Download - Censorship and propaganda in nazi Genrmany
CENSORSHIP AND PROPAGANDA
INTRODUCTION.
Censorship is the control of information and ideas
that are circulated within a society.
Propaganda is the manipulation of information to
influence the public's opinion it uses a number of
techniques such as emphasizing the bits of
information that support a position and minimizing
and excluding the bits that don’t .
CENSO
RSHI
P!
THE PRESS IN NAZI GERMANY.
The newspapers in Nazi Germany were
encouraged by the Nazi’s, but they had to provide
views which the ministry agreed with or face the
consequences.
If they said anything bad about the Nazi’s and the
Nazi Party then they would be in serious trouble,
because Hitler was such a strong leader they knew
they weren’t allowed to dis-respect their chancellor/
president.
CONTINUED.
Journalists were given regular briefings containing
the information the government were willing to
publicise they were sometimes given direct
instructions on what to write.
Under these circumstances, there could be no free
press in Germany every newspaper was a Nazi
Newspaper.
UNIVERSITIES.
The Nazi’s had little respect for academic research and had often viewed
it as a waste of time. The Nazi Education Minster once said “ A road-
sweeper sweeps 1000 microbes with a stroke; a scientist preens
himself on discovering a single microbe” . Between 1933 and 1938,
3000 professors of lecturers were dismissed from jobs.
Research was heavily directed by the Ministry and results were expected
to support Nazi views. All academics who remained had to agree publicly
to things which were clearly made no sense.
“Physics is the creation of the German mind… in fact, all
European science is the fruit of Aryan thought.”
THE ARTS. (LITERATURE)
The Nazi’s decided what literature German people
could access. Books with views which they didn’t like
was censored. Millions of books were taken from
university and public libraries and burned on huge
public bonfires. On one occasion students in Berlin
burned 20,000 books written by Jews, communists
and anti-Nazi authors destroying books, For
example of Freud, Einstein and Thomas Mann.
THE ARTS. (MUSIC)
Music was also censored. Jazz music was banned; it was
seen as black music and therefore inferior. The work of
Mendelssohn was also banned because he was partly
Jewish.
Richard Wagner, in contrast, was promoted because he
put to music heroic legends from the past. Beethoven,
Bach and Traditional German folk music were also
favoured.
This is the type of music that was allowed in Nazi Germany ,as it was Beethoven a famous and successful German it was not banned or censored.
THE ARTS. (ART)
As an artist Hitler had very strong views in this
area it was heavily censored on racial and political
grounds, or just as a matter of taste.
The Ministry disapproved, for example, of almost
all modern art. The Nazi’s preferred art which
showed images of perfect German men and women
or heroic German folk tales.
THE ARTS. (THEATRE)
In the theatre, plays about German history and
politics were favoured as long as they reflected Nazi
views. For this reason, cheap theatre tickets were
made available- plays were a good way of getting
Nazi views across.
This effected the public greatly as it suppressed
free expression and creativity.
The Nazis frequently staged plays about German history and politics. Frederich schiller and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe were shown to create a greater sense of national community
This is one of the Paintings in Nazi Germany which shows Aryan men and women , something the Nazis considered to be perfect and “true” Germans.
PROPAGANDA
INTRODUCTION.
Goebbels learned many ways to publicise the Nazi
Party. But from 1933, Goebbels could use all the
resources of the government to publicise Hitler and
his views on every aspect of society. Some of these
ways just continued methods used by the Nazi’s in
the 1920’s. For example:
This is an example of a Nazi propaganda poster showing Hitler as a god like being with rays of light beaming on him. Posters like this were used to promote the Hitler Myth “one empire, one people, one leader”
Posters
RADIO.
Goebbels started to use the power of the radio.
All radio stations were put under the Nazi control.
Hitler and other Nazi officials made frequent broadcasts.
Cheap mass-produced radios were sold or placed in
frequent café’s, factories and schools; speakers were even
placed in the street. By the 1930’s there were more radio’s
per person in Germany than anywhere in Europe.
Hitler held mass rallies every
year to emphasise and advertise
the strength, unity and
organisation of the Nazi party.
CINEMA.
Goebbels also influenced films shown at cinemas. With audiences of over
25o million in 1933, they obviously had excellent potential for getting the
Nazi views across.
Films were shown along side a 45-minute official newsreel, publicising
Germany’s achievements
Film-makers had to send the plot of every new film to Goebbels for
approval.
Some films had overtly political messages, like Hitlerjunge Quex (1933)
in which a young member of the Nazi party was killed by communists.
Triumph des Willens
("Triumph of the Will")
was a documentary depicting the
Third Reich's 1934 Nuremberg Party Rally.
Featuring a cast of thousands as well as, of course,
Hitler, Himmler, Goebbels, Hess, Goering and
other top party officials.
It was used to glorify the Nazi party and give it a
sense of idealism to the public.
SPORT.
Hitler and Goebbels also used sport to show Nazi Germany a good
light. Their best opportunity to do this came in 1936 when the Olympic
Games were held in Berlin.
The Nazi’s built an Olympic stadium which could hold 110,000 people
and was the largest in the world, to reflect the power of Germany.
All the events were faultlessly organised, to show off German Effiency.
Germany won 33 gold medals, more than any other country- and more
silver and bronze too. The Nazi’s claimed this was proof of Aryan
superiority.
CONTINUED.
There was only 1 embarrassment for the Nazi’s at
the Olympics; the black American athlete, Jesse
Owens, broke Olympic records 11 times in heats and
finals and won four gold medals. Hitler refused to
present medals to any of the nine black US medal
winners.
This helped the Nazi’s gain more control and
power over Germany and it helped to get them more
votes in the Reichstag. It also Hitler made look good
and strong leader.
I think this helped him get into power because it
publicised what he did and the way he wanted to run
the country.
ON WHITEBOARDS!
What is the difference
between Censorship and
Propaganda?
ON WHITEBOARDS.
Do you think this helped
Hitler get into power?
If so, why?
If not, why?
ON WHITEBOARDS.
How do you think the Nazi censorship and propaganda effected the German people?
Do you think you would have been influenced by it if you were in Germany at the time?
What do you think was the most
effective technique used in getting Hitler
into power?
Censorship?
Or
Propaganda?