Authoritarian states, by their own foundational ideas, always aspired to control all individuals under their ominous ideological umbrella. In this sense, defining the path by which to mold the most intimate part of every human being (their thought) was always one of their main goals to be conquered.

Propaganda techniques have traditionally covered this intention, taking advantage of any development of knowledge about basic and group psychology. In fact, there was even a time when many countries “had on their payroll” real experts in such matters, and holding ministerial positions of responsibility. Each of them racked their brains thinking of programs to achieve this.

Without a doubt, the one that transcended all of them was the one articulated in the Germany of the Second World War, from which emerged the archaic principles of Goebbels’ propaganda (which stood as a source of inspiration for others who arrived later).

In this article we will detail each of the points that Joseph Goebbels, a character of great historical infamy, conceived to spread the Nazi ideology among the German population of his time. Knowing him is basic, since he is an important part of our saddest history.

The 11 Principles of Propaganda of Joseph Goebbels and the Nazis

Goebbels is surely one of the most enigmatic characters in recent history. To his credit he has a close friendship with the dictator Adolf Hitler , thanks to whom he held the position of Minister of Enlightenment and Propaganda during the years of the Nazi regime. His peculiar physical appearance (he suffered from a permanent limp and was very short), together with the fiery speeches he made, are two of his best remembered characteristics. However, it should be noted that he was a convinced anti-Semite, and that he was one of the very few public officials who expressly recognized (with pride) the genocide of the Jewish people.

His attitude of wild hate, spiced up with a very remarkable talent for oratory and for art (especially literature), composed an indigestible mixture from which emerged works of praise about death. One of the objectives he pursued until his death (one day after Adolf Hitler’s) was the construction of a German morality based on the principles of the regime, and which required the extermination of those considered his enemies. All this required, without a doubt, an unparalleled propaganda apparatus.

One of the first tasks he carried out in his political role was to censor any media that opposed the ideas of his party, as well as to promote art and information that were in line with him . He had a great interest in audiovisual resources (cinema, music, etc.) as useful tools to disperse his ideas among the German population of those years. He was a censor and a self-sacrificing promoter of the fundamental purpose of building a country immersed in warmongering, so that an enormous number of artistic careers (in all kinds of disciplines) were born and died while he was in ministerial office.

There are many unknowns about his figure. Many consider that he did not really play such an important role as a politician, that he was just a charlatan who never contributed to the great decisions of his country or even that he suffered from a narcissistic personality disorder. Even so, the principles of Goebbels’ propaganda have survived to the present day , witnesses to the horror that that period left engraved forever on the face of history.

Let us see what these laws of Goebbels’ propaganda are and the scope of each one. The effect that this author was aiming at could only be achieved if all of them were fulfilled, in a perfectly tuned “symphonic orchestra” of social manipulation.

1. Principle of simplification

This principle is based on reducing all the complexity of the various enemies to a much more discreet reality, devoid of diversity and very easily identifiable. The purpose is to infuse everything that is opposed to one’s own ideas with a common and simple trait where their edges are reduced to the same caricature. In this way, there would never be a battle against multiple antagonists, but a war in which only one simple contender would fight: evil, brutality, injustice or ignorance.

Through this process, all the nuances of the opponents would be abstracted, which would become a much simpler idea and charged with the worst connotation imaginable. The enemy would therefore be common to all those who embraced such propaganda, focusing their hatred against the primary concept in which the rival was embodied.

2. Principle of the method of contagion

This principle would be associated with the previous one. Its objectives are simple: in addition to simplifying the facts, it would seek to disperse a series of attributes to all subjects who take refuge in ideas opposed to their own. Often they are adjectives with negative, humiliating and/or ridiculous content; which would be assigned, without thinking about it, to the opponent. This is the logical step after having diluted the feeling of multiplicity, by means of which stereotypes would be spread from what the propaganda apparatus considered “undesirable” (all Jews are thieves, e.g.).

The formula that would be used in this case would be of an enormous simplicity, and would be based on a reinforcement of the homogeneity perceived for the exogroup (which is currently considered as a common trait in those who have ideas of a xenophobic or supremacist type).

3. Principle of transposition

The moment that an inescapable accusation is made, it would be necessary to point out to the other for exactly the same “error” that he has found in our way of proceeding. In politics, it can be observed when cases of embezzlement or misappropriation transcend to the public opinion, which motivates a crossover of reproaches in which it is extolled that: “you did it too, and even worse than me”.

With this attitude, the aim is to generate a distraction that will divert attention from one’s own figure and that will be placed back on others, keeping all shadows of suspicion out of our surroundings.

4. Principle of exaggeration and disfigurement

This principle foresees that any error of the other must be immediately exploited. To do so, its relevance and scope would be blurred, so that it would appear to be a much more serious or negative event (for one’s own interests) than it really is. It would seek to trace threats in almost any act that the enemy carried out, including those that could only be attributed anecdotal or circumstantial importance. In this case, individuals or groups would not be caricatured, but rather their way of behaving, thus closing the malicious circle of demagogy.

5. Principle of popularization

This principle proposes that the properties of the messages to be communicated must be adapted to the level of the individuals who are going to receive them, and in particular to the least intelligent of them all. Through such a process all complex nuances would be eliminated , and we would seek to spread something so “simple” that any human being could understand it. This way of designing the advertisements was directed to the masses and not to those who formed them, taking advantage of the fact that groups are easier to convince than isolated individuals (and that they also forget faster).

6. Principle of orchestration

The ideas to be transmitted to the masses must be repeated continuously , using different prisms and angles but insisting on the same concept. It is important that everything is reduced to the most basic possible, so that it is almost impossible to perceive a hint of doubt or contradiction in the content of what is being transmitted. This strategy is basic, since it increases the occasions in which the message is available, which increases the degree of credibility that people attribute to it and its availability in the individual conscience. That is, the essential thing would be the reiteration of the speech until the exhaustion itself.

7. Principle of renewal

This principle refers not to content but to form, and more particularly to the pace at which information is transmitted. The purpose would be to generate so many accusations that the victim would not have enough time to excuse himself or to prove his falseness , because at the moment in which he would try to free himself from all his ballast, the passing of time would have relegated him to a situation of irrelevance, or the public would no longer be interested in what he had to say (since there would already be a new “news” in which to gloat). In short, the purpose is to overwhelm the rival and oversaturate the people.

8. Principle of plausibility

All information should be supported by as many sources as possible, something that was very feasible in the Germany that this Nazi Minister of Propaganda planned (since he had banned any media that did not agree with his party’s ideas). In the same principle was also contemplated the possibility of “camouflaging” lies within an objectively true news , making them more easily digestible for the target audience. The interested selection of which details to review and which to omit/hide (what is known as “fragmentation”), is essential to this law of manipulation.

9. Principle of silencing

This principle aims to silence all positive news about rivals, using the media that is sympathetic to the cause. It would also seek to omit adverse news about oneself or discourage the mood of the population one is trying to manipulate. The aim would be to bias the information available to them, and even reserve negative or false news for the moment when the opponent’s achievements arise, counteracting their effects on the listener. The key to this principle is tempo and distortion.

10. Principle of transfusion

Through this principle we would try to make use of the history of a nation, and even its popular myths, to connect them in a direct way with the opponent to be overthrown through analogies and equations. The aim is to take advantage of a pre-existing hatred, whose root is sunk in the common cultural and social heritage , to pour it out directly on those who oppose a regime. In this way both would develop from the same premise, and the argument with which it is intended to attack would allude to atavistic affections transmitted from one generation to another.

11. Principle of unanimity

The aim of this principle is to make people believe that the ideas to be disseminated enjoy the consensus of the entire population , so that those who accept them as their own will be in tune with the “opinion” they want to pass off as general. This principle aims to take advantage of the well-known phenomenon of social conformism, to which an enormous capacity for persuasion is attributed, especially among those who distrust their own criteria to guide them throughout their lives.

Bibliographic references:

  • Cantano, A. and López Zapico, M. (2014). Propaganda of hate: anti-communist exhibitions in the Third Reich. History and Social Communication. 19, 72-97.
  • Rindisbacher, H. (2011). Goebbels’s Perspective: A New Biography of the Nazi Propaganda Minister. European Legacy-toward New Paradigms,16. 535-537.