In Leni Riefenstahl’s 1935 documentary Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens), the Nazi propaganda was often very subtle rather than simply crude, clumsy and heavy-handed and was designed to make Nazism look appealing. Her boss in this endeavor was Dr. Josef Goebbels who became Reich Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment after the Nazis took power in 1933. He had rapidly brought the mass media, radio, filmmaking, theater, book publishing and the arts under its control. All Jews and persons deemed politically unreliable were expelled from these professions, while writers, artists and journalists who cooperated with the regime were generously subsidized. This documentary of the 1934 Nuremberg Party Rally was one of his great propaganda feats, along with the movie about the 1936 Olympics (Olympiad), also produced and directed by Riefenstahl. Goebbels and Riefenstahl carefully crafted these movies to show the Fuehrer and the new regime in the best light to international and domestic audiences (Spielvogel and Redles 149-50). Their central theme was always to show one Germany, united behind the Fuehrer, marching forward to create an ideal National Socialist society. In reality, Hitler also believed in violent competition and conflict between nations and races, and survival of the fittest. This was why he encouraged the creation of numerous competing agencies run by ‘little Fuehrers’, and parallel Nazi Party organizations overlapping with those of the state. These ideas were all expressed openly in Mein Kampf, with its fascist ideology “based on struggle as a way of life, the right of the strong leader to dominate, and the missionary need to create the Aryan racial state” (Spielvogel and Redles 294). These themes were all played down in Triumph of the Will, however, in favor of national unity and the Nazis leading the Germany to social and economic revival.
In the opening scenes of Triumph of the Will, Hitler is shown as the savior of Germany, a messiah coming down out of the clouds in an airplane, so the country could be reborn after sixteen years of poverty and suffering. As he comes in for a landing, where even the great cathedral is decorated with Nazi flags, the film shows that it is a very old medieval city, and the Nazis clearly respected all of its traditional Gothic artworks and buildings as part of the Germanic genius. Here the propaganda is very subtle, and shows a blending of the traditional Germany with the New Order of the Third Reich. As the Hitler Youth prepare to greet their Fuehrer, they all appear to be very happy, smiling young people, and make camping out together in Third Reich look like fun. They are all healthy, well-fed, playing games, dressing in uniforms, and one constant image of the movie is showing the ideal blond-haired, blue-eyed ‘Nordic’ types. This is also true of the country people come to visit Hitler, wearing their traditional peasant clothing of the type worn on holidays and feast days. Once again, Riefenstahl shows a subtle blend of the old Germany with the Third Reich, with many young, blond men and women selected to meet Hitler.
Throughout Triumph of the Will, there are numerous references the Ernst Roehm and the leaders of the Sturmabteilung (Stormtroopers) or SA, who had just been purged earlier that year. Rudolf Hess opened the Party Congress by mentioning President Paul von Hindenburg and the Army officers, who had regarded Roehm as a dangerous rival. Hitler referred to this in his closing speech as well and promised that the Nazi Revolution would be united with the Army rather than attempting to replace it. Loyalty to the Fuehrer along was a constant theme, as when Hess proclaimed that “you are Germany, when you act, Germany acts” and the Germans would stand with him “come what may”. Hans Frank, the little ‘fuehrer’ of the German legal services, stated that Hitler was the chief judge of Germany and his word was law, as Hitler had said himself when Roehm and the other SA leaders were shot on his orders. Roehm had been hoping for a second and more radical Nazi revolution, but Hitler stated at the 1934 rally that there would be no permanent revolution leading to chaos and anarchy.
Another regular Nazi theme was that they had unified the nation, abolished all class divisions and were working together for the good of the nation, creating jobs, building highways, state is assisting the farmers and workers, all the lesser luminaries receive a few moments. Robert Ley, the little ‘fuehrer’ of the German Labor Front (DAF), told the 52,000 workers that they were now part of the national army of labor. All these workers wore Nazi uniforms and were lined up in military ranks. They called each other “comrade” and use “du” to ask where they are from, and also carried their shovels like rifles. Hitler told them that work was honorable and that there would be no more class divisions but only one Volk united in service to Germany. In the future no one would be part of the national community who did not first work for the nation as one of the common people. All the Hitler Youth seemed quite enthusiastic to see him in person as well, and Hitler gave them the same message that they should be a “youth without classes or castes” but only serving the Fuehrer and Germany. He made the same point again when reviewing the huge parade of SA and SS men. They were expected to be loyal only to him and Germany, which are one in the same at this point.
Not all of these events were completely staged by the filmmakers and there is no doubt that many of the crowds in Nuremberg were genuinely enthusiastic for Hitler and his message about the New Germany. As Hitler told the Party leadership in his closing speech, he had always wanted a Nazi party with a worldview that had the sole power in Germany without any compromise. Although he did not mention the Jews and other ‘non-Aryans’ directly, it was strongly implied throughout the film that they would not have any place in this national community. Hitler said that the Nazis were “the best of the German race” and would never give up the leadership of the nation because they had the “best blood”. This meant that those deemed to be ‘inferior’ and not measuring up to the Nordic ideals continually shown in the movie would be left outside of the National Socialist community. In reality, the rise and fall of the Nazi state “also causes us to examine the veneer of civilization that exists in all societies” (Spielvogel and Redles 294). Nazism was a conscious and open rejection of Western liberalism and democracy, as well as Enlightenment rationalism and the belief in human rights and equal citizenship. They also intended to abolish individualism and replace it with a mass consciousness shaped by intense propaganda and obedient only to the Fuehrer’s will. Indeed, the historical record demonstrates that during the Third Reich, the German people, the old conservative elites, industrialists and ‘apolitical’ bureaucrats and experts would all join together to profit from genocide and wars of aggression, despite all the references to the Nazis supposedly peaceful intentions in Triumph of the Will.
WORKS CITED
Spielvogel, J. T. and D. Redles 2009. Hitler and Nazi Germany: A History, 6th Edition. Prentice Hall.
Triumph des Willens (Triumph of the Will). Prod. and Dir: Leni Riefenstahl. Germany: Universum Film AG, 1935.
