Goebbels and Riefenstahl had an immense effect on Nazi propaganda. Although Hitler came to power in 1933 through democratic means, he had to avail of many forms of propaganda in order to grip all aspects of people’s lives: social, political, economical, and personal. Nazi propaganda involved the use of deception and falsehoods to convince people to support Adolf Hitler’s agenda and follow his commands. With the help of Goebbels and Riefenstahl, Hitler found a way to indoctrinate and brainwash most Germans into both following and agreeing with his policies. He used the Berlin Olympics 1936 and the Nuremberg Rally’s to spread Nazi beliefs. He also used newspapers, books, radio and symbols to spread such ideas.

Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, used all available means to ensure the loyalty of the German people. The Nazis controlled the publication of newspapers and books. In 1933, Goebbels organised a book burning to destroy any books with anti-Nazi-unGerman ideas. The Nazis also took control of newspapers with Goebbels creating one official German News Bureau. A daily press conference was held at which editors were told what view to take on various issues. Jewish editors were fired and anti-Nazi newspapers were closed down. People were encouraged to buy a ‘Peoples Radio’ which could only receive Nai radio stations. Loudspeakers were placed in streets and bars for those who were not within reach of a radio. The most effective propaganda weapon Goebbels could deploy was the ‘Cult of Personality’. Slogans such as ‘Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Führer’ were used to get across the worship of Hitler. Goebbels created the image of Hitler through carefully staged photographs, portraits, posters and meetings.

Goebbels used huge gatherings such as the Nuremberg Rally’s to influence public opinion. The medieval city of Nuremberg was chosen by Hitler because of its links with German history. It was regarded as the unofficial capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Nuremberg was also a strong Nazi base with ‘Der Strumer’ an anti-semitic newspaper being published there: It was a central location with seven railway lines converging there. Nuremberg was seen as representing all that was best in German culture . Albert Speer, a young architect became involved in the organisation of the rally. He was asked by Hitler to draw up an overall plan for the Nazi Party grounds. The area had a series of large open spaces such as the Zeppelin Field, the Luitpold Arena and the March Field. The plans also included a number of large buildings such as the Congress Hall, these were linked by the Great Road. Hitler and Speer wanted to create buildings which would last 1,00 years. These buildings were also a form of propaganda as they would demonstrate Nazi power and reflect the glory Hitler planned for Germany.

Goebbels saw the Rallies as a way to glorify Hitler, spread Nazi ideology and celebrate Nazi achievements. One way of spreading Nazi propaganda was that each rally had a different theme, usually celebrating recent Nazi achievements. For example, the Rally of Freedom celebrated breaking the Treaty of Versailles with the introduction of conscription. Extensive use was made of symbols such as banners, flags and standards. The spectacular setting of the stadium, lit by bonfires and searchlights created a dramatic backdrop for Hitler’s speeches. They helped to reinforce his image as Germany’s saviour. Goebbels knew the importance of the rally as it sent thousands of Nazis home to all corners of Germany fired with new enthusiasm. At the 1935 Rally of Freedom, Hitler introduced the Nuremberg Laws which were a series of anti-semitic measures introduced by the Nazis to socially isolate Germany’s Jewish minority and deprive its members of their basic civil rights.

Leni Riefenstahl, a German film actress and director was asked by Hitler to make a documentary film of the 1934 Nuremberg Rally. Entitled ‘Triumph of the Will’, this film chronologically followed the events of that Rally from its opening ceremonies to Hitlers closing address. At the beginning, Hitler is seen descending by plane from the clouds, a modern-day saviour coming to help his people. Riefenstahl was an unusual choice in that she was not a member of the Nazi party. Riefenstahl used elaborate staging, mobile cameras and filmed at night to capture the intense, feverish atmosphere at Nuremberg. However, the film was not a box office success. People were put off by its endless scenes of marching and speech-making.

In 1936, Riefenstahl filmed the Berlin Olympics. The film was entitled ‘Olympia’ which she divided into two parts. She was the first to use many of today’s filmmaking techniques. In 1939, the International Olympic Committee honoured her for directing and producing that film. She was one of the first filmmakers to use tracking shots in a documentary. This involved placing a camera on rails to follow the athletes movement. The film is also noted for its slow motion shots. Riefenstahl played with the idea of under-water diving shots, extremely high and low shooting angles and panoramic aerial shots also. Riefenstahl filmed competitors of all races, including African-American Jesse Owens in what later would become famous footage.

Goebbels and Riefenstahl were key people in promoting Nazi propaganda. Both suffered as a result. Goebbels remained loyal to the end. After Hitler’s suicide, Goebbels, his wife and six children also committed suicide. In Riefenstahl’s case, she was cleared of being a Nazi. Riefenstahl claimed that she only directed films and was not a follower of Hitler’s ideas. However, ‘Triumph of the Will’ destroyed her career as a film director after the Second World War because of its association with the Nazis. Later in life she became well-known as a still photographer and an underwater photographer. Her life remained controversial, right up to her death in 2003, aged 101.

To conclude, Goebbels was very successful in creating a cult of personality for Hitler through his carefully written speeches, German News Bureau and mass gatherings. It is still hotly debated whether Leni Riefenstahl was a Nazi or not. There was no commentary in her films but one cannot ignore the fact that she portrayed Hitler as a God-like figure.

To what extent was Hitler’s foreign policy (1933-1939) responsible for the outbreak of WW2?

It is debatable that Hitler was solely responsible for the events in which lead to and occurred during the Second World War. Hitler was responsible to a large degree, however (don’t use however where you could use but), cannot be accountable for every aspect in which the sequence of events unfolded (Every aspect of the events that unfolded – you don’t need “in which” here). Lack of effectiveness from situations such as (This doesn’t really fit here, try “Problems with the Treaty”) The Treaty of Versailles, the failure of the League of Nations to keep the peace and the failure associated with the Appeasement between European Nations were also factors. However, Hitler, a ruthless dictator, brought much of the conflict upon himself with ideas already stated in his autobiography, Mein Kampf, outlining his ideas for foreign policy.

Hitler’s foreign policy was based on the Nazi party policies which sought to bring an end to Germanys restrictions under the Versailles treaty and to make Germany a great power again, to unite all German speakers into a greater Germany and to create a German empire in eastern Europe and thereby acquire land for German settlers in Poland and Russia. This policy was called Lebensraum. This paragraph doesn’t really add much to this particular answer.

Hitler had to proceed cautiously at first because his regime was viewed with great suspicion and Germany was isolated internationally. In 1933, in protest that the allies had not disarmed after ww1 (World War One), Germany left eh (the?) disarmament conference and the League of Nations. At the same time, Hitler intensified the programme of secret rearmament that had begun under the Weimar government. Hitler was an opportunist and one of his main tactics to get his foreign policy aims was to use the threat of war against Britain and France, as he knew that they were reluctant to go to war. The memory of ww1 (If you want to abbreviate, you have to write the full phrase out at least once, and put the abbreviation in brackets after it) was strong in these countries and they were prepared to compromise to avoid another war. Hitler used this fear to his advantage.

After ww1 Saarland had been placed under the control of the league of nations to allow the French to exploit its coalfields for 15 years. In January 1935 over 90 percent of the Saarland population voted to return to German control. The result was a major propaganda boost for Hitler who could claim his policies had the backing of the German people. In March 1935 Hitler announced that Germany was going to reintroduce conscription and create an army of over half a million men. he used the excuse that the other powers had not disarmed. He also said that Germany as going to build up its air force, Luftwaffe, and expand its navy. These actions were against the terms of the treaty of Versailles but were popular in Germany. Britain, Italy, and France formed the Stresa front to protest Hitler’s plans but took no direct action. Their united front was weakened by Britain, who had sympathy for Germany as they felt they had been treated harshly at Versailles. The three countries were also anti-communist and more worried about Stalin than Hitler. Fearing an expensive naval arms race against Germany, Britain agreed to limit the German navy to 35 percent of the size of the royal navy and no limit was placed on the number of submarines they could build.

Hitler’s next bold move was the remilitarisation of the Rhineland in 1936, which was banned by the treaty of Versailles. On 7 March 1936, Hitler moved 10,000 troops into the Rhineland. The League of Nations condemned this action but did nothing else as Britain was not prepared to take any action and France would not act without British support. Hitler concluded that Britain and France were weak and that he could get away with more aggressive actions.

Under the Treaty of Versailles, the allies had prohibited a union between Austria and Germany after ww1, even though there was strong support for this union in both countries. Hitler wanted to bring the land of his birth under German control and there was a Nazi party operating in Austria. In February 1938 Austrian prime minister Kurt von schusnigg (Schuschnigg) met Hitler at Berchtesgaden in the alps. He was threatened and bullied at the meeting and forced to place leading Austrian Nazi’s in his government. On his return to Austria, he tried to stop the spreading German influence by calling a referendum. This action enraged Hitler and von Schuschnigg was forced to reign. German troops were ‘invited in’ by the new prime minister, the Austrian Nazi leader Arthur seyss- inquart. Austria became a German province and was renamed ostmark. This event became known as the Anschluss.

Again, Britain and France did not act as Britain’s new prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, was following a policy for appeasement which involved giving in to Hitler’s reasonable demands to prevent another European war from breaking out. It was a popular policy at the time.

Hitler’s next target was Czechoslovakia, the only democracy in eastern Europe at the time, which contained a lot of industry and had a good army. It had a large German minority numbering over 3 million people. These Germans lived mainly in the Sudetenland and resented Czech control. Hitler encouraged the Sudeten Germans to demonstrate against Czech rule and to demand more control of their own affairs. He secretly set the date of 1 October 1938 for war with Czechoslovakia if the issue was not resolved. If Germany attacked Czechoslovakia, it would mean a general European war as the Czechs were allied with France. Chamberlain hoped to avoid this and felt there was some justification in the German demand for the region. H flew to Germany and met Hitler twice, following his policy of appeasement. Just when it seemed an agreement had been reached, Hitler made new demands and it looked as if war was inevitable. Mussolini knew Italy was not ready for war and he proposed a conference with Britain, France, Germany, and Italy to settle the dispute. They met in Munich on 28 September 1938, and the Czechs were not invited. Hitler presented the demands of his allies, Hungary and Poland, for Czech land. The British and French agreed to the demands and it seemed as if peace had been preserved. In March 1939 Hitler took over the Czech lands, and the occupation outraged British opinion and marked the end of appeasement. Britain guaranteed to come to the aid of Poland and other eastern European countries if they were attacked.

Hitler’s invasion of Poland was the eventual catalyst for ww2 (World War Two). The treaty had given Poland independence and economic control of the German-speaking port of Danzig. A polish corridor was created to give access to the sea, but the territory separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. In 1939 Hitler demanded the return of Danzig to Germany. Poland rejected this demand, and Britain and France agreed to support Poland. German propaganda accused the poles of mistreating the German minority who lived in their country. Hitler wanted to destroy Poland to gain lebensraum for the German people and create an empire in the east.

Tension grew, and Britain, France, and Germany were all trying to gain the support of the Ussr (This is an acronym so needs to be capitalized, USSR) in the vent (event) of the war. Stalin did not trust Britain and France and felt that they were encouraging Germany to attack Russia. He had been angered by the results of the Munich conference and was therefore prepared to listen to Germany. On 23 August 1939, Germany and the Ussr reached an agreement known as the Nazi-soviet non-aggression pact where both countries promised not to attack each other. Secretly they divided Poland and eastern Europe between them.

Hitler hoped the news of this pact would stop France and Britain from going to war if Germany attacked Poland. On 1 September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and on 3 September 1939 Britain den France declared war on Germany. Ww2 had begun.

In conclusion, Hitler was not the sole cause of the outbreak of world war 2, but he was the primary cause. Britain and France turning a blind eye to his aggressive expansionist policies through Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement and the ineffectiveness of the league of nations were also factors. The second world war would not have occurred without Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy aims but, despite their wishes to the contrary, the other European powers had roles in the outbreak of this war.

Feedback: It is clear from your introduction and your conclusion that you know exactly how you want to answer this question and what you want to say, but in the body of the essay, it becomes a bit unclear. While everything that you’re saying is correct and relevant information, you need to be clearer about which parts are evidence of Hitler’s role in causing WW2, and which parts are related to other factors. You also should be a bit clearer about how each event was a part of the cause of the War. Some of you paragraphs should not be paragraphs, as they could easily be in the paragraph before – remember, new point, new paragraph! You should try to incorporate some quotations into your essays to bring up your mark. Watch out for some small language errors, which I’ve highlighted in bold.

Cumulative Mark: Some of your paragraphs could achieve a 5 or a 6, which is quite good as it’s very hard to achieve higher marks here, but there are others that would score around a 3. In total, this essay would probably achieve around 46 out of 60. You can bring this up by making sure that every paragraph is relevant to the question, by making some stronger commentary on the information you’re providing, and by bringing up the number of paragraphs in your essay by splitting some of those really long ones into two shorter ones.

Overall Evaluation: For Overall Evaluation, this essay would score a mark of around 20, as its coherence and relevance to the question is not always clear. You can bring this up by clearly linking every paragraph to the question, and by providing more commentary.

Total Mark: 66/100