Chapter 12 Selling a Totalitarian System 1 Why did Nazis image appeal to German voters 2 How did the Nazis use media to aid their rise to power 3 How could it have happened 1 Stock market crash of 1929 that led to the Great Depression made people lose faith in the Weimar government Hitler created poster that reads Women Millions of Men Are Without Work Millions of Children Are Without a Future Save the German Family Vote for Adolf Hitler pictures a desperate family in need a savior This is an example of the Nazis trying to gain Weimar s followers o People were now more willing to listen to Hitler o First drawn to Nazism o By default drawn to anti Semitism discrimination against Jews o Money and the promise of economic success appealed to them 2 Hitler had modern technology radio loudspeakers films party rallies unlike dictators before him so it was possible for all people to listen to one man o Goebbels said With the radio we have destroyed the spirit of rebellion o Loudspeakers were set up in the streets of Germany during important broadcasts for all to hear Hitler s speeches o Goebbels also used film to sway Hitler s views to German followers 3 Hitler s government controlled all media and information in Germany o Goebbels one of Hitler s closest associates used very successful propaganda Hitler explains in The Nature and Purpose of Propaganda from Mein Kampf that political reform could only be reached by achievement of political power that propaganda art must convince the public that the fact is real and necessary and that propaganda should be aimed at emotions Hitler explains in Terror in Politics from Mein Kampf that terror at a place of employment meeting hall and during mass demonstrations is necessary in order to be successful Hitler s S A Order 11 stated that the SA would always appear in public only in closed formation it was inappropriate for the SA to work in one way one day and differently the next and followed the motto kill or be killed This order showed Hitler s power and is also seen in the picture of the S A Propaganda Rally Hitler also put into place the S A Banner which read Everything for the Fatherland and had a swastika embellished on it Nazi meetings such as the Rally in the Berlin Sports Palace always opened with a procession of such banners This specific meeting had a 12 000 person audience The National Socialism Poster pictures 3 storm troopers and a swastika again symbolizing Hitler s growing power The Horst Wessel Song was the anthem of the Nazi Party co national anthem of Germany says the swastika gave hope to millions and that Germany s bondage would end soon The Nazi Pamphlet was propaganda to get small shopkeepers and craftsmen whose lives were threatened by competition from large department stores to join the Nazis to defeat them The Graph of Political Violence in Germany shows that political meetings fights and major battles increasing sharply under Hitler o Hitler outlawed the Communist party in 1933 o Restored military power o Defied the Treaty of Versailles o Too much power led to the Holocaust and WWII
View Full Document