Adolf Hitler's Use Of Propaganda In The United States

"Propaganda attempts to force a doctrine on the whole people... Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea." These words of Adolf Hitler are taken from his book Mien Kampf (My Struggle) published in 1926. Propaganda was an elaborate and essential tool used extensively by Hitler and the Nazi's during their terrorizing reign of Germany and throughout Europe. Not only was it used to promote and endorse the party and its leader's extreme anti-Semitic values, but also to mask the horrifying truths of what was to become known as the Holocaust.

First off, propaganda enticingly misled Germans into following whatever Adolf Hitler said. It promoted a political cause or point of view. It almost

Propaganda is information of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. Hitler was able to use propaganda successfully throughout his reign as leader to shine light on his views, the biggest one being anti-Semitism. The Nazi party spread their propaganda through art, music, theatre, films, books, radio, educational materials and the press. Hitler used propaganda as a way of persuading German people into prejudice. Propaganda was used

Adolf Hitler used propaganda to turn people against Jews, blacks and about everyone else that was not German and he also use it to make people want to join Nazi army. Franklin Roosevelt or F.D.R also use the science of propaganda to turn people against Germany, Italy and Japan. Hitler had first become aware of propaganda and its uses before the First World War. During the war he saw the effect of British propaganda on the soldiers of the Central Powers. Later on after the war Hitler wrote a book called Mein Kampf (My Struggle), he devoted two whole chapters to the study and practice of propaganda. He once said “the psyche of the masses,” he wrote, “is not receptive to anything that is weak. They are like a woman, whose psychic state determined less by abstract reason than by an emotional longing for a strong force will complement her nature. Likewise, the masses love a commander, and despise a petitioner” (Hitler). After many speeches and papers he wrote on

As Adolf Hitler began to gain power in Germany, propaganda was a key component of his political plan. Hitler believed that propaganda was the best way to unite the masses. He used propaganda in a different manner than Charles Foster Kane did in the film, but it had the same goal; to formulate the opinions of the people of Germany in his favor. Hitler believed that the best use of propaganda was through simple slogans that specifically targeted the emotions of the middle and lower classes. The main emotion that was targeted by Hitler and the Nazi party was terror. “Many Germans, seduced by Nazi propaganda, accepted terror as a legitimate weapon against subversives and racial defilers who threatened the new Germany” (Perry 445). As seen with the people of Germany during the 1930’s and 1940’s, propaganda can easily sway the beliefs of the people. While Hitler believed that propaganda was the key to uniting the masses, it was not through written sources that he believed the key lied to reach unity, it was through speeches. This is also seen in Citizen Kane.

Hitler used propaganda to help get people to follow what he believed. He would tell them things to scare them and let them hear what they wanted to hear until he got into power then he turned right around on them. When he got put in power he hired someone to keep up with his propaganda for him. That person controlled what people could practice, read, listen to, watch, and draw. They controlled what religion you were allowed to have but during Hitlers time you could not practice a religion because he was antireligious. Anyone who practice religion would be killed or worked to death. Hitler eventually put fear in everyone; people were hiding everywhere they could like in the book Ann Frank they hid in a room behind a bookcase because they were Jewish and did not want to be killed, but someone told on them and they ended up being sent to camps ("Propaganda"). "I'm trying to imagine what a Jewish state ought to look like, priest should be confined to their temples in the same way that soldiers should be confined to their barracks" (Herzi ¶16).

In order for Adolf Hitler to become successful, he knew that he had to spread Nazism to the far corners of the world. He accomplished this to some extent by using propaganda. “Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, Hitler established a Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels” (“Nazi Propaganda”). Goebbels was the master propagandist and orator to whom Hitler gave the responsibility of spreading the favorable image of the Nazi regime. The Nazis took control of all means of entertainment in order to spread their beliefs. “The ministry’s aim was to ensure that the Nazi message was successfully communicated through art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press” (“Nazi Propaganda). The main target of the propaganda was the Jewish race. Goebbels’ “propaganda campaigns created

70 Million. 3%. 6 Years. All these numbers have one thing in common, World War 2. It is horrendous to think that 70 million people’s lives can end in 6 years. Still, this number could be far more drastic had it not been for a number of things. Propaganda was one such thing. It was used to: implementing rations, swaying moods, or even in some cases controlling opinions. This was utilized by both the axis and allied powers throughout the war.

There is no question that Adolf Hitler and the third Reich used propaganda as a way to facilitate war, mass murder, and persecution. The artistic approach of the propaganda was so well orchestrated that they knew how to simplify a message in such a way that it would actually play on people’s emotions. In a sense they were able to break down complicated issues into small slogan messages to influence the people to keep Hitler in control. The way that images were presented to the public gave insight into the minds of the Nazis and how they were thinking.

Propaganda was mostly used within Adolf Hitler. Hitler wanted to use propaganda to promote nationalism and persuade the German people to hate other groups of people that benefitted from their loss in World War One. To help with the use of propaganda,

Nazi Propaganda was a well know thing during the holocaust. Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were the ring leaders. Hitler became the German chancellor, and in March of that year he appointed Goebbels the country’s minister for public enlightenment and propaganda. Goebbels had complete jurisdiction over the content of German newspapers, magazines, books, music, films, stage plays, radio programs and fine arts. His mission was to censor all opposition to Hitler and present the chancellor and the Nazi Party in the most positive light while stirring up hatred for Jewish people. Hitler was a well-supported person. Many Germans supported him for many reasons. The purpose of propaganda was to condition and convince people, and get them to believe in the values and ideas of the Nazis.

Namely, a strong Germany of national community, racial purity and the idea of a single leader with complete power rather than democracy. The re-education process via propaganda had a three-fold focus: the deification of Hitler, defining the enemy and justifying their treatment and rallying the masses. The deification of Hitler was one the earliest themes of the Nazi Party, which helped in depicting Hitler as an authoritarian leader. In many forms of propaganda, Hitler was portrayed as a messianic figure with the use of halo effect demonstrating power and authority. In depicting Hitler as an authoritative figure, he was able to gain respect and authority as a person that people looked up to. The second theme of propaganda employed was in the portrayal of the Jews. Often Jews in Nazi propaganda were portrayed as seedy, degenerate ugly masses who sided with the enemy. A Harvard University lecture defined Hitler's objective of propaganda in portraying the

Hitler persuaded people that this is the truth and that the people running Germany are the ones to blame for all of its problems. Hitler was a fantastic speaker, and captivated the crowds, once they were under his spell, he could make them believe whatever he wanted them to believe, this is another way Hitler gained support, he used his speaking skills to persuade people to believe him, and turn against the government in power.

Propaganda, according to Jacques Ellul, is a selection of techniques used by an organised group of individuals seeking to “bring about the active or passive participation in its actions of a mass of individuals” (cited in, Bytwerk, 2004. Pg. 3). Throughout 1932 to 1940, propaganda was a leading force that permitted the Nazi Germany to consolidate a position of political prominence and, ultimately, the control of a nation by the Nazi leadership, led by no other than Adolf Hitler. Hitler highly valued propaganda as a means to reach the masses, and he did so with aplomb, founding the Reich’s Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in 1933, and placing Joseph Goebbels in charge of the Ministry (Kallis, 2008.Pg. 32). According to Michael

Adolf Hitler's main qualities as a leader were his self-certainty and charismatic personality. He knew how to appeal to people's instincts and made use of their fears and insecurities. He fought hard to make his ideas a reality. His means of convincing Germans of his ideas and his attempts to make them follow him down the path of destruction was with endless streams of propaganda. Hitler's early life in Vienna introduced him to the idea of propaganda to influence and persuade the masses towards his viewpoint. He fully recognised the fact that the overwhelming majority of the people wanted to be led and that they were ready and willing to submit if their leader could win their respect and confidence. Adolf Hitler also had the ability to reach out to the people; he was able to arouse sympathy, concern and patriotism in his followers by the way that he expressed himself. This enabled Hitler to make full use of terror and mobilize the fears of the