The Annexation
Introduction
# Nazi Propaganda
The Plebiscite
Mass Spectacles
»Führer« Myth
The »Autobahn« Myth
The Myth of Economic Revival
»Blood- and Aryan Myth«
home
Up
Down

Simultaneously to the military invasion of Austria, the Nazis launched a propa-ganda campaign of unprecedented proportions and a wave of terror, arresting and attacking anti-Nazis and Jews in the streets.

The huge meeting on 15 March 1938 on the Heldenplatz in central Vienna was planned like a theatre spectacle: the parade of the SA, SS, Hitler Youth, etc, the military parade of the invading 8th Army on the Ringstraße, the columns of police, the presence of 400 tanks and 400 bombers and fighters overhead – all that was not only a naked show of force by the Nazi regime, but a spectacle to satisfy the needs of the masses for shows and sensations. With psychological guile, slogans (»blood,« »race,« »one community«), and promises of a better living standard, the Nazis won over supporters for the NSDAP and also many opportunists of all hues.


 

 
Hitler in Vienna, March 1938
» click see larger image


15 March 1938: Hitler driving through Mariahilferstraße.

Enthusiasm Rally at Vienna’s Heldenplatz
Troop parade in Vienna Nazi Propaganda

Nazi Propaganda