Goebbels' 11 principles of propaganda

Authoritarian states, by their own founding ideas, have always aspired to control all individuals covered by their ominous ideological umbrella. In this sense, defining the path through which to mold the most intimate of every human being (their thought of him) was always one of his main goals to conquer.

Propaganda techniques have traditionally covered this intention, taking advantage of all developments in knowledge about basic and group psychology. In fact, there was even a time when many countries "had on their payroll" authentic experts in such matters, and they held responsible ministerial positions. Each of them racked their brains thinking of programs to achieve this.

Without any doubt, the one that came to transcend the most of all of them was the one articulated in Germany during the Second World War, from which sprang the well-known propaganda principles of Goebbels (Which became a source of inspiration for others who came 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 it is basic, because it is an important part of our saddest history.

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The 11 principles of propaganda by 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 which 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 a very short stature), along 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 (with pride) recognized the genocide of the Jewish people.

His attitude of savage hatred, seasoned with a very remarkable talent for oratory and art (especially all literature), composed an indigestible mixture from which emerged works of exaltation on the death. One of the objectives that he pursued until his death (one day after Adolf Hitler's) consisted of the construction of a German morality based on the principles of the regime, and which required the extermination of those who were considered its enemies. All of this undoubtedly required an unparalleled propaganda apparatus.

One of the first tasks that he developed in his political role was censor any media that opposed the ideas of his party, as well as encourage art and information that aligned with him. He had a great interest in audiovisual resources (cinema, music, etc.) in terms of useful tools to spread his ideas among the German population of those years. He was a censor and a promoter devoted to the fundamental purpose of building a country mired in warmongering, for which reason a an enormous number of artistic careers (in all kinds of disciplines) were born and died while he was in office ministerial.

The unknowns that prevail in terms of his figure are disparate. Many consider that he did not really have such an important role as a politician, that he was nothing more than a charlatan who he never contributed to the big decisions of his country or even that he suffered from a personality disorder narcissistic. even with everything, Goebbels' propaganda principles have survived to this day, witnesses of the horror that that period left etched forever on the face of history.

Let's see what these Goebbels propaganda laws are and the scope of each one. The effect that this author was pursuing could only be achieved if all of them were fulfilled, in a perfectly tuned "symphony orchestra" of social manipulation.

1. principle of simplification

This principle is based on reducing all the complexity of the different enemies to a much more discrete reality, devoid of diversity and very easily identifiable. The purpose is to infuse everything that opposes one's own ideas with a common and simple feature where their edges are reduced to the very 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 materialize in a much simpler idea and loaded with the worst connotation imaginable. The enemy would therefore be common to all those who embraced such propaganda, focusing his hatred against the primary concept in which the rival was incarnated.

2. Principle of contagion method

This principle would be associated with the previous one. Its objectives are simple: in addition to simplifying the facts, it would be intended to disperse a series of attributes to all subjects who embrace ideas that are opposed to their own. They are often adjectives with a negative, humiliating and/or ridiculing content; that would be assigned, without thinking about it, to the opponent. This is the logical step after having diluted the feeling of multiplicity, by which stereotypes would be spread based on what the propaganda apparatus considered "undesirable" (all Jews are thieves, e.g.).

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

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3. Principle of transposition

At the moment when one is the object of an inescapable accusation, it would be necessary to point out 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 public opinion, which motivate a crossroads of reproaches in which it is extolled that: "well, you did it too, and even worse than I".

With this attitude, the aim is to generate a distraction that diverts attention from the figure itself. and that it is located again in the others, keeping all shadow of suspicion out of our surroundings.

4. Principle of exaggeration and disfigurement

This principle provides that any error of the other must be taken advantage of immediately. To do this, 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. Threats would be sought in almost any act the enemy carried out, including those to which only anecdotal or circumstantial importance could be attributed. In this case, individuals or groups would not be caricatured, but 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 specifically to the least intelligent of all of them. Through such a process all complex nuances would be removed, and would seek to spread something so "simple" that any human being could understand. This way of designing the propaganda announcements was addressed to the masses and not to those who formed it, taking advantage of the fact that groups are easier to convince than isolated individuals (and who also forget faster).

6. orchestration principle

The ideas that you want to transmit to the masses have to 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 for a hint of doubt or annoyance to be perceived in the content of what is 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 consciousness individual. That is, the essential thing would be the repetition of the discourse until exhaustion itself.

7. renewal principle

This principle refers not to the content, but to the forms, and more particularly to the rhythm with which the information is transmitted. The purpose would be generate so many accusations that the victim did not have sufficient time to excuse themselves or prove their falsehood, because at the moment in which he tried 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 you had to say (since there would already be a new "news" in which gloat). Ultimately, the purpose is to overwhelm the rival and supersaturate the people.

8. Likelihood principle

All information should be supported by the greatest number of sources possible, something that was very viable in the Germany that this Nazi Minister of Propaganda projected (since he had prohibited any media that did not agree with the ideas of his game). in the very beginning the possibility of "camouflaging" lies within objectively true news was also contemplated, 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 is intended to silence all positive news about rivals, using the media sympathetic to the cause. It would also seek to omit adverse news about oneself or that discourage the spirit of the population that is intended to be manipulated. The aim would be to skew the information that they could have, and even reserve negative news or false for the moment in which the adversary's achievements arise, counteracting their effects on the listener. For this principle, the fundamental thing is the tempo and the misrepresentation.

10. Principle of transfusion

Through this principle, it would be intended to make use of the history of a nation, and even its myths. popular, to connect them directly with the opponent to overthrow through analogies and equalizations. The purpose is to take advantage of a pre-existing hatred, whose roots sink into the common cultural and social heritage, to pour it directly on those who oppose a regime. In this way, both would be developed 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 claim of this principle is 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 aspires to take advantage of the well-known phenomenon of social conformism, to which an enormous capacity is attributed for persuasion, especially among those who distrust their own judgment to guide them through the life.