Breaking "News" March 2014 | Page 2

Hitler and Propaganda

Everyone has heard of the horrific accounts of World War II. They are aware of the genocide committed by Hitler, who killed millions of Jews. However, people may not be aware of Hitler’s power over the German people. While he was ruthless and cruel to one race, he was inspiring and persuasive to another. Hitler was able to persuade the people because of propaganda. He used propaganda as a way to contain power (Holmes). With propaganda on his side, Hitler was able to inspire and persuade people to think false things.

All during the war, the nations participating used propaganda to not only produce news, but also to inspire people at home to be a part of the cause (Scott). Hitler took full advantage of this. He held rallies/parades that gave him the opportunity to voice his propaganda through speeches (Holmes). He even created the Hitler Youth Movement for young German children to teach them the proper ways to live. The boys were trained for the army, and the girls were prepared for motherhood (Trueman). Hitler’s goal of the war was to kill the entire Jewish race and make a cult of the perfect people - according to Hitler’s standards. It is only logical to think that he was trying to create a purer, more perfect race because (1) he rid the world of what he thought was impure-the Jews and (2) he formed people into human robots that followed and obeyed his every command.

Although Hitler believed in inspiring people to join the war’s efforts, he also believed in persuading them with the use of false news. He viewed propaganda as a way to advertise politics to a larger number of people (Welch). Hitler’s view could not have been truer. By using propaganda, he was able to persuade people into thinking false news. However, he does state that propaganda is a way to convince the average person, but not someone who was of high intelligence (Welch). Even though some people were not able to be tricked by the news, the majority of the population, which was the average person, did. And all that mattered to Hitler was that the majority ruled. One example of Hitler’s persuasive news informants is when Germany attacked Poland. Germany attacked Poland because of territory the Germans thought they rightfully owned, but Hitler did not tell the people this. He told them that Germans were being persecuted and the only way to stop the persecutions was war (Scott). Many more events followed like this one with the same outcome.

Hitler was a cruel, manipulative, and smart man. He was able to persuade people to think his thoughts and follow his actions. Without his use of propaganda, he would not have been able to convince most of Germany to be on his side. Even if all have learned to hate and despise Hitler for his deeds, he also deserves a degree of respect and admiration for his accomplishments.

By:Sophia Tempanaro