How Successful Was Nazi Propaganda in the Period 1933-39?

However, as Wolfgang Ruge argues, “the Nazi party developed a propaganda apparatus whose activities far eclipsed all previous heights of the demagogy of German imperialism.” On this note, it is widely agreed by historians that the regime was highly successful in one of Friedreich's principles; control of the increasingly powerful mass media in German society as a mechanism for public control. Primarily coordinated through the work of propaganda minister Goebbels, Hitler was portrayed as a leader who was at the same time moderate and reasonable who put the national good before his own interest. Other themes highlighted images of strength and authority which appealed to the highly nationalist German population; epitomised by Hitler appearing out of the sky to lead the German people depicted in Riefenstahl's 1934 film Triumph of the Will, still widely considered the most influential propaganda film of all time. The radio, state produced to be inexpensive, become the regimes number one weapon as it allowed propaganda to not only infiltrate but permeate as many homes as possible.

The Film Academy made movies that appealed to the younger audience, as well. A movie about Hitler called “Hands Up” was about his childhood and teenage life, a movie meant to relate to the audience that was not yet old enough to participate in any sort of active military. Joseph Goebbels was the head of the film department and wrote the description for this movie: “This film created for the

Just like France, the United States, and Russia, Germany also began to make films, as a way to entertain the working class in an inexpensive way. By 1933 Adolf Hitler came to power, creating very harsh social condition that made several writers, actors, and directors flee Germany because they feared that if they stayed they would have gotten killed. Joseph Goebbels later came to run the UFA, as a government owned production company to make films that were shown to civilians and the military as propaganda on March 13 , 1933, and intended to censor German cinema to make the people believe that they were fascist. Numerous movies in that period of time tried to steer clear of talking about the Holocaust to distract people from what was really happening and to make Hitler seem almost godlike. One film in particular directed by Leni Riefenstahl called The Triumph of the Will became a well known example of propaganda in film history. Throughout the film, you really get to experience a sense of historical context that influenced thousands of people during the time of World War 2. Today, several people view The Triumph of the Will and have a difficult time distinguishing whether or not they can conclude if they view the film as propaganda or an actual piece of art.

“All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach,” Adolf Hitler (The National World War Museum). The German Nazi dictator utilized his power over the people using propaganda, eventually creating a sense of hatred towards Jews. After World War 1, the punishments of the League of Nations caused Germany to suffer. The Nazi party came to blame the Jews in order to have a nation-wide “scapegoat”. This hatred and prejudice towards Jews is known as anti-semitism. According to the Breman Museum, “the Nazi Party was one of the first political movements to take full advantage of mass communications technologies: radio, recorded sound, film, and the printed

The most propagandistic part of the film was when different men were giving speeches when Von Hindenburg died. They all had glittering and nice things to say about Germany and how the people and their loyalty were making all of it happen. It was giving Germany a sense of pride

Annotated Bibliography Kracauer, Siegfried. From Caligari to Hitler, A Psychological History of German Film. Princeton University Press, 1947. Retrieved from https://monoskop.org/images/1/12/Kracauer_Siegfried_From_Caligari_to_Hitler_A_Psychological_History_of_the_German_Film.pdf Siegfried Kracauer, a 1940s film analyst, was the first to make the argument that German expressionist films like Metropolis shaped Adolf Hitler's totalitarian propaganda. German expressionism was a cultural movement in protest to the bourgeois culture in Germany prior to World War II.

Since the end of World War 2 in 1945, Nazism has been used throughout films in order to showcase what life was like leading up to, during and momentarily after the second world war. The different perspectives and viewpoints provide the viewers with an idea as to how extreme propaganda, recruitment and control was in Nazi Germany and to what extent the Nazi’s went to in order to display their power and have jurisdiction over the citizens of Germany. In some cases, movies portray the rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany, such as The Lion King, Cabaret and Sophie Scholl, whereas others depict the collapse of Hitler and his Nazi’s, such as Schindler’s List and Downfall. While some movies show an obvious representation of Nazism through the plot line, others use symbolism to subtly express the idea of Nazism.

Leni Riefenstahl was offered the opportunity to film for the Third Reich in 1933. Out of both fear and intimidation to comply, Riefenstahl accepted this offer and in 1934 went on to film the Nuremburg Rally, known as ‘Triumph of the Will’. With a crew of roughly 170, combined with Riefenstahl’s exceptional skills, she achieved the Ministry of Propaganda’s ideal to portray Hitler in a God-like and heroic manner, with the first 10 minutes dedicated solely to him. The purpose of this film was exactly that, to subconsciously coerce the public into viewing and idolising Hitler as the one and only, ‘Fuhrer’. This further added to the primary perception of Riefenstahl as a propagandist due to the nature of the films and their intentions.

In 1934 Hitler ordered Leni Riefenstahl; the only director who he believed came close to competing the work of Eisenstein (Soviet Russian film director and film theorist), to produce an artistic film about the Party convention at Nuremberg, Triumph of the Will. In her book on the film, Riefenstahl notes that 'The preparations for the Party convention were made in accordance with the preparations for the camera work.' But in reality, the rally was intended from the outset to be the stage for a spectacular piece of film propaganda praising

When the people of a country come to terms with history, old ideals are replaced with unrestrained viewpoints that provide important insight and valuable lessons. Triumph of the Will, outlawed Nazi propaganda of the highest degree, should be accessible as a learning tool of historical and cinematographic significance. With viewing opportunities in place, the German people would gain education and set an example for progressive flexibility which is shown to serve as a gateway of development.

By this time, Chaplin, a vocally political anti-fascist, had expressed his dislike for Germany?s Fuhrer and had been working on The Great Dictator since 1937 (Cole, 2001). Despite this, Chaplin was pressured ?either to render the images and message of his film inoffensive to Hitler and Mussolini, which meant eliminating any anti-fascist propaganda element, or else to drop the project altogether? from the start of his work on the film (Cole, 2001). Until this point in time, the American cinema had ignored Hitler?s presence and actions, as propaganda films were still slightly looked down upon, due to their misuse during World War I (Cole, 2001). Perhaps another reason for Chaplin?s public dislike of Hitler, was that his wife at the time, Paulette Goddard, was herself Jewish (Brownlow & Kloft, 2002).

German Expressionism was commenced in Germany before World War I, but didn’t catch the audience’s eye till the 1920’s. German Expressionism impacted film tremendously, but also influenced music, theater, painting, sculpture and architecture. One of the first German Expressionism films were The Student of Prague (1913), The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), and From Morn to Midnight (1920). These films came about because of the isolation in Germany during World War I. Therefore, the government also banned any type of foreign films, which increased the production of domestic films. The production of domestic films went from 24 films in 1914 to 130 in 1918. However, it caught international audience eyes by 1922 and appreciated the German cinema.

German Expressionism is a genre of film that is arguably the start of the “enlightenment era” or the “renaissance” of cinema filming. This era lasted from 1910’s -1930’s leaving an everlasting impact on the film industry of today and yesteryear. An era of creativity and expressive individuality throughout the arts that really put emphasis on the symbolic meaning of the film as well as the emotions conveyed to the viewer; instead of the “elaborate” costumes and high-end budgets that was prevalent in Hollywood productions. This era was in the middle of World War 1 a time of war and isolation for Germany. The German regime halted the importation of foreign goods which also included movies. With the lack of big budget films, smaller “indie” German

As we look deeper into the historical contexts that came about in Germany during the 1920’s, Germany was confined due to the isolation the country was experiencing during World War I. During this solitude, the German government banned foreign films. German Expressionism was formed in result of the conclusion of World War I which compelled Germany to establish its own style of cinema. German Expressionist films produced in the Weimar Republic

British comedian Charlie Chaplin produced a comedic satire, The Great Dictator, which reflected Hitler’s endeavors. The film was released in 1941 and before its production, WWI ended and the Germans sought out a scapegoat for their devastated economy. Due to this, Hitler rose to power by assigning blame to the Jewish community. The Germans then committed awful acts on the Jewish population, contributing to WWII. Through this all, Charlie Chaplin saw a reason to make a movie: waging war against Hitler on the big screen. His film targeted anti-nazi audiences, leaving those who watched to laugh at the Germans.