Nazi Party's Use of Artistic Propaganda Led To The Ascension and Dominance of German Culture

"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.

Hitler believed that propaganda from the allies was the main reason that the Germans lost during World War I and felt that this form of warfare needed to be a primary tool in modern warfare. He spoke of this belief in his book Mein Kampf well before the start of the second World War. Hitler felt that the public needed to be inundated with the ideology of the state at all times and through all mediums (Jowett and O'Donnell 2). "To do this," he said "everything from child's story-book to the last newspaper, every theater, every cinema and every advertisement must be brought into the service of this single mission" (qt. in Qualter ix). This onslaught of propaganda led to the Holocaust by leaving no other option open to the German people

The Nazis succeeded to a great degree in establishing a totalitarian state in Germany in the years between 1933 and 1939.

Propaganda was arguably one of the most effective ways for ideas to be spread around rapidly, this was shown in Hitler's autobiography, Mien Kampf, in which he states: "Propaganda tries 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." It shows that Hitler understood the effectiveness of propaganda and utilised it to spread his anti-Semitist ideas towards the German people to create a negative image of the Jewish population. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Webpage states that the Nazi propagandists "exploited pre-existing images and stereotypes, and portrayed Jews as an "alien race" that fed off the host nation, poisoned its culture, seized its economy, and enslaved its workers and farmers." This hateful depiction of the Jewish people was enough to create fire in the minds of the German population and drove them into an anti-Semitic frenzy, resulting in the German people expressing their rage against the Jews through violent means. The impact on the German people that was created by the slanderous depictions of Jews was extremely valuable to prepare them for the Holocaust, as the hatred for the Jews was so deeply

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

Adolf Hitler, political leader of the National Socialist or Nazi party, promoted the usage propaganda. In his book, Mein Kampf, he stated, “Propaganda makes [the public] ripe for the victory of [anyone’s] ideas.” To establish German support, the Nazi party used propagandistic posters and film. One of the Nazi’s most effective examples of propaganda was the German director, Leni Riefentstal’s film that documented the pro-Nazi Nuremberg rally of 1934.

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

Propaganda was also one of the main methods that helped the Nazi Party to gain power.

One of the ways the Nazis brainwashed the German people is through propaganda. Propaganda is the use of visual images and text

“Hitler’s Propaganda Machine” by Robert B. Nelson describes how the Nazi regime used a wide variety of propaganda to widely influence the German people to support Hitler’s dictatorship and furthermore, support the upcoming wars. After World War I occurred, Germany was to blame for the reparations caused from the war; they were in a great amount of debt which destroyed their economy. With this unfortunate situation occurring, Germans supported Hitler’s rise to power in hope to strengthen their economy and country. After Hitler’s rise to power, he put much effort into his Propaganda Machine in order to stabilize powers within the Nazi totalitarian regime. Almost all of Germany’s cultural aspects were influenced by propaganda tactics as well as the reference to anti-Semitism which blamed the Jews for all the troubles that Germany has faced.

Another way in which the Nazis used propaganda was by the media. They used the media to try and show a false truth as most people believe what people say on things such as radio and televisions etc. This was a very effect way of using propaganda as people would listen to it when doing activities at home. The people didn't have to even go outside their own homes in order to here Hitler and what he had to say. This made people go to see and see Hitler at his rallies and thus converting them into the Nazi

Hitler used incredible strategy in all of his Propaganda pieces, he knew how to create a piece that would deface those he thought were his enemies. No matter who came under attack by Hitler a Propaganda piece would soon follow to destroy their public name, and to entice more people to want Hitler to lead. The Nazis used strategic propaganda for everyone during their regime, the Nazis' personalized the propaganda depending the areas or the workplaces the propaganda was ran in ("Third Reich"). With the strategic thinking of the Nazis' they became closer and closer to taking Germany. The last major unique tactic Hitler used to take control of Germany was taking out the opposition. Hitler took out the opposition in very unique ways. To ensure that Hitler became the leader of Germany in the future, while he was chancellor he arrested, tortured, murdered, and harassed all those who opposed his, and his party's beliefs. He did this to Jews, communists, rival politicians (Gogerly 47). Hitler's unique way of taking out the opposition worked very well, and of course strategically using unique tactics helped him gain control of the people, but unique tactics wasn't all that gained him control he also used strategical thinking to strengthen his power and to rule over all of Germany and an attempt for the

“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape site from it” wrote Joseph Goebbel; a statement that Hitler strongly agreed with (Trueman). When Nazi Germany came to power in 1933, Goebbel was a master propagandist of the “Nazi regime and dictator of its cultural life for 12 years”. With Goebbles as a propaganda leader, Germany was able to develop an organized propaganda designed to to manipulate “ a cynic, devoid of inner devotions” and “ orchestrate a pseudo religious cult” (“Joseph Goebbels”). Subliminal propaganda proved to be a more valuable weapon than artillery and man power combined. Propaganda played a key part in every nation 's war effort; though, none were as efficacious as Nazi Germany. Germany knew the power that could be harnessed from propaganda and carefully cultivated, and molded their message to become one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

To continue, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party had several methods of convincing and portraying specific groups of people as these horrible, and gruesome people. One of the most easy and very eye appealing forms of methods for convincing people is propaganda. As in the book by Steven Luckert and Susan Bachrach, State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda, they make it clear that the propaganda being used at the time really did affect the way people saw everything in society. Propaganda was used for four major concepts. For example, propaganda was used for votes and power, “ The development of a sophisticated propaganda organization, techniques, and messaging helped the Nazi Party… by following a few essential guidelines: content was emotional

Nazi propaganda can be dated back to 1926 when Hitler wrote his book “Mein Kampf” (ushmm, 2015) Hitler wrote two chapters about war propaganda, which he always expressed how the power and destruction that propaganda could cause in the right hands, and the importance of mass communication through different mediums. "The first duty of the propagandist is to win over people who can subsequently be taken into the organization. And the first duty of the organization is to select and train men who will be capable of carrying on the propaganda” Hitler continues by saying “ The second duty of the organization is to disrupt the existing order of things and thus make room for the penetration of the new teaching which it represents, while the duty of the organizer must be to fight for the purpose of securing power, so that the doctrine may finally triumph." (James Murphy, 2011)