Existing comment:
Hitler drew lessons about portraying the enemy from World War I propaganda. He believed that Anglo-American propagandists had expertly crafted a threatening image of the Germans as Huns -- a reference to the "barbarian hordes" that invaded Europe 1500 years ago -- which clearly explained the Allies' professional war aims to protect their populations and made participation in the war morally justifiable. Nazi propagandists subsequently used similar negative stereotypes to dehumanize their "enemies." |