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Encyclopedia > Big lie

Big Lie is a propaganda technique, defined by Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf as a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously".[page # needed] Soviet Propaganda Poster during the Great Patriotic War. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Mein Kampf (English translation: My Struggle) is the signature work of Adolf Hitler, combining elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitlers political ideology of Nazism. ...

Contents

Use of the expression by Hitler

It is often erroneously claimed or implied Hitler had advocated the use of the Big Lie as a viable propaganda technique. However, Hitler, when writing of the Big Lie in Mein Kampf, was in fact criticizing the Jews for their perceived use of the Big Lie.


Use of the expression by Goebbels

Later, Joseph Goebbels put forth a slightly different theory which has come to be more commonly associated with the expression big lie. Goebbels wrote the following paragraph in an article dated 12 January 1941, 16 years after Hitler's first use of the phrase big lie, entitled "Aus Churchills Lügenfabrik," translated "From Churchill's Lie Factory." It was published in Die Zeit ohne Beispiel. Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ) (29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ...

That is of course rather painful for those involved. One should not as a rule reveal one's secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.[1]

Attributed to Goebbels

There is an uncited rumor to the effect that Goebbels also offered up his version of the big lie technique without attributing it to either Jewish or Allied propaganda. That uncited quote is the most wide-spread attribution of the big lie, and it is usually given in a context where the implication is that the propaganda technique was invented by Goebbels, who was the propaganda minister for the Third Reich. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...


Used in Hitler's psychological profile

The phrase was also used in a report prepared during the war by the United States Office of Strategic Services in describing Hitler's psychological profile:[2] The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency and was a lineage precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency, as well as for the Special Forces and Navy Seals, who have traced their lineage back to...

His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.[3] Talking points are small arguments or phrases that political strategists issue to representatives or supporters of a party or administration to be used over and over again in speeches, talk show appearances and debates. ...

These techniques were used frequently by the Administration of George W. Bush from 2001-2008 with much success. Many examples exist, but none more egregious than the weapons of mass destruction argument for the war in Iraq.


The Big Lie in popular culture

There are many references to the Big Lie in popular culture. Among them are:

  • George Orwell's novel 1984 refers to the Big Lie theory on several occasions. For example:
  • “The key-word here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts.” [4]
  • “To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed…” [5]

Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... Nineteen Eighty-Four (commonly written as 1984) is a dystopian novel by the English writer George Orwell, published in 1949. ...

References

  1. ^ Joseph Goebbels, 12 January 1941. Die Zeit ohne Beispiel. Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP. 1941, pp. 364-369
  2. ^ A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler. His Life and Legend by Walter C. Langer. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Washington, D.C. With the collaboration of Prof. Henry A. Murr, Harvard Psychological Clinic, Dr. Ernst Kris, New School for Social Research, Dr. Bertram D. Lawin, New York Psychoanalytic Institute. p. 219 (Nizkor)
  3. ^ Hitler as His Associates Know Him (OSS report, p.51)
  4. ^ George Orwell. 1984 (edition?) p.221
  5. ^ Orwell. (Page 223)

The Nizkor (Hebrew: we will remember) Project is an ongoing Internet-based project run by Ken McVay which is dedicated to countering Holocaust revisionism. ... Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ... Nineteen Eighty-Four (commonly written as 1984) is a dystopian novel by the English writer George Orwell, published in 1949. ...

See also

Appeal to emotion is a logical fallacy wherein the arguer (who is using this fallacy) takes advantage of emotion to prove his or her argument. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Big Lie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (606 words)
The first documented use of the phrase "big lie" is in the corresponding passage: "in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility".
In this theory, the English are attributed with using a propaganda technique wherein they had the mendacity to "lie big" and "stick to it".
That uncited quote is the most wide-spread attribution of the big lie, and it is usually given in a context where the implication is that the propaganda technique was invented by Goebbels, who was the propaganda minister for the Third Reich.
Lie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (3286 words)
To lie is to say something one believes to be false with the intention it be taken for truth.
A white lie is a lie which is believed harmless or innocuous, or in is accordance with the conventions of the culture.
Polygraph lie detector machines measure the physiological stress a subject endures in a number of measures while he or she gives statements or answers questions.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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