Download Running head: PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY

Running head: PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
1
Propaganda Techniques of the Nazi Party
Elaina Frechette
Troy Hughes
Audrey Stowe
Rachel Veale
Texas Tech University
During World War II, the Nazi Party instilled anti-Semitism in the hearts of the German
people, exterminating two-thirds of the Jewish population over the course of six years. Adolf
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
2
Hitler led this charge, destroying the lives of millions and becoming one of the most powerful
dictators in the world. The Nazi Party’s success was largely due to their means of utilizing
propaganda in the mass media. During their reign, they took advantage of media outlets such as
radio, newspaper cartoons, and pamphlets to create a brand of Nazism that ultimately engraved
itself in history.
In their academic article, Adena, Enikolopov, Petrova, Santarosa, and Zhuravskaya
(2015) study the effect that radio propaganda played on the support of the Nazi Party during the
election period of 1933 and beyond. Additionally, Adena et al. (2015) study the impact of Nazi
radio propaganda on acts of anti-Semitism, and whether the persuasion of radio propaganda was
affected by the prior views of their audience.
The Nazi Party made significant efforts to control the radio waves and dominate their
listeners’ ears with propaganda during the election campaign of 1933. Over the course of five
weeks, Hitler, the recently appointed chancellor, spoke 16 times over the radio (Adena et al.,
2015). This exposure, coupled with the Nazi party’s blocking of all other campaigning parties,
led to “a significant increase in the Nazi vote share” in 1933 (Adena et al., 2015, p. 1919).
Joseph Goebbels, the Reich minister of propaganda in 1933, led the charge to mass produce an
affordable radio receiver that would significantly increase the numbers of radio listeners (Adena
et al., 2015). Goebbels knew of the significant power that mass media held, stating shortly after
Hitler was elected chancellor, “‘Now it will be easy to carry on the fight, for we can call on all
the resources of the State. Radio and press are at our disposal. We shall stage a masterpiece of
propaganda’” (Adena et al., 2015, p. 1886).
After the Nazis rose to power in the 1930s, they continued to use the radio to encourage
anti-Semitic acts, and the exposure to Nazi radio propaganda “ significantly increased both the
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
3
number of deportations of Jews and the number of letters to [the Nazi Newspaper] Der Stürmer”
(Adena et al., 2015, p. 1928). However, Adena et al. (2015) did find that Nazi anti-Semitic radio
propaganda had a dissuasive impact on listeners in places with historically low anti-Semitism,
and vice versa. In conclusion, Adena et al. (2015) found that Nazi radio propaganda increased
the support of the Nazi party during the election campaign and beyond, encouraged anti-Semitic
acts, and was especially effective when aligned with listeners prior dispositions (2015).
Newspaper cartoons were used as another propaganda technique during World War II.
The Nazi party used these cartoons to convey a strong message to the German people, that “the
Jews are our misfortune” (Coupe, 1998, p. 26). The Nazis used cartoons as a method of instilling
fear and conveying what they wanted, and their success in utilizing cartoons allowed them to
maintain power. In 1933, Hitler planned to destroy freedom of the press once he achieved power.
He made sure that “illustrated material had to be approved by a censor before publication”
(Coupe, 1998, p. 26). Censorship gave Hitler further power over the media, and he took
advantage of this power, using the newspaper and cartoons to exploit imagined enemies and
manipulate public opinion.
Many cartoons like the ones in Kladderadatsch, a German magazine, portrayed Hitler in
a positive way. Coupe (1998) explained that a cartoon in particular suggested that a vote for
Hitler was a vote for peace, with a slogan that reads ‘for equal rights, honour and peace.’ Other
cartoons from this magazine included sayings supporting Hitler’s leadership, such as “Hitler is
the seed of peace, not dragon’s teeth.” Another cartoon called “Traffic” showed a policeman
holding up the traffic so that ‘peace’ could cross the road. Hitler paradoxically preached peace
while he was physically torturing millions. When Hitler wrote Mein Kampf, he explained his
view of propaganda in the text. He was very clear on his opinion that propaganda works on the
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
4
broad masses, whose “intellectual capacity is only very limited, whose understanding is small,
but whose forgetfulness by contrast is great” (Coupe, 1998, p. 28). Coupe (1998) also explained
how the Nazi’s power of the media was so grand that they were capable of changing the
direction of it the moment the political plans of the party required it.
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War lead to the Nazis continuously portraying Stalin as
a monster in order to convince their people of the greater power they had. The Nazis didn’t stop
with Stalin; they continually depicted other countries and their leaders as if they were demons
trying to take advantage of their citizens. Propaganda during World War II was heavily taken
advantage of by the Nazis. As Coupe (1998) says, “the most effective propagandists had nothing
to offer for their readers’ comfort, except unrelieved Wagnerian gloom and the promise of
immortality through death” ( p. 31). This further explains just how cruel the Nazis were and how
they used media to brainwash Germans into believing their corrupt ways. The Nazis use of
political cartoons proved that even in a totalitarian and co-ordinated society, the political cartoon
could still make significant statements about the real state of the nation (Coupe, 1998).
As we’ve already proven, the mass media channels of the radio and newspaper cartoons
were the most important elements of the Nazi reign over Germany. In addition to those elements,
mass distribution and word-of-mouth propaganda techniques were used which made the Nazis
successful in their mission. Bytwerk’s article (2005) summarizes these propaganda techniques
and argues their direct effect to the genocide of the Jews.
Theodore Kaufman was an American Jew who published the book, Theodore N.
Kaufman’s Germany Must Perish!, which summarized a plan that would result in the
extermination of the German population. The book outraged Hitler. In response, he mass
distributed a pamphlet that summarized Kaufman's plan. Not only did newspapers provide full
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
5
coverage of the pamphlet, newsletters even sent out instructions to magazines on how to cite the
pamphlet within their copies. The book sparked a fire in the Nazis, and is considered to be one of
the first steps leading up to the mass genocide of Jews.
Bytwerks (2005) also illustrates the word-of-mouth propaganda, which was used
extensively to get Hitler's message across. Hitler never held back on his feelings and statements
about Jewry. He constantly used words such as ‘destroy’ and ‘exterminate’ in his speeches that
were broadcasted on radios and printed in newspapers."These words were repeated regularly in
public not only by Hitler and Goebbels, but also by leading Nazi books and periodicals and in the
speeches and conversations of hundreds of thousands of Nazi propagandists, who were instructed
to use these and similar words in presenting Nazi thinking to ordinary citizens" (Bytwerk, 2005,
p. 39). In addition to those hateful words, there were a lot of statements that couldn’t be printed
in newspapers because of their hostility; therefore, designated speakers were told to say things
like, "the Jews were responsible for the death of every single German soldier, and that they
would have to pay" (Bytwerk, 2005, p. 50). The Nazis utilized word-of-mouth and mass
distribution of pamphlets as propaganda techniques to spur on the genocide of Jews.
All of the propaganda techniques discussed henceforth contributed to the creation of the
brand of Nazism. In the article by Nicholas O’Shaughnessy (2009), the author expresses that
every move by the Nazis was made effective because of their techniques of making Nazism a
brand. The author further claims that Hitler’s success in the persuading of the German public was
made possible by branding Nazism. The Nazis’ knowledge of how to manipulate and use
propaganda made it easy for them to utilize imagery and symbolism to strike fear into those who
heard or saw it.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
6
“The Nazi Regime was founded and anchored in imagery: propaganda was the governing
philosophy, not merely a means to an end but an end in itself. Everything, from machinery to
documentaries to books to buildings, to art itself, was interrogated with a single question: what is
its persuasion value?” (O’Shaughnessy, 2009, p.55). One example of how the Nazis used
propaganda was through their military; they strategically held onto Stalingrad because of the
significance the city had through what it represented. If they could take it, not only would it be a
great military feat, but also deliver a demoralizing blow to their enemies (O’Shaughnessy, 2009).
Another reason that Hitler was so successful was because of Dr. Goebbels. “Nazi propaganda
had a supreme director, Dr. Goebbels, and a supreme star, Hitler himself” (O’Shaughnessy,
2009, p.56). Dr. Goebbels knew how the power of using propaganda could give them an
advantage in their war plans if used properly. In whatever avenue of propaganda they took, they
knew how to manipulate the story. They paid great detail into making Hitler one of the biggest
actors in Germany of that time. “Hitler himself once said, ‘I am the greatest actor in Germany’”
(O’Shaughnessy, 2009, p.57). Hitler’s branding was extensive and involved many different roles.
He was on many magazines, films, photographs, and newsreels to get his presence out and large.
Even the use of the swastika was strategically thought out to be used in the brand of Nazism
(O’Shaughnessy, 2009). Although its meaning was misrepresented, it is now a major symbol of
Nazism. Just like the swastika is widely recognized today, so is the brand of the Nazi Party.
In the wrong hands, propaganda can inflict irreparable damage. Such was the case with
the Nazi party, which wiped out six million people over the span of six years. By abusing the
mass media outlets of the radio, newspaper cartoons, and pamphlets, the Nazi party was
successful in creating a brand for themselves that will be remembered for the rest of time.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
7
Reference Page
Adena, M., Enikolopov, R., Petrova, M., Santarosa, V., Zhuravskaya, E. (2015). Radio
and the rise of the Nazis in prewar Germany. The Quarterly Journal of
Economics, 130 (4), 1885-1939.
Bytwerk, R., (2005). The Argument for Genocide in Nazi Propaganda. Quarterly Journal
of Speech, 91(1), 37-62.
Coupe, W.A., (1998). Cartoons of the Third Reich. History Today, 48(9), 26-32.
O’Shaughnessy, N., (2009). Selling Hitler: Propaganda and the Nazi brand. Journal Of
Public Affairs, 9(1), 55-76.
PROPAGANDA TECHNIQUES OF THE NAZI PARTY
8