Download World War II Propaganda

World War II Propaganda
The Power of Persuasion
A presentation by Janine Havanci and Julia Götze
Definition of „Propaganda“

A specific type of message presentation
aimed at serving an agenda

Propagates a philosophy or point of view

Aim: to actively influence people‘s
opinions
SUBDIVISIONS OF PROPAGANDA

Face-to-face communication
(social organisations, group discussions, speeches)

Audiovisual media
(television & sound motion pictures)

Audio media
( radio & loudspeakers)

Visual media
(essays, posters, cartoons, (school)books etc…)
German vs. British
Propaganda
1.1. German face-to-face communication
Political mass
assemblies
Speeches
Organisations (KdF)
Hitler – a talented speaker ?
( Art of Mass Seduction)




eloquent
rehearsed gesture
copied classical
literature
Started off calmly and
monotonously but
worked himself up
into hysteric yelling
1.2. British face-to-face communiation
•
Speeches
 May 13, 1940
Winston Churchill
"Blood, Toil, Tears
and Sweat”
First Speech as Prime
Minister to the House
of Commons
2.1. German audiovisual media
Leni Riefenstahl
(1902-2003)





Director
Producer
Actress
Dancer
Photographer
Propaganda Films
1933: Victory of Faith
1935: Triumph of the Will
Documentary films about the NSDAP‘s Reich Party Congress in Nuremberg
2.2. British audiovisual media
Wartime Cinema

Second World War interrupted progress

most studios closed, while a few continued to make films
for propaganda purposes

aimed to encourage patriotic feeling and boost national
morale
Wartime movies


•
•
„In which we serve“ (1942)
„Millions like Us“ (1943)
„London can take it“ (1940)
„Listen to Britain“ (1941)
Noel Coward
Joseph Goebbels



Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
 total control of communications media
a relentless Jew-baiter
nickname : „Poison Dwarf“
3.1. German audio media
The „Volksempfänger“
•
•
•
•
•
first produced in 1933
relatively cheap (65 RM)
most effective
propaganda medium
every 2nd household
owned one
hardly received foreign
stations
3.2. British audio media





BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
was formed 1927 by means of a royal charter
Radio was used for internal and external propaganda
broadcasted radio programmes to countries under the
control of Nazi – Germany
These programmes went out in 40 different languages
How did they get the enemy and the civilian
population to listen to their broadcasts?





-Radioleaflets were dropped from aircraft over the
enemy or friendly target areas and told the finder
exactly when and where the broadcast could be heard.
-Germans prepared many of them. They dropped them
on the Allied troops in Italy and later Europe
-sometimes they were prepared in two sizes- a large
sheet for dropping from aircraft - a small sheet for
delivery by artillery shell
-half a dozen different types were kown
-some were marked with AI or a small star
Radio Leaflets During Wartime

The use of radio as a medium of propaganda in wartime
was made famous during WWII by Tokyo Rose and Axis
Sally. The British listened to William Joyce (Lord Haw
Haw) broadcasting from Germany.

In later wars, American soldiers would hear the voice of
Hanoi Hannah and Baghdad Betty. Radio propaganda
can be broadcast over great distances to a large
audience at a relatively low cost.
Lord Haw – Haw
(William Joyce)
Tokyo Rose
Axis Sally
Radioleaflet
4.1. German visual media
„My Struggle“

author: Adolf Hitler

autobiographical

blueprint for his political plans

when he was at the reins,
millions of copies were sold

was as common to see as the
Bible in German housholds
Julius Streicher
Publisher of the Nazi
newspaper
„Der Stürmer“
Released anti-Semitic
books for children
one of the best
known Nazi-leaders
Circulation of „Der Stürmer“
Year
Circulation
1927
14,000
1933
25,000
1934
113,000
1935
280,000
1938
473,000
Facts about „Der Stürmer“
came out weekly
 should appeal to the common man
 short articles with short sentences
 simple vocabulary
 ideas were repeated
 cartoons were easily understood
 filled with stories about scandal, sex and
crime

Caricatures taken from „Der Stürmer“
Anti – Semitic books for children
The Toadstool

published in 1938

sometimes used in
schools
Pictures from „The Toadstool“
4.2. British visual media
Daily Express, Monday, April 28, 1941
German Tanks Enter Athens
Paratroops seize Corinth
Express Special War Despatch
„No Escape“
„Tanks charge“


The Homefront
The Homefront (II)
Allied Unity
The Fighting Forces
Comics and caricatures
„ I await your next ̍ inspiration ̍ , mein Fuehrer.“
Comics and Caricatures (II)
Fire Bomb Fritz
Disney and Nazi – Germany
Donald in Nutziland
Quote:
„The receptivity of the great masses is very limited,
their intelligence is small, but their power of
forgetting enormous. In consequence of these facts,
all effective propaganda must be limited to a very few
points and must harp on these slogans until the last
member of the public understands what you want him
to understand by your slogans […]
1)

Who might have said or written this
quote?
Adolf Hitler
„My Struggle“ Chapter 6
„War Propaganda“
2) Would you agree with this statement?
Thank you for your patience…