of scarce posters that were racially or politically discriminative. They often demeaned or mocked groups based on stereotypes or prejudices. The purpose of these cartoons was undoubtedly different from the German anti-Semitic propaganda; however a number of comparisons existed between them. First of all, both used humor to pass a message, and exaggerated stereotypes of the group it wished to demean (p.216-217).

The German propaganda was extremely important to the course of World War II. By taking control of the media and printing or broadcasting of Nazi material, the Reich was able to effectively flood Germany with its propaganda. This combined with the genius of men such as Joseph Goebbels, created one of the most potent barrages of wartime propaganda in history.

Fest (2002) further expounds that Hitler’s regime played vital role in influencing the people through propaganda (p.393). From Goebbels perspective, it was not enough for the people to be more or less reconciled to the regime, to be persuaded to adopt a neutral attitude towards the regime rather, the regime wanted to work on people until they were capitulated to the same regime and ideologically grasped what was happening. The main forms of delivery were the radio and press. In order to effectively pass their message, the government made provisions for the production of cheap ‘receivers’ as only less than a quarter owned it. By 1939, three quarters of the total population owned a radio, as well as every café, factory, offices and other public places had a loudspeaker installed (p.397).

The press was difficult to seize control of, since over 4,700 official newspapers existed in Germany. Most of these were bought by the Nazi publisher, Eher Verlag, a daily press conference was held. Propaganda areas extended to radio, film, music, art and literature. These were used tot portray the German culture, for example only German musicians were allowed to be played, music composed by the Jews was forbidden. The Nazi Propaganda machine was rendered perfect by social rituals which included the ‘Heil Hitler’ greeting, the Nazi salute, the ‘Horst Wessel’ song and different kinds of uniforms all linked to the regime. The population was indoctrinated by the constant repetition of Nazi ideology and therefore it was easier to believe then what was presented rather than risk personal freedom, threatened constantly by the police.

Various social groups and organizations, logically connected or linked with the Nazi state, influenced the aspect of every German, no matter the age or gender. All of these skillfully thought to indoctrinate the people, spread Nazism and propaganda supporting Hitler across Germany. Hitler introduced a law that banned all labor unions or strikes of workers. Instead Nazi DAF was set up, obviously controlled by Nazis. Wages, working hours, stable rents and recreational provisions were organized by the Nazi KDF (Gooch & Alexander, 1945, p.93 ).

Women were, from a feminine angle, discriminated, to some extent similar to the inferior races. The Nazis, in contrast, claimed they were treating them differently. The role of women in the Third Reich was simple and easy, in a chilling way named the Kinder, Kirche, Kuche. Fundamentally, the Aryan female had to be fit and healthy, well groomed in a natural way, cook well and have children. There was a policy, that allowed any women with a double-figured number of children to have tea with Hitler. A text in one of the main propaganda media displayed the following phrase ‘Mothers! Fight for your Children!’ The mother portrayed has four children, consistent with the Nazi goal of encouraging as many births as possible (p.101).

The propaganda in Germany, late in the war resulted in the death of Jews. A movie against Jews, the worst of Nazi anti-Semitic films, entitled ‘The Eternal Jew,’ was advertised in 1940. The Nazi propaganda became more aggressive in this period and occurred at a time when the Concentration camps became Death Camps. Jews were specifically targeted early on, but the Holocaust expanded more and more as the war waged

At this time, everyone involved in cultural activity had to be accountable for their activity. All editors and journalists were to be accredited by Goebbels. In October of 1933, the new law made editors responsible for infringements of government directives. They were obliged to eliminate anything calculated to deteriorate the strength of the Reich. One would be therefore charged for treason in circumstances where they were proven to spread false news or rumors Radio wardens were appointed to report n people’s reactions to specific broadcasts and the people’s receiver could not pick up foreign broadcasts. At the start of World War II, the number of families with radios rose tremendously. Goebbels described the radio as ‘the spiritual weapon of the totalitarian state.’ All news came through the Nazi Office of Propaganda. The population was therefore locked out from the outside world (pp.104-109).

In the film industry, the government bought up shares in four major film companies and by 1942, film companies were completely state-controlled. Germany had a classical tradition which suited the Nazi’s cultural propaganda objectives while at the same, Jewish music composers such as Mahler were banned. New genres of music like jazz were labeled as ‘negroid’ and ‘degenerate. This promoted racial discrimination amongst the population.

As pertains to literature, there were book burnings at the universities of Berlin and Nuremberg. Raids were conducted on public and private libraries since Goebbels wanted to eradicate overstated Jewish intellectualism. Targeted books were those of Jewish, socialist or pacifist nature. Over that period, two thousand five hundred writers exited Germany including Thomas Mann and Bertolt Brecht. However, writers who sympathized with the regime or accepted its philosophy, flourished (Fest, 2002, p.404).

Rallies were a regular feature of Nazi propaganda, with the first official rally taking place in Nuremberg in 1927. Apart from attending rallies, Hitler would parade through streets in open-top processions. The architecture of light was used to maximize the effect of gatherings and speakers. Sporting bodies were on the other hand co-coordinated under a Reichssportfuhrer. Hitler Youth and DAF, the German Labor Front, Nazi trade union movement, organized sporting events. The main aim was to encourage fitness and health which were useful qualities for increasing Germany’s military strength. The Gym displays were also seen as another way of presenting an ordered, regimental society.

Hitler was personally interested in architecture, just like art. He rejected decadent architectural styles like, works of Gropius and favored more traditional neoclassical style of Troost. Local housing was mostly inspired by traditional art regional styles. Through this, he instituted specific building styles and standards and subsequently quashed those that were not appealing to him. The people’s creativity was thus reduced to a specific style rather than a reflection of their true diversity (p.407).

The Nazi propaganda, according to George (1973), was successful in strengthening support for Hitler, but not its policies for example, anti-Semitism and some propaganda was arguably counter-productive such as the anti-church propaganda. Church officials were respected but at the same acted as effective media for the circulation of propaganda (p.78).

For the working class, Hitler claimed the credit for the economic recovery from Depression. More jobs partly compensated for the banning of the socialist and community parties and the abolition of the trade unions. Workers were instead influenced to join the Nazi controlled German Labor front. Low rent, low fuel bills and longer holidays contributed to the relative support of Hitler’s administration. This support was described as the ideology of ‘verbal social revolution’ which satirically meant that the Nazi propaganda inspired many workers to work for Germany and raised their status while being convinced that all Germans were equal.

Hitler’s invasion of the church was impossible as the church had a greater influence on the people, in particular, the possible opposition it could provide to the Nazis. During his reign, he had to forge a concordat with the church by granting it religious freedom. Despite his professed admiration of the church, church officials who talked openly against Nazi’s politics were not tolerated. They were prosecuted, often sent to concentration camps, even religious schools submitted to his rules (Fest, 2002, p. 415).

The seriousness of the impact of Nazi racial policies cannot go unnoticed. There was persistent and brutal prosecution of German Jews during the world war. This persecution grew more relentlessly as Hitler became confident that he would face neither the opposition at home or of foreign governments. Those who could fled, those who could not were destined for the extermination camps. The racial politics stretched further to all those who threatened the racial purity of Germany- the old and incapable, the physically and mentally handicapped, the deformed, criminals, gypsies and homosexuals, all were deemed life unworthy of life.

The Nazi propaganda was successful in suppressing traditional German prejudice such as nationalism and Belshovenism (George, 2002, p.205). It equally benefited those who were in congruence with the requirements, those working in Hitler’s regime, and further strengthened support for his reign. The negative developments such as the persecution of Jews, the suppression of women and other vital groups, the uprooting of Jewish orthodoxies in school curriculums as well as the religious fraternity, the restriction of freedom and the quantification of people’s responses regarded it as a failure to a large extent.

References

Fest, J.C. (2002). Hitler. Texas: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

George, A. (1973). Propaganda Analysis: a study of inferences made from Nazi Propaganda. New York: Greenwood Press.

Gooch, P. & Alexander, F. (1945). The German Mind and Outlook. London:Chapman & Hall Ltd.