JOSEPH GOEBBELS
http://www.psywarrior.com/Goebbels.html
1897 -1945
German
Nazi Party member Joseph Goebbels became Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister in 1933, which gave him
power over all German radio, press, cinema, and theater.
In 1925 Goebbels met the party leader Adolf
Hitler. In 1926 he was made Gauleiter,
or party leader, for the region of
His work as a propagandist materially aided
Hitler's rise to power in 1933. When Hitler seized power in 1933, Goebbels was appointed Reichsminister for propaganda and national enlightenment.
From then until his death, Goebbels used all media of
education and communications to further Nazi propagandistic aims, instilling in
the Germans the concept of their leader as a veritable god and of their destiny
as the rulers of the world. In 1938 he became a member
of the Hitler cabinet council. Late in World War II, in 1944, Hitler placed him
in charge of total mobilization.
As Reichsminister for
Propaganda and National Enlightenment, Goebbels was given complete control over radio, press, cinema, and theater; later he also regimented all German culture. Goebbels placed his undeniable intelligence and his
brilliant insight into mass psychology entirely at the service of his party.
His most virulent propaganda was against the Jews. As a hypnotic orator he was second only to Hitler, and in his staging of
mass meetings and parades he was unsurpassed. Utterly cynical, he seems to have
believed only in the self-justification of power. He remained loyal to Hitler
until the end. On
Listed below are the principles purported to summarize what made Goebbels tick or fail to tick. They may
be thought of as his intellectual legacy. Whether the legacy has been reliably deduced is a methodological question.
Whether it is valid is a psychological matter. Whether or when parts of it should be utilized in a democratic society are profound and
disturbing problems of a political and ethical nature.
GOEBBELS' PRINCIPLES OF
PROPAGANDA
Based upon Goebbels'
Principles of Propaganda by Leonard W. Doob, published in Public
Opinion and Propaganda; A Book of Readings edited for The Society for the
Psychological Study of Social Issues.
1. Propagandist must have access to intelligence
concerning events and public opinion.
2. Propaganda must be planned
and executed by only one authority.
a. It must issue all the propaganda directives.
b. It must explain propaganda directives to important officials
and maintain their morale.
c. It must oversee other agencies' activities
which have propaganda consequences
3. The propaganda consequences of an action must be considered in planning that action.
4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy and
action.
a. By suppressing propagandistically desirable material which can
provide the enemy with useful intelligence
b. By openly disseminating propaganda whose content or tone causes
the enemy to draw the desired conclusions
c. By goading the enemy into revealing vital information about
himself
d. By making no reference to a desired enemy activity when any
reference would discredit that activity
5. Declassified, operational information must be
available to implement a propaganda campaign
6. To be perceived,
propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted
through an attention-getting communications medium.
7. Credibility alone must determine whether
propaganda output should be true or false.
8. The purpose, content
and effectiveness of enemy propaganda; the strength and effects of an expose;
and the nature of current propaganda campaigns determine whether enemy
propaganda should be ignored or refuted.
9. Credibility, intelligence, and the possible
effects of communicating determine whether propaganda materials should be censored.
10. Material from enemy propaganda may be utilized in operations when it helps diminish that
enemy's prestige or lends support to the propagandist's own objective.
11. Black rather than white propaganda may be employed when the latter is less credible or produces
undesirable effects.
12. Propaganda may be
facilitated by leaders with prestige.
13. Propaganda must be
carefully timed.
a. The communication must reach the audience ahead of competing
propaganda.
b. A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum moment
c. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point
of diminishing effectiveness
14. Propaganda must label events and people with
distinctive phrases or slogans.
a. They must evoke desired responses which
the audience previously possesses
b. They must be capable of being easily learned
c. They must be utilized again and again,
but only in appropriate situations
d. They must be boomerang-proof
15. Propaganda to the home front must prevent
the raising of false hopes which can be blasted by
future events.
16. Propaganda to the home front must create an
optimum anxiety level.
a. Propaganda must reinforce anxiety concerning the consequences
of defeat
b. Propaganda must diminish anxiety (other than concerning the
consequences of defeat) which is too high and which cannot be
reduced by people themselves
17. Propaganda to the home front must diminish
the impact of frustration.
a. Inevitable frustrations must be anticipated
b. Inevitable frustrations must be placed
in perspective
18. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement
of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.
19. Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong
counter-tendencies; instead it must offer some form of action or diversion, or both.
