This short LDC module is based on a Nazi Propaganda lesson plan from the Stanford History Education Group (SHEG) http://sheg.stanford.edu/upload/V3LessonPlans/Nazi%20Propaganda%20Lesson...
In this adaptation, students are asked to analyze the techniques used in three pieces of propaganda, selected by SHEG. All three pertain to the same event, the 1938 vote by Germans and Austrians to ratify the annexation of Austria by Germany. The examples include a speech delivered by Hitler, a pro- annexation poster, and the actual ballot voters used. Students will use a guide to propaganda techniques that was first written by scholars in the 1930s in response to early Nazi propaganda.
The focus common core standard is RI.9-10.4, analyzing the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone. The primary focus of the module is to help students understand why and how propagandists construct their messages and to be a critical audience, spotting fallacies, manipulation, etc.
No study of propaganda is complete without studying some examples of Nazi propaganda. This module could be combined with several other propaganda modules (see commoncoreblended.com or the PLUS team collection in the LDC Curriculum Library) to create a whole propaganda unit. It could also be used as a component in a unit on the rise of the Nazis and the prelude to World War II or a more in-depth study of the 1938 annexation.
