Nazi Propaganda

"Propaganda is the art of nearly deceiving one 's friends without quite deceiving one 's enemies." F. M. Cornford once offered this as an offhand explanation of what he believed propaganda to be. In reality, the human behavior of propaganda has grown from its origination into a complex web of technique and strategy. It can be traced back to as early as written accounts could have been taken, such as the Arthashastra, which was written around the 4th century BCE. Written by Chanakya, it discussed propaganda in a variety of aspects.
As one looks through history 's timeline, propaganda can be observed to have spread from the Maurya Empire of ancient India into the writings of Romans, such as Livy. This may not specifically mean propaganda originated in India and then spread out past Rome and so forth, but offers the point that it is a human behavior which has roots in the earliest years of human civilization. It became blatantly public, though, during World War II with the Nazi movement.
World War II was sparked by the invasion of Poland by Germany on September 1st 1939. Led by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi party invaded in accordance with a secret agreement with the Soviet Union, which was destined to join their forces on September 17th. War was declared on September 3rd, at 11:15 GMT, as a response from France along with the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. South Africa joined this movement on September 6th, and Canada joined it on September 10th. In Hitler 's wake, Poland, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium, and France were left powerless. Yugoslavia and Greece joined this list within the ensuing year.
Hitler 's ideology of a pure Aryan race set the stage for the atrocities to humanity committed by him and his Nazi party, the most widely known being the Holocaust. The Holocaust was Hitler 's final solution to the Jewish "question." The final result of this genocide was the death of approximately six million Jews, twenty-two hundred Sinti and Roma, six million Poles, five hundred thousand Servs, nearly five hundred thousand Bosniaks. The murder of Europe consisted of the Jewish, the mentally or physically disabled, homosexuals, Africans, Jehovah 's Witnesses, Communists and political dissidents, trade unionists, Free Masons, Eastern Christians, and the Catholic and Protestant. The total estimate of Holocaust victims has been as high as twenty-six million. An estimate of sixteen hundred Jews committed suicides in Berlin. The Nazi controlled territories were forced to surrender on May 1945, when the Allies finally entered Germany, completely ending World War II.
The arrival of the Great Depression in Germany, in 1930, was the political turning point in Hitler 's rise to power. The Weimar Republic was openly opposed by right wing conservatives, as well as monarchists, communists, and the Nazis. The new Chancellor Heinrich Bruning of the Roman Catholic Sentre Party was lacking a majority in the Parliament. Bruning 's measure of budget consolidation and financial austerity brought little economic improvement and was extremely unpopular. Hitler appealed to the farmers, war veterans, and the middle class, who had been hard hit by both the inflation of the 1920 's and the unemployment of the Depression.
In 1932, Hitler ran against president Paul Von Heidenburgh during the election. Hitler didn 't even have a German citizenship at the time. Hitler was supported by a broad range of reactionary nationalists, monarchists, Catholics, Republicans and even by the social democratic party. He ran against the Communist presidential candidate. His campaign was called "Hitler uber Deutschland." (Hitler Over Germany) The name had a double meaning. There was a reference to Hitler 's dictatorship and also the more literal reference to his aerial campaign. This was a brand new political tactic that allowed Hitler to speak to more than one city in any given day. Hitler came in second on both rounds, and gained 35% of the votes during the second election. Even though he lost, the election established Hitler as an alternative in German politics. January 30th 1933, Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor. Next, He presented the Parliament with the Enabling Act.
Hitler founded a government using a combination of his legislative and executive power. Many of the other German political parties were banned and labor unions were merged with employers federations into an organization under the Nazi control. "Nazi" was a member of the Nationalist Socialist Germany Worker Party. Nazism believed in the superiority of the German race, or in other words an "Aryan master race." The ideological race was be spread throughout the nation by using propaganda.
Propaganda affected the German mass media to a point where the language began to alter. Words of normal society began to acquire negative implications and slogans for the purposes of the Nazi party under the sense of Nazism. Everyday words would change into battle words. "Battle for jobs. Struggle for existence. Fight for culture." (Evans, 214). The phrases or slogans, were already modified into the society 's language, making everyday a battleground. "The language itself began to mobilize war" (Evans, 215). War was put upon the society everyday, making each day a battle for survival. The German language became strident, aggressive and militaristic.
The Third Reich was introduced in 1944 along with many other new Reich offices, authorities, and ministries. Legislative branches meant that there was no separation of powers. The Third Reich was eliminating any kind of possibility of thinking about dissent and resistance. Propaganda was used as a business. Seducing many middle class voters who were promised many benefits of the new regime.
Nazi propaganda hit an area that would overlap between Nazi ideology and other ideologies. It was also able to build on existing beliefs and values and to create new consensus that encompassed the majority of Germany. The Nazi 's put a spin on events that would play upon existing "fears and prejudices." This was one type of propaganda. "Fear" or ""black propaganda" is identified as being from one source, but then really from another one. It was as if there was a common disguise to the truth of propaganda, even if it originated from an enemy country or from an organization with a negative public image. This type of propaganda would also work in other countries and other societies.
Another type of propaganda is the "glittering generalities." This is a type of propaganda, in which, the message and the information being put forth would be very vague. This is the main tactic that the Nazi 's used to keep their potential at a high level. "Glittering generalities are emotionally appealing words applied to a product or idea, but which present no concrete argument or analysis." (Evans, 79) The Nazi 's would be intentionally vague so that the audience would be unable to clearly analyze and or interpret the information, therefore dictating the outcome of this information for their own purposes. The real intention was to move the audience by slogans and undefined phrases. The masses were eventually brainwashed into thinking that these slogans were true.
Hitler and Gobbels used to "flatter the masses by telling them that they did not need to work as hard at understanding the complexities of the world around them, because their leaders would make what they would instinctively realize to be their right choices." (Evans, 143) This technique was successful because of the positive reinforcement it offered its audience. The listeners were gently reassured that everything was under control, and had no reason to argue what was being said by their leaders. This was exactly the effect Hitler had in mind. Throughout a majority of his rallies, Hitler was strategically optimistic
Testimonial propaganda was used throughout the propaganda lifestyle. This type of propaganda consisted of taking famous quotes that were in or out of context and switching them around to make it seem as if the idea was in a different favor. These quotes were cited repeatedly, which got the audience accustomed to hearing them. The goal was to ultimately have the audience accept these opinions and beliefs as it 's own. Testimonial propaganda resembled "glittering generalities" in the way they both manipulated the audience 's consent.
A major type of propaganda is "transfer" also known as "association." This propaganda was known for either acknowledging or blaming something. It was either a negative or a positive output. The main characteristic of this form of propaganda was its emotive implications. "Everything had, therefore, to be stated in crudely emotive terms." (Rutherford, 8). In March of 1939, Hitler made a speech talking about the Jewish people and what must be done with them. "National Socialism concerns the leaders of the world, it moves the peoples. Germany is at the center of the world, and the world asks: "What is Adolf Hitler doing?" That is their nervous question. "My party comrades, today the swastika forces the world to take a position for or against us. The world must decide, it has no choice. There can be no compromise. The Jew leads the other world. It is all or nothing. There is no going back." (Ley, 4-6) This quote explains how everything was blamed on the Jews. Either one was for them or against them. The "association" technique made the people of Germany either go for or against, there was no undecided sector. The last most important form of propaganda is basic repetition and simplicity. Propaganda must be easy to understand and to remember. As far as possible, propagandists make their appeals in simple, catchy slogans that they repeat over and over. The Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler wrote: "The intelligence of the masses is small. Their forgetfulness is great. They must be told the same thing a thousand times." (Rutherford, 86) This tied into all the different types of propaganda. The visuals that were present throughout his rule included the image of the swastika, which resembled power to Germany. Two, was the Aryan race, which was Hitler 's goal. The last image was of Hitler himself, showing strong leadership. The swastika was the image of power over Germany. This symbol was repeatedly visible throughout Hitler 's regime. Swastikas were the symbol of Nazism throughout the Nazi era. The swastika was an ancient symbol in the form of an equal armed cross with each arm continued at a right angle. The swastika was taken even earlier from Hinduism which was an ancient symbol for power and eternity, which later was often placed on Buddha 's chest, became associated as the self image of Hitler.
The swastika was the image of Germany. The swastika represented the revolution that Hitler caused. Hitler 's target was the "broad masses."(Rutherford, 8). The swastika to Germany meant, power. The Nazi swastika was designed by Friedrich Krohn, formerly a member of the Germanen Order, a secret order founded by followers of Guido von List. Krohn 's design was adopted around 1920. Ever since, this ancient Hindu sacred symbol of auspiciousness has become inextricably associated with the perverse doctrines of the German Nazis. The swastika originated from the Greek cross. Each color signified a different meaning. The dominant areas were of red-spilt blood, while the white symbolized purity and was used to accent the arms of the swastika. The thickness of the arms were in a dense black to make it stand out and be the center or attention.
The Aryan race was present throughout the visual propaganda because of Hitler 's goal. His goal was to have a perfect race. Often associated by the "blonde-hair, blue-eyes" description, the Aryan race was, in several Germans ' minds, the perfect future of the world. They believed that if they could replace a majority of the population of western Europe with Aryans, they would be much happier. That race extruded the thought of any Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, etc. The simplicity and repetition, was what kept Hitler 's mesmerism over the German population. Throughout the visual propaganda the swastika, "ideal race", or Hitler was always present. These visuals made the people of Germany keep thinking about the present situation. All of Hitler 's ideas were put into visuals symbols, slowly warping the minds of society. Hitler wanted to have the most power, he wanted to be the center of the universe. He believed that Germany was the image of power. He used three images throughout his rule, the swastika, which represented power to Germany, the Aryan race, which represented his goal, and his self-image, which represented his leadership. This piece of propaganda was from The Nazi Party 's Central Propaganda Office published a weekly poster designed for public display. The large print translates as "The Führer is victory!" The quotation by Hermann Göring is: "Shoulder to shoulder in eternal comradeship with our brave allies, we are victorious on every front. The front lines are sure. The enemy 's treasures are in our hands. All that remains is to capture his last fortress. Let us therefore close our ranks and form a steel chain for our Führer and our beloved fatherland." This piece of visual propaganda has the swastika present and the quote is saying that Germany is powerful and that they are able to defeat anyone who comes across them.

The Aryan race is present throughout the visual propaganda. The Aryan race, his idea of perfection was his goal. In most of the posters there were images of smiling, happy children and or women, the phrase that was attached always said something about joining an organization. This poster (to the right) shows a young girl in a school uniform with neat hair and the swastika flag in the background. This poster means "Every ten-year old to Us ' is the appeal of this poster to join the BDM." (Rutherford, 35). The ten-year-old girl resembles what good the organization will do and the honor of being in the organization. This poster (to the left) is of a young woman with blond hair and blue eyes dressed up for work. This poster is from the 1930 's encourages women to sign up for the labor service. The caption: "A wonderful task: Reich Labor Service Women 's Leader: A job for today!" (Brooks, 34) the slogans of the posters, of happy German citizens made the average people believe that in a society in which there were party members, their status would be elevated, and their lives would be improved. These words and these messages appeared everywhere and all the time, brainwashing people into absolute belief in their veracity. This is a plain example of the "optimism" Hitler tried to express and stir into the masses. The last and final type recurring in visual propaganda is the self-image of Hitler. The images of Hitler expressed his leadership of Germany. Usually, Hitler 's face is a strong noble face, without any sign of affection and other such. In many of the visual propaganda of Hitler, Hitler would be standing with another, which showed either great affection or passion for him as a leader. For example, in this one poster (to the left) it shows a young boy with Hitler in the background. The text of this 1940 poster reads: "Youth Serves the Führer. All 10-year-olds into the Hitler Youth." Membership in the Hitler Youth had become mandatory in 1936. Once again, he is making individuals join certain groups. In this group, he is making the all the ten year olds join into the Hitler youth. This is so that all the young children grow up to praise Hitler. Hitler is making the younger generations think like him, so that the next leaders, are exactly the same way he is. Hitler wanted to make Germany the most powerful country, this he tried to accomplish by conditioning the younger generations into a certain image of superior Germany. This next poster (to the right) has the most common slogan used throughout his regime. This poster urged a "Yes" vote on one of the four referendums Hitler called during the 1930 's. Hitler has a strong noble face, with his uniform on to show that he is a strong political leader. The word "ja" or yes meant to vote for him as a leader for Germany. This was one of the most common slogans and since it was so simple it was used over and over again. In keeping Hitler 's regime, through his propaganda the most affective technique was his use of simplicity and repetition. Mainly he used three images in all this visual propaganda. One was the swastika, which resembled the power of Germany. Second was the Aryan race which only consisted of blond hair blue eyes, this was considered Hitler 's perfect race. Finally the last image that was most present, was his self-image. This represented his powerful leadership. Combined these three, portray the ideology of the Nazi party and his leadership. These were some of the most powerful strategies ever used by government propaganda to condition it 's citizens into submission, obedience, and fear, eventually erasing any consciousness of any universal right and wrong. BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Rutherford, Ward. Hitler 's Propaganda Machine. New York: Bison Books Corp., 1978
• Bernays, Edward. Propaganda. Canada: Ig Publishing, 2005
• Bytwerk, Randall. Bending Spines. Michigan: Michigan State University press, 2004
• Evans, Richard. The Third Reich in Power. New York: Penguin Books, 2005
• Evans, Richard. The Coming of the third Reich. New York: Penguin Books, 2003
• Bytwerk, Randall. "German Propaganda Archive" Bending Spines, February 23, 2007, http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ww2era.htm

Bibliography: • Rutherford, Ward. Hitler 's Propaganda Machine. New York: Bison Books Corp., 1978 • Bernays, Edward. Propaganda. Canada: Ig Publishing, 2005 • Bytwerk, Randall. Bending Spines. Michigan: Michigan State University press, 2004 • Evans, Richard. The Third Reich in Power. New York: Penguin Books, 2005 • Evans, Richard. The Coming of the third Reich. New York: Penguin Books, 2003 • Bytwerk, Randall. "German Propaganda Archive" Bending Spines, February 23, 2007, http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ww2era.htm