Transcript Goebbels, propaganda, Mass media, Culture and Censorship in

Goebbels, propaganda,
Mass media, Culture
and Censorship in
Hitler’s Germany.
By Kat Coyte, Lucy Matthews, Helen FitzHugh, Sam Hall, Katherine Thompson, Becky
Williams, Becky Highcock, Olivia Keenan,
Tamsin Rutter and Emily Stevenson.
Joseph Goebbels
Goebbels was responsible for putting Hitler’s ideas
about propaganda into practice. He proved his
talent for propaganda during the election campaign
between 1930 and 1933. On the 13th March 1933 he
took charge of the new ‘Reich ministry of popular
enlightenment and propaganda’ which had control
over official information in German culture. He had
to prevent anything critical of the Nazis being said
or written and made sure than TV and radio
broadcasts were pro-Nazi Germany.
Controls were put on what journalists could write
and they set up a press agency to tell newspapers
what the news should be. He encouraged new
films most were love stories, comedies or
adventure and the rest were political. Goebbels
won the power struggle for the control of the
radio and formed the Reich radio company
controlling all local radio stations. Cheap radios
were made and by 1939 70% of German house
had a radio and for those who didn't 6000
loudspeaker pillars were made. Radios had a
limited range so that only Nazi’s could be
received. Goebbels job was to make the Germans
believe in Nazi ideas and be loyal to Hitler and
the party. He used every available method to win
people over. He was vain, ambitious, a womaniser
and bitter anti-Semite.
Propaganda
The Nazis knew they had to win over the German people in
order to remain in power. It was Goebbels job to ensure this
happened – he said ‘the essence of propaganda consists in
winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in
the end the succumb to it utterly and can never escape from
it’.
To achieve this he
• Made sure newspapers only printed Nazi stories
• Controlled radio stations and ensured everyone heard the Nazi
message
• Organised rallies, marches and rituals and encouraged people
to use the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute.
• Ensured films were all pro-Nazi.
Mass Media
Newspapers – Goebbels took over most of the publishers and put
controls on what journalists could write. Anti-Nazi newspapers
were closed by 1944 some Nazi newspapers threatened people who
cancelled their subscriptions. In 1933 there were over 4700
newspapers in Germany of which the Nazis only controlled
2.5%however by 1939 the Nazis controlled over 2/3 of the
newspapers. The Nazis also made rules about who could become a
journalist and by 1935 over 1300 Jews and Marxist journalists
were sacked.
Films- Cinemas were popular so Goebbels encouraged new films
which were pro-Nazi to be made. Two examples of propaganda
are ‘Jud suss’ which told the story of an evil Jew and the film
‘Otum kruger’ which was an anti British film about the Boer war.
Admission was only allowed at the beginning so you had to watch
the news reels which carried the Nazi message.
Festivals – Parades and festivals were
key to the Nazis success. People were
expected to attend them. These
important days included Hitler's
birthday, the founding of Nazi party
day and commemoration of the
Munich beer hall putsch among
others. These were staged to
perfection, 100 000 men marched
exactly 0.75m away from each other
carrying 32 000 flags and banners.
Above them in the sky 150 search
lights created a dome of light which
could be seen over 100km away. These
war often filmed, and failure to take
part showed a person as unreliable
and suspect and as a punishment
they might lose their promotion or
state benefits or worse.
Culture
Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Culture of which
musicians, writers and actors had to be members. This
enabled Goebbels to stop any musician, actor, writer or
artist working if they were thought to be unsuitable,
by ending their membership of the Chamber. Some
people protested by leaving Germany, however some
just started to produce work acceptable to the Nazis.
Hitler and the Nazi party aimed to control every part of
peoples lives, including their free time, a huge party
organisation called ‘Strength Through Joy’ (Kraft
Durch Froid- KDF) had the job of organising leisure
activities for people run by Dr Robert Ley, leader of
the German labour front. This drew up massive leisure
programs, including cheap holidays and a plan to
provide labourers with cheap cars.
In 1929 the Nazis set up the ‘Militant League for German Culture’ which
organised protests and demonstrations against ‘modern’ art in all its
forms. They staged a protest against Berthold Brecht and composer
Kurt Weill’s new Threepenny Opera and outside the anti-war film ‘All
Quiet on the Western Front’.
There were guidelines in music for what was acceptable; it should be
German: folk songs, marching music and classical music by Bach,
Beethoven and Mozart. Performances of classical music by Jewish
composers were banned. Some popular music was allowed but never
dance music or Jazz, which was considered ‘black’ music and racially
inferior.
Theatre should concentrate on German history and political drama, only
plays by traditional playwrights like Schiller, Goethe and Shakespeare,
were performed because they were acceptable to the Nazis. No new
drama was released whilst the Nazis were in control, in 1935 the
education ministry created the Schiller Prize for the best new German
play, but the judges found none good enough so it was not awarded.
Cheap theatre tickets were available, and if you joined the Nazi Cultural
Association, you could see ten plays at half price, but could not chooser
which plays or when, because Goebbels controlled this too.
Nazi Germany was no place for talented writers; men like
Thomas Mann and Berthold Brecht join 2500 novelists,
poets and playwrights who left Germany between 1933-45.
The action taken by the Nazis to burn books in Berlin on
the 10th of May 1933 was a clear message to everyone.
Goebbels organised the raiding of libraries and the seizure
of books by writers who were not approved of. They were
ceremoniously burned, in 1936, the same thing was done to
5000 paintings.
Goebbels drew up a list of banned books which were removed
by the Gestapo from bookshops and libraries, in May 1933
the Nazis encouraged students to burn the books they
believed were un-German and Jewish. Goebbels wanted
books about race, war and the Nazi Movement, one popular
topic was the heroic actions of German soldiers in WW1,
such books described the thrill of combat and how Germans
should be prepared to die for the fatherland.
Art and Architecture
Hitler had tried to learn a living as an artist and had
very definite ideas of art, disliking modern art and
sculpture, and preferring art that showed heroic
German figures and the power of the master race.
In 1937, the Nazis opened the House of German
Art to show officially approved art.
Hitler believed architecture was the finest of the arts
and that it could influence peoples lives. He
favoured two styles; the monumental style for
public buildings, and the country style for family
homes and youth hostels.
Censorship
Goebbels had to use censorship to stop other messages
from spreading. Entertainment and information
was censored such as jazz music at dances because
of its black origins. Films were censored to ensure
they betrayed the Nazi message. In 1993 students
in Berlin destroyed 20 000 books because they were
either communist or Jewish. Private talking was
banned and if it was reported to the Gestapo you
could be sentenced to death. On the radio the
typical broadcast were Hitler's speeches, German
music and German history. Everything else was
censored out.
Question
In the black book, using the source on page 54,
compare the differences between Germany in
1918 and 1933. Why is this source used as
propaganda for the Nazis.
E.g. what does it show?