Propaganda and Radio Broadcasting In Nazi Germany Essay

After Germany’s humiliating defeat in World War I, Germans had little faith in their government, and in the early 1930s following the stock market crash in New York, Germany was economically struggling . Millions of people were out of work due to the world wide catastrophe making it an opportune time for Hitler and the Nazis to rise into power. Hitler, who was a powerful and spellbinding speaker, attracted Germans desperate for change. He promised to make Germany a better country and promised the disenchanted, a better life. Nazis appealed especially to the youth, unemployed, and members of the lower to middle class. Hitler’s rise to power seemed instantaneous. Before the economic depression, Nazis were virtually unknown, winning less than 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag, which was the German Parliament. However, in the 1924 elections, the Nazis won a whopping 33 percent of the votes which was more than any other party. In January of 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the head of German Government . The Germans were convinced that they had found a savior for the Nation. The timing of his rise made it very easy for Hitler to gain power in a democratic government because people were hopeless and wanted a fast solution to the deficit. He promised things like a stronger economy, prosperity, and anything that they desired . He focused on first getting noticed and then grew from there. He didn’t say anything but what the people wanted to hear. Getting the people of Germany to trust him was how he started to gain so much control. Unfortunately, Hitler’s charm and persuasion was not the sole reason why Hitler gained so much power in a democratic

The Nazi Party began in 1919 as the German Workers' Party in Munich created by Anton Drexler(“Nazi Germany”). The Nazis came to true power with an influential leader in Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a powerful leader who tapped into the fear of his followers to guide them into becoming strong followers. The Nazi’s propaganda seemed to promise the citizens of Germany to pull them out of the depression they were in at the time (“The Nazi Rise To Power”). The Nazis wrote each of their speeches depending the audience they would have. An example of this is, “ when speaking to businessmen, the Nazis downplayed antisemitism and instead emphasized anti-communism and the return of German colonies lost through the Treaty of Versailles”(“The Nazi Rise To Power”). On January 30, 1993, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany after a series of previous failures of

Before the Great Depression in Germany, the Nazis were not a popular party, nor were they widely known. In the Reichstag (similar to parliament) elections of 1928, the Nazi Party received 2.6% of the vote. In 1930, the worldwide economic depression hit Germany hard. Life in Germany was bleak, many people were jobless, and the overall quality of life was poor. It also didn’t help that many people linked the depression, with Germany’s “embarrassing” defeat during World War I. Germans believed their government to be weak, and unable to help with the depression (“The Nazis Rise To Power”).

One of the many leaders that used mass media to expand their campaign was Adolf Hitler, one of the most known leaders during World War II. Moving forward, one of the techniques that Hitler used in Germany was to build cheap stereos/radios so that all citizens could hear his speeches.[7] With regards to this technique, it was found as an effective and easy way to gain people’s attention as well as to persuade them. It was thought that if it is through media, then it must be true; until later that is. Another technique which was used during the war times was propaganda. Propaganda can be represented in various ways through “art, music, theater, films, books, radio, educational materials, and the press.” It is not to say that propaganda was only used for evil-doings. As the Canadians used it to encourage people to join in on the war effort. Hitler had also taken in this technique and written in his book; “Mein Kampf,” that “…propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea.” [8] Furthermore, since propaganda can be shown through multiple forms, it was and still is a popular choice used to influence people. In addition, the spreading of news and opinions was largely increased through the writing of articles. Most of the anti-Semitic and pro-fascist newspaper publishings were found in Quebec and the reasons being; “Quebec

World War II is one of many, most horrific and crucial events in world history and one of the most important events in the 20th century. Leonard and John (2007) define propaganda as “notions, facts, or accusations that are spread purposely with the objective of furthering one’s cause or damaging an opponent’s cause”. (7) They used media and propaganda in order to increase support for their side of the war. An immense feeling of patriotism was building up, and the nations used all the resources at their disposal to get their nations ahead of the race regardless of how humiliating and misleading the allegations were. Throughout World War II, propaganda was used to maintain the heat in fights and create unity among the citizens of a nation to achieve a single cause. People receive information on a daily basis since the beginning of the war and the parties of the confrontation. United States of America used propaganda for the creation of massive advertisements in the course of the war that could be interpreted as degrading to rival forces (Cogan, Brian & Tony, 53). Propaganda and information were distributed through numerous sources—radio, films, books and newspapers. The major aim was to impose on people the way of thinking and acting, both consciously and subconsciously (Rhodes 5). Though news sources attempted to be objective, there has always been ways to influence the way in which people interpret information.

Radio propaganda could be transmitted all over the United States and as well as the world, which supported in expanding its influence. Radio grew to be an efficacious propaganda machine because of its overlooked national boundaries and caused the opposition lines to be further accessible. By releasing leaflets from hot air balloons or airplanes was a popular method to generate civilian and rival residents to listen to their broadcasts. The released leaflets described specifically when and where the broadcasts could be listened

3) The ascent of National Socialism. In 1923, Hitler held a meeting of all high-ranking Nazis in a beer hall in Munich, where he revealed his plans for a coup. This failed attempt to overthrow the Weimar government would later be known as the Munich Putsch, which “gave the Nazi’s unparalleled publicity”. The use of the radio in order to spread the National socialist message played a pivotal role in the Nazi parties’ popular rise in society. Due to the ramifications that Germany faced after the First World War, the nation had unquestionably lost faith in tradition and their priorities had shifted to populist nationalism. On the eve of Hitler’s appointment, victory parades took place in dozens of German settlements. The capital saw nearly a million Berliners demonstrate their commitment to the National Socialist party who had pledged to establish “a strong-willed and strong-armed racial state” in “a very new twentieth-century Germany”. History shows that Hitler’s tremendous and irrefutably passionate presence came about at the perfect time, filling the void created by populace sentiment. Much of the

Propaganda in general is the idea of getting others to believe in one’s own beliefs. Propaganda is the “attempt to influence behavior…by affecting through the use of mass media of communications, the manner in which a mass audience perceives and ascribes meaning to the material world.”1 Propaganda was a major part of Germany’s way to brain wash people into following Hitler and his army. The theme of Hitler and Goebbels, (Paul Joseph Goebbels, was appointed Hitler’s Reichspropagandaleiter, the Nazis national director of propaganda), using propaganda, “was to merge the traditional German patriotism with Nazi ideological motifs”2, this was basically used from1919 to 1945.

The Nazi regime had a top-notch propaganda ministry of the time. In fact, the government was able to adjust the public’s idea quickly. For the most part, They were able to control all media sources. As shown above, The public thought that the Jewish community was responsible for the hardship that they faced after the WWI. Furthermore, The head of the propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels was able to accomplish his goals by keeping the public from watching or listening to anti-Nazi ideas and to construct Nazi ideas are compelling to the audience (Trueman).

Some East Germans felt the Stasi and government were doing their duty to defend and protect the GDR. In East Germany, information was closely controlled by the government and its press outlets. The government controlled magazines, newspapers, and television. Censorship was an ongoing issue that put pressure on writers (Funder 17). In Stasiland, Anna Funder interviewed a man named Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler. Von Schnitzler’s role in the GDR was to use propaganda through his television show “The Black Channel” to speak out against the evils of Capitalism and bolster up GDR’s reputation. Von Schintzler served during WWII in Hitler’s army and was captured by the British and sent to England as a POW where he was able to make broadcasts for the BBC. He returned to Germany in 1945 and worked in broadcasting in the British Occupied Zone but was more applied to Communist ideas. He left to the Soviet controlled zone of Germany (Funder 130-131). When Funder interviews Von Schintzler and you really get a sense of a strong supporter of the GDR. He was asked by Funder what he thought about the people shot trying to escape over the Berlin Wall. He stated, “It was absolutely necessary…It was a historical necessity… It was the most useful construction in all Germany’s history (Funder 134). Von Schintzler was an extreme believer in the GDR and told Funder that he is still loved by the

During wartime, a nation will do what it can to keep itself safe and bolster the morale of its citizens to keep them happy and to maintain the peace. The U.S. is no different, so I began to search for examples of wartime propaganda. I came across an article written by Gerd Horton in September 1996 titled, “Radio Days on America’s Home Front,” where Horton goes over the influence of radio and how it was essential to propaganda during World War 2. World War 2 took place right as the Great Depression was ending, and the wartime economy greatly benefitedbenefitted the nation. There was a lot of rationing that went on however, and the public was very displeased by this. Horton talked about how the government took advantage of the fact that “90 per

This investigation evaluates the significance of the role the media played in helping the United States join World War Two. To be specific, World War Two occurred between the years of 1939 to 1945. A brief synopsis of the developments of media outlets and their importance prior to the war will be investigated. Leaders of all the Allie Forces will be evaluated in this essay. The essay will focus primarily on the rise of media impact on the citizens of the United States. The Soviet Union will be mentioned but only minor. Two of the sources used in this essay Freedom Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War Two by Arthur Herman and World War II in Europe by World Book: Chicago are evaluated and used in this essay.

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

Aldous Huxley, author of the famous dystopian works 'Brave New World’, commented that “Propaganda gives force and direction to the successive movements of popular feeling and desire; but it does not do much to create these movements”. The decree instating the new Ministry defined its task as the spreading of “enlightenment and propaganda within the population concerning…the national reconstruction of the German Fatherland”. It sought to Nazify German culture, wiping away the Weimar decadence of the 1920s with traditional values, societal sense of racial worth, ‘Führerprincip’ and concentration of German culture, purging it of degeneracy and Üntermenschen. Joseph Goebbels had two primary objectives: To ensure nobody in Germany could see or hear anything hostile or damaging to the Party and ensure that Nazi ideology was encouraged in the most persuasive possible manner. Nazi propaganda promoted ideology by demonising the enemies of the Nazi Party, especially Jews and communists, but also capitalists and intellectuals, it maintained the personality cult around Adolf Hitler, and promoted campaigns for eugenics and Pan-Germanism.

The radio is one of the most influential pieces of technology ever invented. From political debates to Taylor Swift’s latest hit, with the help of the radio, society stays informed on a plethora of topics. Freddie Mercury wasn’t lying when he said, “and everything I had to know, I learned it on my radio.” In almost every country in the world, there is at least one radio station used to broadcast news to it’s people. Since the creation of the FM radio, it has been used to reach out to people over a certain area and keep them informed about the society they live in. During the 1930s and the 1940s, the radio played a very important role in history; it was a tool used during World War II by America, Great Britain, and Nazi Germany. By sending