page_title: Nazi propaganda and the United Kingdom
section_title: Change in attitude
hierarchical_section_title: Nazi propaganda and the United Kingdom / History / Change in attitude
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Lager Friedland Ankunft der Wissenschaftler aus Sochumi brit. Journalist Sefton DELMER im Gespräch mit den Wissenschaftlern und deren Angehörigen, 12. Februar - 16. Februar 1958
context_page_description: The position of Nazi propaganda towards the United Kingdom and its inhabitants changed over time. Prior to 1938, while Hitler tried to court Britain into an alliance, his propaganda praised the British as proficient Aryan imperialists. Later, as the Nazis realised that they would have to fight the United Kingdom, their propaganda vilified the British as oppressive, German-hating plutocrats. During the war, it accused "perfidious Albion" of war crimes, and sought especially to drive a wedge between Britain and France.
context_section_description: Up to November 1938, the English were depicted as an Aryan people, but afterward, they were denounced as "the Jew among the Aryan peoples" and as plutocrats, fighting for money.  This was sometimes modified with the suggestion that it was the ruling class alone that was the problem.  Goebbels denounced it as having a few hundred families rule the world without any moral justification, a phrase which had been taken directly from the French Popular Front despite Nazi opposition to Communism.
  The change of emphasis was due to Hitler's changed view of Britain from a potential ally to an enemy that would have to be destroyed. This emphasis increased as British resistance went on.  Such films as Der Fuchs von Glenarvon and My life for Ireland did not show quite the crude stereotypes as later films such as Ohm Krüger and Carl Peters.
  The instant—and unauthorised—rejection of the peace terms of Hitler's 19 July 1940 speech by Sefton Delmer on the BBC produced a great impact on Germany; Goebbels believed it had to show governmental inspiration, and the German press were instructed to attack the rejection.
caption: Sefton Delmer (1958)
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