Hitler's Masked Plan

Watching the movie The Triumph of the Will, it is clear how easy it must have been to get caught up in the drama of the Nazi party. While the tremendous visual displays of flags, soldiers, and lights portray a truly nationalist German population, the speeches given by Hitler foreshadow a time of racism and war. Many of the Hitler’s speeches do focus on the mobilization of the masses into a single unit that can last forever. His final speech in The Triumph of the Will, however, focuses entirely on the extreme methods of reaching the status of an indestructible nation. Hitler mentions the “carriers of the best blood” will be selected into the party and “the racially best of the German nation” had courageously demanded to be leaders in the Reich. Without mentioning the genocide that will gather speed in the coming years, Hitler sneaks in the use of blood and race as the basis for German nationalism. Hitler also makes clear that the doctrine of the Reich is unchangeable and thus an organization “as strong as steel”.

The movie gives a clear visual of a militaristic state with thousands of men in uniform. Of course at the time, Germany was forbidden from having a military larger than the amount of men specified in the Treaty of Versailles. Therefore it is important to listen to Hitler’s focus on the “highly active fighters” that must make the commitment to believe in the movement and fight. He does not make his overall purpose any clearer when he quotes what the masses must swear to, saying, “I believe” and “I will fight”. Unfortunately, the theatrics of the Party masked Hitler’s true purpose and the majority of Germans did not hear Hitler’s true message.