The 'Hitler myth': image and reality in the Third Reich PDF
Preview The 'Hitler myth': image and reality in the Third Reich
IAN KERSHAW THE ‘HITLER MYTH’ Image and Reality in the Third Reich CLARENDON PRESS RD The personality of Hitler himself can scarcely explain his immense popularity and political effectiveness in the 1930s and 40s: his hold over the German people lay rather in the hopes and perceptions of the millions who adored him. In this study of the Nazi state, based largely on the reports of government officials, party agencies, and political opponents, Dr Kershaw charts the creation, growth, and decline of the ‘Hitler Myth’. He demonstrates how the manufactured Fiihrer-cult formed a crucial integrating force in the third Reich and a vital element in the attainment of Nazi political aims. Masters of the new techniques of propaganda, the Nazis used them to exploit and build on the beliefs, phobias and prejudices of the day. Their successful ‘deification’ of the Führer in a modem industrial state carries a far from comfortable message. This is a completely refashioned version of a book originally written and published in Germany under the title Der Hitler-Mythos. Volksmeinung und Propaganda im Dritten Reich. Ian Kershaw is a Senior Lecturer in Modem History at the University of Manchester. Jacket illustration: stylized portrait of Hitler by Fritz Erler, 1938 from F. v. Grunfeld’s The Hitler File, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974; and a crowd of ecstatic supporters. The Wiener Library. iHö.m KtKStUW •308785 RTC withdra t' 40362 THE ‘HITLER MYTH -fi The ‘Hitler Myth’ Image and Reality in the Third Reich IAN KERSHAW / CLARENDON PRESS • OXFORD x 1987 Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford New York Toronto Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Karachi Petalingjaya Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Nairobi Dar es Salaam Cape Town Melbourne Auckland and associated companies in Beirut Berlin Ibadan Nicosia Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press Published in the United States by Oxford University Press, New York © Ian Kershaw 7987 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Kershaw, Ian The ‘Hitler myth ’: image and reality in the Third Reich 1. Fascism—Germany—History 2. Social psychology I. Title II. Kershaw, Ian. Hitler-Mythos 320-5 33 0I9 JC481 ISBN0-19-821964-4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Kershaw, Ian. The ‘Hitler myth.' Translation of: Der Hitler-Mythos. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Germany—Politics and government—1933-1945. 2. Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945. 3. Public opinion— Germany. 4. Propaganda, German—History—20th century. I. Title. DD256.5.K46513 1987 943.086 86-28583 ISBN 0-19-821964-4 Typeset by Joshua Associates Limited, Oxford Printed in Great Britain at the University Printing House, Oxford by David Stanford Printer to the University fr&R FOR TRAUDE
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