Propaganda Research

One of the first things that comes up when a search on Google is performed for propaganda is how propaganda was used in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. From that point I found this website http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nazi-germany/propaganda-in-nazi-germany/ which gives a short overview to the Nazi regime and how they used propaganda and state control to promote one message.

From this website they mentioned a Nazi propaganda film Triumph of Will by Leni Riefenstahl that is claimed by the website to be “considered one of the greatest of propaganda films despite its contents.” (C.N. Trueman 2015)

I was then able to find this film on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHs2coAzLJ8 and I then watched it in it’s entirety. Viewing it with hindsight and knowing what was going to happen a few years later does make the film look sinister because the propaganda is so effective. It constructs a utopian viewpoint and promotes such things as military power and traditional German values and claims them for the Nazi party. Everyone looked healthy, strong and happy, with the focus on Hitler being the leader of this party that will give utopia to Germany.

There was also a strong connection to nationalism, with a vein of nostalgia and how the Nazi party would protect the nation and traditional values. There was even a promotion of obtaining peace through military might, a case of being the biggest bully in the playground so no-one picks on you, which now seems particularly sinister.

But it is a promotion of a certain viewpoint that they needed people to believe. Goebbels sold radios cheaply so that people could hear Hitler and never miss a speech, there were speakers placed in streets, institutions were set up to control the arts and books were burned that did not agree with the Nazi viewpoint.

I am tempted to continue researching Nazi propaganda, the period when there was still democracy in Germany but the Nazi party were gaining support. This would be the time when most propaganda would be used to gain support for the party.