Nuremberg Rallies

• Mass rallies were an integral part of Nazi organization and propaganda.

• Annual party rally held in Nuremberg each August or September.

• Julius Streicher made Nuremberg into the 'holy city' of the Nazi movement.

• The Nazi Party held its first rally in Munich (1923).

• It wasn't until 1927 that the rallies were moved to Nuremberg.

• Prior to Hitler's coming to power, the rallies were used to show the strength of the Nazi Party and to impress German public opinion.

• It was not until 1933, after Hitler came to power, that the Nuremberg Rallies took on the shape so well known to the world.

• Albert Speer was involved in the organization of the 1933 rally.

• Hitler and Speer wanted to create buildings which would last 1,000 years.

• Hitler believed in Speers theory of 'ruin value' - that ancient ruins provided proof of the greatness of previous civilizations.

• These buildings would demonstrate Nazi Power and reflect the glory Hitler planned for Germany.

• The rallies were used to:

   1. Glorify Hitler

   2. Spread Nazi ideology

   3. Mobilize the mass of the German people

• one way of spreading Nazi propaganda was that each rally had a different theme, usually celebrating recent Nazi achievements.

• In 1933, the Nazis celebrated their rise to power in the Rally of Victory.

• In 1934, the Nazis emphasized the oneness of Germany in the Rally of Unity and strength. Leni Riefensthal filmed Triumph of the Will at this rally.

• In 1935, the Rally of Freedom celebrated breaking the Treaty of Versailles with the introduction of conscription.

• In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws against the Jews were passed at a special meeting of the reichstag in the city.

• In 1936, the Nazis celebrated the remilitarization of the Rhineland in the Rally of Honor.

• In 1937, the Rally of Greater Germany celebrated the Union with Austria (Anchluss) in that year.

• Hitler used the occasion of the rally to put pressure on Czechoslovakia (and also Britain and France) over the Sudetenland. The *Munich Conference was held shortly after this rally resulting in the transfer of the Sudetenland to Germany.

• The Nazis named the rally in 1939 as the Rally of Peace but this was cancelled when the German army invaded Poland.

• Triumph of the Will showed how the cult of Hitler was promoted. At the beginning, Hitler is seen descending by plane from the clouds as a modern-day savior coming to save his people.

• Leni Riefensthal was commissioned by Hitler in 1934 to film the Nuremberg rally. Nuremberg became a giant stage with flags, banners, marches and torches.

• Riefensthal used 30 cameramen and over 100 technicians. Triumph of the Will is often regarded as one of the masterpieces of film propaganda.

• In 1935, the Reichstag had a meeting in Nuremberg on the last day of the Rally, here it passed the Nuremberg laws against the jews. Jews became second-class citizens.

• The 1939 Rally had the theme Rally of Peace but it was canceled due to the outbreak of the Second World War on September 1st 1939.

• By then Nuremberg became a key symbol for the Nazis, This along with its role as a center of war production led to massive Allied bombing which flattened most of the city.

• After the war, the US Army held a victory parade there and blew up the swastika which was behind the reviewing stand. The trials of the Nazi war criminals were deliberately held in the city.

Propaganda

• Propaganda is the use of the media to promote one point of view.

• Propaganda is brainwashing the public, convincing them of an idealogical viewpoint.

• Gobbels was the Minister of Public Enlightenment.

• He was responsible for running the Nazi Propaganda machine.

• Tasked with ensuring the views of the Nazi party were persuasive.

• Propaganda methods:

    - Posters

    - Radio

    - Film

    - Newspapers

• Nazi propaganda focused on:

    - Anti-semitism

    - Militarism

    - Supremacy of the aryan race

    - Cult of the Fuhrer (Hitler focal point of nation).

    - Traditional german 'volks' culture.

• Radio: The peoples receiver, limited range in order to only hear Nazi broadcasts

• All news broadcasts came through the Nazi office of Propaganda.

• Between 1932-1939 the number of families with radios rose from 25% to 70%.

• Gobbels described the radio as "The spiritual weapon of the totalitarian state"

• In 1933, Goebbels organized a book burning to destroy any books with anti-Nazi (un-German) ideas, Jewish editors were fired and ani anti-Nazi newspapers were closed down.

• Goebbels knew how effective film and cinema were, newsreels were used to boast about Germanys' greatness and the achievements of Hitler.

• In 1936 children were forced to join Nazi youth organizations.