Transcript Nazi_propaganda_IB08

How effective
was Nazi
propaganda?
 Weltanschauung – world view,
philosophy of life
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German cultural life during the Third Reich was
seen as yet another means of achieving
indoctrination
“What we are aiming for is more than a revolt.
Our historic mission is to transform the very
spirit itself to the extent that people and things
are brought into a new relationship with one
another"
 Weltanschauung
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Culture was co-ordinated through the Reich
Chamber of Culture
Seven sub-chambers: fine arts, music, theatre,
the press, radio, literature and film
Everyone involved in cultural activity had to be
accountable for their creativity
“Whenever I hear the word ‘culture’, I reach for
my gun” (Hans Johnst, playwright, 1934)
 Key themes
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Goebbels and the Nazis sought to project key themes
Anti-Semitism
Militarism
Nationalism
Supremacy of the Aryan race
Cult of the Fuhrer
Anti-modernism
Traditional German ‘Volks’ culture
 Newspapers
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1933: there were 4,700 daily newspapers, 3%
controlled by NSDAP (Nazis)
1944: there were 997 daily newspapers, 82%
controlled by NSDAP
 Newspapers
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Eventually, directly or indirectly, the Press was
controlled by Eher Verlag (Nazi publishing
house)
RMVP (Ministry for Enlightenment and
Propaganda) told editors where to place articles
Nazi Press Agency supplied an estimated 50%
of content
From 1933, all editors and journalists had to be
accredited by Goebbels
 Newspapers
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October 1933 new law made editors responsible
for infringements of government directives
Clause 14 obliged editors to exclude anything
‘calculated to weaken the strength of the Reich’
Treason to spread false news or rumours
 Radio
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Radio wardens appointed to report on people’s
reactions to specific broadcasts
Provisions made for cheap radios called
Volksempfänger (people’s receiver)
Volksempfänger could not pick up foreign
broadcasts
Between 1932-9 the number of families with
radios rose from 25% to 70%
 Radio
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Goebbels described radio as “the spiritual
weapon of the totalitarian state”
Radio was controlled from 1925 by the Reich
Radio Company
In 1934 Goebbels dismissed 13% of RRC on
political or racial grounds
All news broadcasts came through the Nazi
Office of Propaganda
 Film
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Nazi government bought up shares in 4 major
film companies
By 1942 film companies were completely state
controlled
 Film
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Film going quadrupled between 1933 and 1942
Over 1000 films produced during the Third
Reich
Nazis often used newsreels shown before the
start of feature films.
 Music
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Germany had a rich classical tradition which
suited the Nazis’ cultural propaganda objectives
Jewish composers, e.g. Mahler and Mendelssohn
were banned
New wave, modernist composers e.g. Stravinsky,
Schoenberg were disparaged.
New genres, e.g. jazz were labelled ‘Negroid’
and ‘degenerate’
 Posters
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Poster production
was controlled by the
Office for Active
Propaganda
Copies of all political
material had to be
submitted in advance
to the office
Unapproved
materials were
confiscated
 Literature
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In 1933 there were book burnings at the
universities of Berlin and Nuremberg
10 May 1933 at the central square in Berlin, the
largest book burning event took place
Raids on public and private libraries
Goebbels wanted to eradicate ‘overstated Jewish
intellectualism’
Books burned were Jewish, socialist or pacifist
by nature
 Literature
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2,500 writers left Germany between 1933-45,
including Thomas Mann and Bertolt Brecht
Writers who sympathised with the regime or
accepted its philosophy flourished
 Rallies
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Rallies were a regular feature of Nazi
propaganda, with the first official rally in
Nuremberg, 1927
As well as attending rallies, Hitler would parade
through streets in open-top processions
Many streets were renamed Adolf Hitler Street
following a visit from the Fuhrer
 Rallies
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Speer specialised in designing and
choreographing rallies
Used the ‘architecture of light’ to maximise the
effect of gatherings and speakers
Combined effects of uniforms, flags and
banners, icons like the eagle and swastika and
held meetings at night
 Sport
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Sporting bodies co-ordinated under a
Reichssportsführer
Hitler Youth and DAF (German Labour Front, Nazi
trade union movement) organised sporting events
Aim was to encourage fitness and health (useful
qualities for increasing Germany’s military strength)
Gym displays were also seen as another way of
presenting an ordered, regimented society
 Sport
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Nazis made great efforts to ensure 1936 Berlin Olympics were a
propaganda success
New stadium in modernist style
Hitler saw Olympics as an opportunity to show the racial
superiority of German people
Ant-semitic propaganda was minimised and the emphasis in
posters and speeches was on internationalism
Germany headed gold medals table, despite Black American,
Jesse Owens winning the glamorous 100m sprint
FA ordered footballers to give the Nazi salute before their match
against Germany in 1938. (England won 6-3)
 Art
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Hitler also said, ‘It’s not the function of art to
wallow in dirt for dirt’s sake, never its task to
paint the state of decomposition, to draw cretins
as the symbol of motherhood, to picture
hunchbacked idiots as representatives of any
strength.’
 Art
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Hitler had very strong views on art and they
formed the basis of cultural policy
Art critics were answerable to the state, and
from 1936 could only provide ‘descriptive
reviews’
Certain styles of art were given political labels,
e.g. expressionism was described by Alfred
Rosenberg, the Culture Minister, as ‘Bolshevik
filth’
 Art
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1937 two parallel art exhibitions were held in
Munich, one representing what the Nazi regime
viewed as the best of German art (Grosse Deutch
Kunstausstellung), the other what it deemed
‘degenerate art’ (Entartete Kunst)
 Art
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18 July 1934, Exhibition of Great German Art was held
in a newly built museum of art, Munich
16,000 works submitted but only 6,000 selected for
display
Art was rooted in the traditions of the Volksgemeinschaft
(the people’s community, the Nazi ideal community)
Exhibition preceded by a Day of German Art, annual
pageant in Munich celebrating 2,000 years of German
history
600,000 attended exhibition
 Art
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19 July, Exhibition of Degenerate Art opened
5,000 exhibits labelled as degenerate, Bolshevik or
artistically poor
Deemed to reflect cultural decadence of Weimar era
Included works by Emil Nolde, Max Beckmann as well
as works by Gaugin, Van Gogh and Picasso
2,000,000 attended the exhibition
Works were later destroyed, sent abroad or kept by
Goering!
 Architecture
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Hitler was personally interested in architecture
as well as art
Rejected decadent architectural styles, e.g. work
of Gropius and favoured more traditional neoclassical style of Troost
Albert Speer was a Nazi architect who
particularly admired the monumentalism of neoclassical art
Local housing was to be inspired by traditional
art regional styles
Modernist style by Gropius
Paul Troost designed classical arches
What are the
problems in
assessing the impact
of Nazi propaganda
on ordinary people?
 How successful was Nazi
propaganda?
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Problems:
quantifying people’s responses
impact of social, political, economic and
religious context
effect of Nazi repression
How successful was Nazi
propaganda?
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Mason is sceptical of effect of Nazi propaganda on all
groups, for example the working classes
Welch, argues Nazi propaganda was successful in
strengthening support for Hitler, but not its policies e.g.
anti-Semitism and some propaganda was arguably
counter-productive, e.g. anti-Church propaganda
Geary believes Nazi propaganda was most successful
when it played on traditional German prejudices, e.g.
nationalism, fear of Bolshevism etc.