History of Criticism of German Political Posters, 1918-45

FAIN: FT-13709-78

Robert D. Brooks
University of South Florida (Tampa, FL 33620-9951)

To write a history and critical analysis of German political poster propaganda for the years 1918-1945. The central concern of the history are the posters of the National-Socialist party, but they will be chronicled, compared and evaluated with specimens from the many parties with which the Nazis competed prior to the Machtubernahme, 1932. History will: 1) identify the major German poster artists and schools of poster art for the period; 2) characterize and analyze the verbal and visual rhetoric of archetypal posters; 3) identify the political and social functions attributed by the Third Reich propaganda apparatus; and, examine the impact of Nazi posters.