Bending Spines: The Propagandas of Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic

by Randall L. Bytwerk

Why do totalitarian propaganda such as those created in Nazi Germany and the former German Democratic Republic initially succeed, and why do they ultimately fail? Outside observers often make two serious mistakes when they interpret the propaganda of this time. First, they assume the propaganda worked largely because they were supported by a police state, that people cheered Hitler and Honecker because they feared the consequences of not doing so. Second, they assume that propaganda really succeeded in persuading most of the citizenry that the Nuremberg rallies were a reflection of how most Germans thought, or that most East Germans were convinced Marxist-Leninists. Subsequently, World War II Allies feared that rooting out Nazism would be a very difficult task. No leading scholar or politician in the West expected East Germany to collapse nearly as rapidly as it did. Effective propaganda depends on a full range of persuasive methods, from the gentlest suggestion to overt violence, which the dictatorships of the twentieth century understood well. 
     In many ways, modern totalitarian movements present worldviews that are religious in nature. Nazism and Marxism-Leninism presented themselves as explanations for all of life—culture, morality, science, history, and recreation. They provided people with reasons for accepting the status quo. Bending Spines examines the full range of persuasive techniques used by Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic, and concludes that both systems failed in part because they expected more of their propaganda than it was able to deliver. 
 

Genres: History, Germany, Nonfiction, Politics

228 pages, Paperback

First published July 31, 2004

About the author

Randall L. Bytwerk is a Professor of Communication at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Reviews

[Zeke Jakub · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great review of propoganda

In our current climate of selective groupthink, overt propaganda and mis-truths and lies spread throughout the media in politics, this is a great reminder of the systems setup by Nazi Germany and the German Democratic Republic. Furthermore why they worked for some time but ultimately failed.

[Reinhardt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at how propaganda and censorship functioned in Nazi Germany and later Communist East Germany. There were many similarities with the man in differences being how the apparatus was organized. The Nazi, like almost all their governmental functions, was organized with competing and overlapping departments.

One of the remarkable facts is the East German constitution guaranteed free expression. Yet clearly this was not the case. There was no official censorship bureau. The vast majority of censorship was self censorship, or in some cases editorial and publisher censorship.

Also of note is the use of TV for propaganda. The East German narrative programming was so heavily propagandize that few watched it. ( The Nazis were a bit better at narrative propaganda, largely due to Goebbels expertise in this area.)

The news on the other hand was widely followed. This is not to say believed. News media was widely recognized to be propaganda, yet people wanted to know what was happening in the world, even if it was from a highly biased source. Sound familiar?

But again, what is remarkable is the almost non-existent official censorship. Censorship was managed with a deft touch. The press for example required press credentials and had to belong to the national press association. Write one article that was disliked by the ruling party, and your credentials were pulled. This happed very, very infrequently. In almost every case, journalists would Go along to get along. Everyone knew the line and stayed well back of it.

This has frightening similarity to the contemporary Western situation. We don’t face Uni-party states, at least not yet, but self censorship darkens the sky of 98% of media outlets. Fear of Twitter mobs keeps almost all Journalist and media outlets in line with the Twitter apparatchiks. This demise of free speech is bound to have consequences for our democracies.

What did take everyone by surprise when communism crumbled was the speed at which the East German ideology collapsed. Almost overnight people tossed socialism overboard. They were all living a lie, but no one was willing to admit it as long as the party held power.

This is one of the most powerful techniques of propaganda. Make people assume everyone agrees with the party. This technique was used in Nazi Germany and in East Germany (and is a common tactic of the Twitter radicals). The East Germans for example encouraged people to post pro government signs in their shop windows. Encouraged — “it would be a shame if your store ran into problems.”

With these slogans in every window, one could never know if they believed or were just going along. The rapid demise demonstrated the country was not filled with true believers, rather filled with a population afraid to make waves.

One wonders what is in store for the absurd agitprop of identity politics.