1939/1940 : Selling War

Overview

When Adolf Hitler begins his campaign of conquest in 1939, most Germans actually don't want war. But Hitler and his propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels use every tool of propaganda to change their minds. German pride is invoked to justify the invasion of Poland and France -among other countries. Dark messages of hatred are used to persuade Germans that minorities should be stripped of their rights, deported or sent to “detention” camps. It is the beginning of the Nazi campaign of genocide. Hitler's despotism would have its admirers in France and even in far-away Japan. But in 1940 Hitler and Goebbels would also discover just how far they can push the German people before some begin to ask questions.