Propaganda Hitler

Propaganda: Hitler’s Weapon For Appeal Essay, Research Paper

Propaganda: Hitler.s Weapon

For Appeal

Nietzche wrote that, .Men believe in the truth of all that is seen to be strongly believed in,.1 and with the amount of followers that Hitler had achieved, he had gotten many to believe his words. Hitler was a man who could convince thousands that what he had planned for Germany was the only way to become free of war and torment. Propaganda is defined .as the publicity intended to persuade or convince people.2. Hitler.s use of propaganda, as well as the way that .he appealed to his audiences, is what drove him to the success which he achieved. The amount of propaganda involved with Hitler.s success was large. The way that he delivered the message of his beliefs, leading to the gathering of thousands to launch one of the largest revolutions known to our time. The speeches he gave, the posters he had printed, and the mass-media dedicated to his word, were all key aspects to this man that brought people together to fight for what .he. thought was right. Followers hung on his word, waiting to be taught more, waiting to be told what the next course of action was, waiting for him to lead them to a better world. But, what they thought was the better world for all of them was just better for one man, Hitler.

It is the political mass meeting that .the very act of deception. is consummated. Even the Italian Fascist Mussolini could not affect the crowd in the way that Hitler did. He used the same style to deliver his speeches, seducing followers as he did to become the leader. The same elements are found in every speech, contributing to the same effect. The speeches were all delivered in the late evenings, because he felt that any other time of day was impossible to conjure up the right atmosphere of tension and keyed-up expectation. He always gave examples to the crowd to boost morale; the .unknown soldier to the national hero., the .tiny group of starry-eyed idealists into history.s greatest movement., and the .betrayed and deserted fatherland into a great and powerful nation.. Hitler made his followers believe that an attack on the leader was also an attack on the ones that he ruled. This conjured fear in the people.s hearts, because they had to protect their leader against any attacks on themselves. When he delivered his speeches, everyone had to attend, because he believed that there were never enough attendants. The leader placed the idea of .strength in numbers. into the heads of the audience strongly, and made the people believe that they could overcome any other country.

The people.s attendance was almost an agreement to what Hitler had planned, but it was not clearly expressed what the agreement was. The audience was not being informed of what their part was in the master plan of their leader, but made to perform whatever it was that Hitler had planned. He used a system of .elimination of freedom., which he felt was necessary in the world of mass politics. This meant that he would slowly change the rules, allowing him to gain more control. New laws preventing rebellions and attempts to overthrow his government, gave Hitler complete control over what happened within the country. It is questionable to many historians whether or not any of this great politician.s speeches and messages ever ceased to contain elements of propaganda. His strongest affirmation was repetition, keeping his speeches on the grounds of knowledge that his listeners would be able to understand, giving him a relation between each group of people in the country.

Information is traded in a question-and-answer type form. New information is obtained by an answer to a previously uttered or merely implied question. This was taken over by the mass orator, yet changed into something completely different. Hitler transformed his .political meetings. to an instrument of political assertion. His question-and-answer game demonstrated the unity of the speaker and audience. He asked people what they wanted, but actually gave them a choice in a .yes. and .no. form only.

The meaning of his rhetorical Yes or No system of speaking the masses is founded upon three levels. The first being, it promised deliverance from the complexities the Germans were facing. A country in trouble, having no direction, leaving them open for a new way of life, new ideas, and new solutions for problems they did not know they had. The second, it was a hidden lie, because it hid the changes of front and the hesitations which characterized Hitler.s domestic policies and his diplomatic moves. Finally, it never brought forth No.s, the destructive nature and self-destructive nature of his moves were only part of it, but also the nature of the German.s expectations.

In the case of the battle against the Jews, Hitler places the idea of them being the ones at fault for the troubles by telling his people: .I ask myself: who in fact are these elements that do not want peace, that do not want quiet, that do not want reconciliation, that continue to hound us and that must sow the seed of distrust . who are they really..3 With this, and other questions of the same nature addressed to the audience, the only answer the crowd had was .the Jews.. He made the people believe that the Jews were the only ones to blame for every problem that they encountered. He placed a picture in the heads of his followers that