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

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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?