Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations viii
Acknowledgements x
Introduction: 'Totalitarianism', Propaganda, War and the Third Reich 1
Propaganda, propagandist and the audience 1
Effective propaganda and the limits of NS 'totalitarianism' 6
Main premises 12
Structure and foci of the book 13
Propaganda, 'Co-ordination' and 'Centralisation': The Goebbels Network in Search of a Total Empire 16
Cinema 19
Press 26
Broadcasting 31
'Polyocracy' versus 'Centralisation': The Multiple 'Networks' of NS Propaganda 40
Polyocracy and 'charismatic' power in the NS regime 40
The role of Goebbels in NS propaganda: power-base and limits 43
The 'Dietrich network' 47
The 'Ribbentrop' network 49
The case of Alfred Rosenberg 51
The rise of Martin Bormann 53
The 'OKW network' 56
Himmler and Speer 58
The 'Goebbels network' strikes back: 1943-45 59
The Discourses of NS Propaganda: Long-Term Emplotment and Short-Term Justification 63
NS propaganda and long-term positive integration 65
Negative integration: the (powerful) common denominator 70
The early common denominator: 'plutocrats' and 'the Jew' 71
Anti-Bolshevism 76
The construction of a negative megan-narrative: the 'Jewish-Bolshevik-plutocratic alliance' 83
From 'Short Campaign' to 'Gigantic Confrontation': NS Propaganda and the Justification of War, 1939-41 93
Justifying 'war', 1939 93
From plan to invasion: the campaign against Poland and the first 'triumph' 98
The campaign against the west: the second 'triumph' 100
NS policy (and propaganda) at crossroads: Britain or Russia? 104
Towards the attack on the Soviet Union ('Barbarossa') 106
From Triumph to Disaster: NS Propaganda from the Launch of 'Barbarossa' until Stalingrad 111
The first stage of 'Barbarossa' (1941) 111
The first adversities: Pearl Harbour, 'General Winter' and the extension of the war 117
The 'year of decision': 1942 121
The turning point: Stalingrad (September 1942-January 1943) 125
NS Propaganda and the Loss of the Monopoly of Truth (1943-44) 130
The Stalingrad aftermath: NS propaganda and 'public opinion' 130
Bouncing back after Stalingrad: 'Total war' and 'fear' 133
The subversion of the regime's monopoly of truth 137
The 'Hitler-cult': staying power and disintegration 145
The withdrawal of Hitler - a new role for Goebbels? 148
The Winding Road to Defeat: The Propaganda of Diversion and Negative Integration 153
NS propaganda from consensus to negative integration 153
In search for 'victory' 154
Allied 'terror attacks' and 'retaliation' (Vergeltung) 160
The eastern front: defeat, 'shortening' and 'planned evacuation' 168
Diverting attention from the east and the west 173
Preparing for the final showdown 178
Cinema and Totalitarian Propaganda: 'Information' and 'Leisure' in NS Germany, 1939-45 185
The Wochenschau (newsreel) 188
Documentary as reality 194
The historical film as contemporary narrative 198
Commercial and politically valuable? The 'entertainment film' and NS propaganda 207
Managing German cinema, 1939-45 213
Conclusions: Legitimising the Impossible? 218
Notes 224
Bibliography 266
Index 284
