The Use of Propaganda in the Gdr During the Cold War
The Use of Propaganda in the GDR During the Cold War
More than any other wars, the Cold War was fought with words, mainly through the media as psychological warfare. Popular culture was used as a decoy to sway the opinions of the general public in support of various governmental institutions. In East Germany, political propaganda was frequently incorporated into film, journalism, and the mass media to promote socialism. East Germany was a close ally to the Soviet Union who fought to keep western influences and capitalism out of their culture. To do so, films and newspapers idealized socialism and steered clear of capitalistic ideologies. In 1961 a permanent blockade was built as an “iron curtain” to keep East Germany completely isolated from western culture, which allowed the government to have complete control over what political messages were introduced to its citizens. East German officials filtered all forms of entertainment such as music, books, journals, and movies in order to prevent Western influences from interfering with East German politics. Through a variety of institutions, the GDR manipulated the minds and ideologies of the East German people, in particular the youth to indoctrinate them with socialist ideas and instill in them guidance for leadership roles as the future of the GDR. One fear in East Germany was the impact of Western popular culture on the younger generations who might be corrupted by racy and rebellious American pop culture, “people in the GDR associated Western capitalism with exploitative, consumer-oriented attitudes toward sex that were outdated and damaging” . Political authorities saw women as a particular target of the capitalists with the introduction of the department store. Advertisements had been using overtly sexual themes since the end of the late nineteenth century, and East Germany feared these selling methods would taint the gender roles and behavior of their youth:
…The alleged connections between the
More than any other wars, the Cold War was fought with words, mainly through the media as psychological warfare. Popular culture was used as a decoy to sway the opinions of the general public in support of various governmental institutions. In East Germany, political propaganda was frequently incorporated into film, journalism, and the mass media to promote socialism. East Germany was a close ally to the Soviet Union who fought to keep western influences and capitalism out of their culture. To do so, films and newspapers idealized socialism and steered clear of capitalistic ideologies. In 1961 a permanent blockade was built as an “iron curtain” to keep East Germany completely isolated from western culture, which allowed the government to have complete control over what political messages were introduced to its citizens. East German officials filtered all forms of entertainment such as music, books, journals, and movies in order to prevent Western influences from interfering with East German politics. Through a variety of institutions, the GDR manipulated the minds and ideologies of the East German people, in particular the youth to indoctrinate them with socialist ideas and instill in them guidance for leadership roles as the future of the GDR. One fear in East Germany was the impact of Western popular culture on the younger generations who might be corrupted by racy and rebellious American pop culture, “people in the GDR associated Western capitalism with exploitative, consumer-oriented attitudes toward sex that were outdated and damaging” . Political authorities saw women as a particular target of the capitalists with the introduction of the department store. Advertisements had been using overtly sexual themes since the end of the late nineteenth century, and East Germany feared these selling methods would taint the gender roles and behavior of their youth:
…The alleged connections between the