Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), Minister of Propaganda Department of the Nazi Party, Minister of National Education and Propaganda Department of Nazi Germany, is considered to be "the man who created Hitler".
On October 29, 1897, Goebbels was born into a Catholic clerk's family in the city of Leite in the Rhine region of Germany. His left leg atrophied due to polio as a child, and he was even refused service in the army during World War I. When Goebbels graduated from a Catholic high school, his graduation speech on behalf of the class was well received by the students. In April 1921, Goebbels received his doctorate in philosophy under the guidance of Professor Friedrich Gondolf, a historian of Jewish literature at the University of Heidelberg.
In 1922, Goebbels was inspired by Hitler's speeches and joined the Nazi Party, seeking to stand out through political activities. Goebbels spread platitudes about German national and racial excellence, arguing that the Allies, Marxists, and Jews had deceived the Germans in order to win military victory in World War I. In 1925, Goebbels served as Secretary of the Ruhr District of the Nazi Party and became the main collaborator of Gregor Strasser, leader of the North German faction of the Nazi Party. Goebbels founded and edited Nazi Correspondence and other publications belonging to the Strasser brothers. In order to win over people's hearts, Goebbels and the Strasser brothers often made remarks that catered to the sentiments of the working people. They proposed that the Nazi Party, the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party jointly carry out a campaign to expropriate aristocratic property, and advocated the integration of large industry and large-scale The estate was nationalized. Because Hitler was extremely dissatisfied with this, Goebbels once declared at the Nazi Party's Hanover Conference in November 1925, "I demand that this petty bourgeois Adolf Hitler be expelled from the Nazi Party."
After Hitler and Schlosser split, Goebbels was recommended to Hitler. Hitler admired this orator who was good at propaganda and agitation. He presented Goebbels with an autographed copy of "Mein Kampf" and invited Goebbels to give a speech in Munich. Goebbels was flattered and recorded: "I entered the hall, the cheers were deafening,... I spoke for two and a half hours,... Finally Hitler hugged me." In February 1926, Goebbels spoke at the Bamberg Conference of the Nazi Party completely swung to Hitler's side. In August, Goebbels issued a statement breaking with Strasser through the "Volkswagen Observer" newspaper.
In November 1926, Goebbels was appointed Secretary of the Berlin-Brandenburg District of the Nazi Party. He was responsible for purging the party and reorganizing institutions, and soon made the Nazi Party in the district a powerful one. organization. In 1927, Goebbels founded "Defense" and served as editor-in-chief to strengthen Nazi propaganda work. Goebbels set up advertising paintings, published propaganda materials, organized marches, held a commemoration rally for the Munich Beer Hall Riots and a large lecture at the Berlin Stadium; he created the myth that the Führer was "infallible", portrayed Hitler as a "master", and induced people to Blind obedience; using the march "Wesel Falls Down" composed by the slain SA leader Horst Wiesel during his lifetime as the Nazi party anthem, advocating dedication to the Nazi cause. In 1929, Goebbels was appointed Minister of Propaganda of the Nazi Party.
During the 1932 presidential campaign, Goebbels urged Hitler to run. Goebbels and Hitler traveled around the country, giving frequent campaign speeches and inciting party members to fanaticism. Goebbels mobilized all his troops, activated the propaganda machine, and used the funds raised to launch an unprecedented propaganda campaign. The Nazi Party posted 1 million color propaganda posters across the country, distributed 8 million pamphlets and 12 million special issues of the party newspaper, sometimes held 3,000 pep rallies in a single day, and used films and records for the first time in its presidential campaign. Although Hitler failed to win in both elections, he received twice as many votes.
In January 1933, Hitler was appointed Prime Minister of the Government by President Hindenburg and was ordered to form a cabinet. Goebbels was overjoyed and immediately "set a policy to fight the Red Terror" with Hitler. The Third Reich soon seized 60 newspapers of the German Communist Party and 71 newspapers of the German Social Democratic Party and forcibly closed them down. Building of the Central Committee of the German Communist Party. On February 27, Goebbels and Goering planned to create a "reichstag fire" as an excuse to persecute and suppress the German Communist Party. In March 1933, Goebbels became the Minister of National Education and Propaganda of Nazi Germany, sparing no effort to promote Nazi domestic and foreign policies and promote cultural absolutism. Goebbels believed that the only purpose of propaganda is to "conquer the people"; "Our propaganda targets are ordinary people, so the arguments of propaganda must be rough, clear and powerful; truth is irrelevant and completely subordinate to strategy and psychology." The basic principle of propaganda is to repeat valid arguments over and over again, and lies to be spread over and over again and made to look convincing.
On the night of May 10, 1935, Goebbels, who had a doctorate, launched a book-burning movement in Berlin that subsequently spread across the country. Those who were considered to be "destroying our future" Books, such as those by such luminaries as Marx, Engels, Luxemburg, Liebknecht, Merling, Heine and Einstein, were burned. Goebbels said to the students who participated in the book burning: "The soul of the German people can be expressed again. This fire not only ends the old era, but also illuminates the new era." Goebbels thus earned the title of "Book Burner" The name.
Goebbels imposed strict controls on newspapers, radio and film, and press personnel, aiming to eliminate any media opposed to the Nazi Party. German broadcasters and film companies also became tame public opinion propaganda tools for the Nazis.
At the Wannsee Conference, Hitler finally decided to begin the massacre of Jews throughout Western Europe. In 1935, Goebbels presided over anti-Semitic activities in Germany, declaring "We no longer want Jews." Goebbels also threatened aggressively: "Only by annihilating all Jews can the Jewish problem be solved. As long as there is a Jew alive, this Jew will always be the enemy of National Socialist Germany. Therefore, no tolerance can be said for the Jews. and humanity." In 1938, Goebbels again organized an anti-Semitic campaign: Director of the Intelligence and Security Service Heydrich was ordered to arrest 17,000 Polish Jews and deport them in canister trucks (October); to create "crystals" to commemorate the beer shop riots "Night" (also known as "Glass Smashing Night"), smashed all the windows (worth 5 million marks) in venues, houses and shops where Jews often gathered, and pretended to call it a "spontaneous demonstration" by the German people. The Nazi stormtroopers in brown uniforms also sang "Today, Germany is ours; tomorrow, the whole world is ours!"
Before Nazi Germany launched the Polish War, Goebbels manipulated the propaganda machine to incite War fever. The Berliner Zeitung first used a large-character headline to warn "Beware of Poland!" and then falsely claimed that "Polish troops are advancing to the edge of the German border." After Nazi Germany launched its war of aggression, the Supreme Command established a Wehrmacht Propaganda Department in the Operations Department responsible for military news inspection and the compilation and distribution of Wehrmacht communiqués. Goebbels tried throughout the war to turn the Wehrmacht Propaganda Service into a functional department of the Ministry of National Education and Propaganda in order to coordinate political and military propaganda, but failed. The struggle between Goebbels and Ribbentrop for the right to publicity also ended in a compromise. Despite this, Goebbels still tried his best to use the propaganda tools in his hands to clamor for cooperation with the fascist war, which was quite effective. Goebbels believed that radio was the most important propaganda tool during the war, and that speech could attract people's hearts more than writing. The British radio program hosted by "Lord Haha" was quite successful in promoting Nazi war policies and influencing the British public psychology. February 2, 1943. After the German army suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad, the "City of Destiny", Goebbels ordered entertainment venues nationwide to be closed for three days, stopping traffic for one minute on the first and third days. On February 18 of the same year, Goebbels delivered his famous incendiary speech "On Total War" to a select audience of 15,000 people at the Berlin Stadium. The speech lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes and was said to be the longest speech given by a Nazi leader during the war. The speech ended with Theodore Corner's poem "The country stands and the storm disappears", which received thunderous applause. After the speech, Goebbels ordered the closure of Berlin's luxury hotels and entertainment venues. He pretended to take the lead in not using spacious and luxurious living rooms and high-end refreshments, and promoted it through documentary films. Goebbels also often recited "The History of Frederick the Great" to Hitler, hoping that the Third Reich would "turn around".
In June 1944, Goebbels served as the plenipotentiary director of the German General War Mobilization Committee. On July 20, the murder of Hitler occurred in Germany. Goebbels saved the dying Nazi regime by actively organizing the repression and issuing timely announcements on the radio to thwart the murder. On August 24, Goebbels issued a general mobilization order.
In January 1945, Goebbels became the commander of the Berlin city defense. He advocated a scorched earth policy and poison gas warfare, ordered the shooting of captured Allied pilots, and advocated the defense of Berlin. In April, Dr. Goebbels moved to the basement of the Chancellery. Hitler decided to commit suicide and made a will appointing D?nitz as president and Goebbels as chancellor. Goebbels wrote the "Appendix to the Führer's Political Will", claiming that "I will end my life by the Führer's side" and "in the difficult years to come, setting an example is more important than living." On May 1, the Goebbels first had their six children poisoned, and then had their six children shot to death in the back by SS members.