Iconic Nazi Propaganda

Guest Blurb By Michael Johnson

Propaganda can be understood as the coordinated attempt to influence public opinion through the use of the media. The word propaganda is derived from the Latin propagare, to propagate or spread, and generally propaganda tries to spread ideologies or belief systems.

 
It is frequently used by political parties and governments to encourage people to accept a political viewpoint.  As opposed to providing impartial information, propaganda presents facts selectively. This amounts to lying by omission – misleading people by leaving certain facts out.

Propaganda was used by the Nazi Party during Adolf Hitler’s leadership of Germany (1933–45). Propaganda was crucial for acquiring and maintaining power, and for implementing Nazi policies. Hitler devoted two chapters of his book Mein Kampf (1925-6) to the use of propaganda. He claimed that he had learnt the value of propaganda as a German infantryman in the First World War, where he had been exposed to very effective British propaganda.

Nazi Propaganda Continued ......From: Nazi Propaganda

The Elgin Marbles Argument

The New Acropolis Museum is receiving tons of slack from many archaeologists and residents. The main argument, of course, is about the Elgin Marbles which have been in Great Britain for over 200 years. Dimitrios Pandermalis explains why the marbles should be returned to their homeland.

Dimitrios Pandermalis has been professor of Classical Archaeology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki since 1979. Since 1973 he has been Director of the University's archaeological excavations at Dion and conducted extensive programs converting the excavated area into an expansive archaeological and environmental park. From September 1996 to March 2000 he served as National Member of the Greek Parliament and since May 2000 he is the President of the Organization for the Construction of the New Acropolis Museum. 

Visit The Agenda with Steve Paikin for More Information 

Monday Ground Up: Liberalism During the 19th Century

Liberalism, such as parliaments and constitutions, during the 19th century was making great strides in the western European states. Mass politics, due to the emergence of a mass society during the Second Industrial Revolution, paved the way for ordinary citizens to be involved in the everyday operations of political life. Therefore, while reforms encouraged expansion of political democracy through voting rights for men, one Liberal leader was hindering the political and ideological movement towards modernization, and later on the spread of liberalism would be affected by the creation of new political parties.

New reforms in Great Britain, including the right to vote, were extended during the second ministry of William Gladstone with the Reform Act of 1884. All men that paid regular rents and taxes were able to vote and agricultural workers, previously excluded, added another 2 million voters to the electorate.

Monday Ground Up: The Revolutions of 1848 and How Russia and Great Britain Managed to Avoid Them

After the Congress of Vienna had successfully maintained order, in 1830 the forces of change started to wreak havoc with the conservatives in Europe. In 1848, the nationalists and the liberals began to push for a new order, and in so doing, sparked the revolutions of 1848. Russia and Britain, however, had overcome revolution previously, thereby establishing new reforms prior to the Revolution of 1848.

Russia avoided the revolution in 1848 because they simply had no stable relationship or the lines of communications open between the revolutionary assemblies. However, in the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, uprisings took place in 1830-31 when revolutionaries tried to end Russian control over Poland, only the Polish didn’t receive any support from France or Britain.