For this project I had to choose a piece of rhetoric and then analyze it. I choose Hitler’s Barbarossa Proclamation because it is an excellent example of rhetoric and it changed history. Through analyzing this document I learned how a great rhetorician applies ethos,logos, and pathos and uses the different modes and devices.
Adolf Hitler is one of the greatest and most achieved rhetoricians ever to live. His speeches and writings motivated a war machine and brought unity to Germany despite their turmoil. His speeches affected the entire world and changed the course of history forever. One of his most fatal flaws was also one of his most influential works, the Barbarossa Proclamation. With this proclamation Hitler convinced the German people to unite against their ally, Russia, and attack. This led to Russia’s joining the Allies and pushing the Germans back until they were defeated, which prevented the German takeover of Europe. If this speech had not been made Germany and Russia could have potentially taken over all of Europe and maybe even the world. This speech was the turning point in the war because after this speech when Germany went to war with Russia, Germany was stopped and put on the defensive. This led to Germany's defeat in WWII and the saving of Europe from being conquered. This speech altered history and changed how the world is shaped today by motivating a whole country’s people to go to war. That is why we need to have this work of art in our rhetoric library.
Hitler uses almost all the different modes and moves in his speeches. In this writing he uses many different modes and devices but the main three that he carries through the text are narration, cause and effect analysis, and exaggerated diction coupled with matter fact diction.
To guide the reader through Hitler’s use of narration he uses dates, which helps the reader understand the order of events more clearly. Hitler uses narration through almost the entire piece to capture the audience and then to explain how many times Germany has been wronged and why they need to fight like when he says, “When on September 3, 1939, the German Reich received the British declaration of war there was repeated anew the British attempt to thwart every beginning of a consolidation of Europe and thereby its rise, by fighting against whatever power on the Continent was strongest at any given time.” In this case he is saying that Germany is the defenseless country that hasn’t done anything wrong other than prosper and the British do not want anyone to thrive other than them so they declared war on Germany. The way narration is used in this text makes the audience view Germany as the good guy and everyone else as trying to thwart good. He uses narration very loosely. By not forcing emphasis on the story, he doesn’t seem like he is telling the people what choice to make but instead makes it so the people see for themselves how he came to the conclusion of war and why they should agree with him. Hitler’s use of narration is how he appeals to logos. He uses narration to tell the people what events happened and that they are fact. Hitler uses logos but alters the facts in his favor so that people agree with him. The above quote is an example of this because Germany was not declared war on because it was prospering; war was declared because Germany was annexing Britain’s allies.
In his narration Hitler also uses cause and effect analysis to draw the audience’s attention to the opinionated outcome of certain events. An example of this is when he writes,
While the prophecies of a French statesman that there were two million Germans too many -- in other words, that this number would have to be eliminated by hunger, disease or emigration -- were apparently being fulfilled to the letter, the National Socialist movement began its work of unifying the German people, and thereby initiating the resurgence of the Reich. This rise of our people from distress, misery and shameful disregard was in the form of a purely internal renaissance.
The cause and effect analysis found in this quote is that Germans were just coming out of WWI and they had a huge debt, which caused inflation and high levels of poverty. The inflation got to the point where you had to fill a wheelbarrow full of cash to get a loaf of bread (As seen above). The effect of that was that the National Socialist party, who was run by Hitler, took actions that brought Germans back to prosperity. The reason that Hitler uses cause and effect analysis is because it is a simple way to express a message so that everyone can understand him. This was one of his goals for this speech because it was broadcasted over the radio to everyone in Germany.(The Journal of Historical Review qtd. in ihr.org) Right along side his use of cause and effect analysis he also appeals to ethos. Hitler uses this statement early on in the text so as to build up his ethos because he is claiming that he saved Germany from depression by indirectly correlating himself with the National Socialist Party. But instead of saying that he was the one who saved Germany, he is being humble about how they, the party, collectively restored order.
The last major move that Hitler employs in this text is his uses of exaggerated and matter of fact diction. Hitler uses an exaggerated tone throughout the whole writing by placing extreme emphasis on the causes of Germany’s failures to make Germany look more innocent. An example of this is how Hitler uses the word “annihilate” constantly when referring to any wrongdoing done upon Germany. This creates the feeling of necessity for the audience and that something needs to be done. It also makes the audience feel like they have been wronged because it brings up memories of a bad time in Germany, which opens their minds to solutions to the problem. If any other country has harm done to it, Hitler uses matter of fact diction to talk about it. This creates the feeling that Germany’s situation is worse than others’ and that they need to react accordingly. Hitler uses this device to appeal to his pathos in his argument because it brings out the emotions in the people and makes them support his cause.
Throughout this speech Hitler’s mastery of rhetoric persuaded his nation to go to war. With words he convinced his people to go and die for his cause. The most powerful passages that completely motivated the Germans was “I therefore decided today to once again lay the fate and future of the German Reich and our people in the hands of our soldiers.” This is because he is telling the people that the country is theirs and that all the success of Germany is the success of its people. That is what Hitler decided to bring his speech to an end because the German people have been hearing him talk about their victories for the past few paragraphs and then he says that Germany’s successes are the peoples. That makes the German people think they can do anything and makes them feel superior and want to go to war.
Hitler organized his words with the intention to motivate an entire people to attack their allies and to die in this war, and it worked. His success in this speech should be studied and is a must-have item in any rhetoric library. It shows a multitude of rhetorical devices and modes but also includes appeals to ethos,pathos, and logos throughout the entire piece. Even though Hitler had awful views on humanity we cannot ignore the rhetorical art that he made.
Works Cited:
“Hitler's 'Barbarossa' Proclamation.” Institute for Historical Review. n.p., 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2014.
Pushtone. “Today Bitcoin equaled gold parity in the USD.” Disclose.tv. Disclose.tv, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
