I am reading a book on Adolf Hitler and found a few of his views on effective propaganda quite interesting. His insight into the psyche of masses is remarkable and explains, to some extent, his success at mobilizing public opinion in his favor. I could not fail to notice how often such tactics are followed by power brokers who are often handsomely rewarded for it.
Here goes an extract on the driving forces for revolutionary processes, and his stress on emotions of masses, rather than intellect, which he believes they lack:
"Since the masses have only a poor acquaintance with abstract ideas, their reactions lie more in the domain of the feelings, where the roots of their positive as well as their negative attitudes are implanted....The emotional grounds of their attitude furnish the reason for their extraordinary stability. It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge. And the driving force which has brought about the most tremendous revolutions on this earth has never been a body of scientific teaching which has gained power over the masses, but always a devotion which has inspired them, and often a kind of hysteria which has urged them into action. Whoever wishes to win over the masses must know the key that will open the door to their hearts. It is not objectivity, which is a feckless attitude, but a determined will, backed up by power where necessary."
Further:
"The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare necessities and then must be expressed in a few stereotyped formulas."
This one is very interesting to me, particularly because I once forwarded this as a theory to explain why people tend to believe some preposterous stories of a friend of mine - inability to fathom that somebody could lie so blatantly (and/or without any apparent purpose):
When you lie, tell big lies. "... that in a big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lie in little matters, but would be ashnamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.... The grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down."
Finally:
Above all, never hesitate, never qualify what you say, never concede an inch to the other side, paint all your contrasts in black and white. This is the "very first condition which has to be fulfiled in every kind fo propaganda: a systematically one-sided attitude towards every problem that has to be dealt with....When they see an uncompromising onslaught against an adversary, the people have at all times taken this as proof that right is on the side of the aggressor; but if the aggressor should go only halfway and fail to push home his success... the people will look upon this as a sign that he is uncertain of the justice of his own cause."
His actions were consistent with all these ideas and for a large part responsible for whatever successes he had in pursuing his goals. A determined will most of all.
Source:
Hitler - A study in tyranny: by Allan Bullock, Penguin Books, 1990, pp 69-70
Ultimately from:
Mein Kampf. pp. 101, 283, 198-9, 160-1.
Here goes an extract on the driving forces for revolutionary processes, and his stress on emotions of masses, rather than intellect, which he believes they lack:
"Since the masses have only a poor acquaintance with abstract ideas, their reactions lie more in the domain of the feelings, where the roots of their positive as well as their negative attitudes are implanted....The emotional grounds of their attitude furnish the reason for their extraordinary stability. It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge. And the driving force which has brought about the most tremendous revolutions on this earth has never been a body of scientific teaching which has gained power over the masses, but always a devotion which has inspired them, and often a kind of hysteria which has urged them into action. Whoever wishes to win over the masses must know the key that will open the door to their hearts. It is not objectivity, which is a feckless attitude, but a determined will, backed up by power where necessary."
Further:
"The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare necessities and then must be expressed in a few stereotyped formulas."
This one is very interesting to me, particularly because I once forwarded this as a theory to explain why people tend to believe some preposterous stories of a friend of mine - inability to fathom that somebody could lie so blatantly (and/or without any apparent purpose):
When you lie, tell big lies. "... that in a big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lie in little matters, but would be ashnamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.... The grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down."
Finally:
Above all, never hesitate, never qualify what you say, never concede an inch to the other side, paint all your contrasts in black and white. This is the "very first condition which has to be fulfiled in every kind fo propaganda: a systematically one-sided attitude towards every problem that has to be dealt with....When they see an uncompromising onslaught against an adversary, the people have at all times taken this as proof that right is on the side of the aggressor; but if the aggressor should go only halfway and fail to push home his success... the people will look upon this as a sign that he is uncertain of the justice of his own cause."
His actions were consistent with all these ideas and for a large part responsible for whatever successes he had in pursuing his goals. A determined will most of all.
Source:
Hitler - A study in tyranny: by Allan Bullock, Penguin Books, 1990, pp 69-70
Ultimately from:
Mein Kampf. pp. 101, 283, 198-9, 160-1.
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