How far did the aims of nazi propaganda change during the course of WW2?
How far did the aims of nazi propaganda change during the course of WW2?
During the 1930’s the main aims of Nazi propaganda were to instill a ‘military spirit’ into the German people and arouse more enthusiasm for war. There were parades, displays of flags and pictures of the fuhrer everywhere to maintain public morale and make the people more commited to the war effort. The over all message from propaganda was to emphasise that Germany was fighting a defensive war that they had not chosen but could not avoid.
Although the invasion of the soviet union in June 1941 didn’t bring an immediate change to Nazi propaganda, it did lead up to it. The success of the German troops in the first few months of the campaign led to a mood of confidence that the war would be over soon, but in reality it ended up as a costly and long drawn out endever. This had a greatly negative effect on the attitude of the German people; due to this, Goebbles ordered a more sober and realistic tone to the Nazi propaganda. He recognised the need to prepare the German people for a long struggle, one which for the survival of the German reich. He used propaganda to justify the increasing sacrifices that the people would need to make and to instill support for a strategy of total war.
During this change in propaganda, a number of points were focussed on. These points were anti-bolshevism – this theme was used to scare the German people with the threat of a soviet invasion through reports of the atrocities carried out by the red army troops, including rape, murder and even the massacre of polish officers at Katyn to generate an atmosphere of fear and hatred towards the USSR so that the people would support the war effort through a sense of patriotism and vengance. Although anti-semetism had always been a part of Nazi propaganda, the anti-Jewish campaigns acted as a huge distraction for the German people after the defeat in stalingrad as emphasis was placed on Jewish war guilt to give people
During the 1930’s the main aims of Nazi propaganda were to instill a ‘military spirit’ into the German people and arouse more enthusiasm for war. There were parades, displays of flags and pictures of the fuhrer everywhere to maintain public morale and make the people more commited to the war effort. The over all message from propaganda was to emphasise that Germany was fighting a defensive war that they had not chosen but could not avoid.
Although the invasion of the soviet union in June 1941 didn’t bring an immediate change to Nazi propaganda, it did lead up to it. The success of the German troops in the first few months of the campaign led to a mood of confidence that the war would be over soon, but in reality it ended up as a costly and long drawn out endever. This had a greatly negative effect on the attitude of the German people; due to this, Goebbles ordered a more sober and realistic tone to the Nazi propaganda. He recognised the need to prepare the German people for a long struggle, one which for the survival of the German reich. He used propaganda to justify the increasing sacrifices that the people would need to make and to instill support for a strategy of total war.
During this change in propaganda, a number of points were focussed on. These points were anti-bolshevism – this theme was used to scare the German people with the threat of a soviet invasion through reports of the atrocities carried out by the red army troops, including rape, murder and even the massacre of polish officers at Katyn to generate an atmosphere of fear and hatred towards the USSR so that the people would support the war effort through a sense of patriotism and vengance. Although anti-semetism had always been a part of Nazi propaganda, the anti-Jewish campaigns acted as a huge distraction for the German people after the defeat in stalingrad as emphasis was placed on Jewish war guilt to give people