THE THIRD REICH IN PHOTOS DAWN OF WAR 1938-1940

“THE ART OF PROPAGANDA CONSISTS PRECISELY IN BEING ABLE TO AWAKEN THE IMAGINATION OF THE PEOPLE THROUGH AN APPEAL TO THEIR FEELINGS”
– Adolf Hitler

THE SWASTIKA RISING AS THE NEW SUN OVER GERMANY C. 1938

Concerning the importance of imagery and the swastika, Hitler stated in Mein Kampf: “The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the people through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the true psychological form that arrests the attention and appeals to the heart of the nation’s masses.”

For the Third Reich, 1938 proved to be a pivotal year during which Hitler, five years into his ascendency as Nazi Germany’s supreme leader, could do no wrong. His prophetic pronouncements and tactical successes garnered new territory and the ever-growing zeal of the German public.

Through various machinations, aided by Himmler and Göring, Hitler’s opponents in the military were forced from their positions, with lackeys taking their place and the Wehrmacht coming under his control as minister of war and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. After the murder of Austrian political opponents, German troops