Big Lie
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The phrase Big Lie refers to a propaganda technique developed by Adolf Hitler, and documented in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf which consists of telling a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe anyone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously". In that book Hitler wrote that people came to believe that Germany lost World War I in the field due to a propaganda technique used by Jews who were influential in the German press. The first documented use of the phrase "big lie" is in the corresponding passage: "in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility".¹
Later, Joseph Goebbels put forth a slightly different theory which has come to be more commonly associated with the phrase big lie. In this theory, the English are attributed with using a propaganda technique wherein they had the mendacity to "lie big" and "stick to it".²
There is an uncited rumor to the effect that Goebbels also offered up his version of the big lie technique without attributing it to either Jewish or Allied propaganda. That uncited quote is the most wide-spread attribution of the big lie, and it is usually given in a context where the implication is that the propaganda technique was invented by Goebbels, who was the propaganda minister for the Third Reich.³
The phrase was also used (page 219 ) in a report prepared during the war by the United States Office of Strategic Services in describing Hitler's psychological profile [1]
- His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it. - OSS report page 51 [2]
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[edit] Mein Kampf extract
Hitler wrote in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf (James Murphy translation, page 134):
- All this was inspired by the principle - which is quite true in itself - that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes. ...
[edit] Churchill's Lie Factory extract
Goebbels wrote the following paragraph in an article dated 12 January 1941, 16 years after Hitler's first use of the phrase big lie, entitled "Aus Churchills Lügenfabrik," translated "From Churchill's Lie Factory." It was published in Die Zeit ohne Beispiel (Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP., 1941), pp. 364-369. An excellent on-line resource for Nazi propaganda is the German Propaganda Archive of Calvin College [3]. The following speech excerpt is referenced from the GPA.
- That is of course rather painful for those involved. One should not as a rule reveal one's secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous. - Joseph Goebbels, 12 January 1941, Die Zeit ohne Beispiel
[edit] The Big Lie in popular culture
There are many references to 'the Big Lie' in popular culture. Among them are:
- On Soundgarden's 1991 album 'Badmotorfinger', the song 'Holy Water' includes the line: "It's the big lies/ Are more likely to be believed".
- On David Bowie's album 'Hunky Dory', the song 'Quicksand' includes the verse; "I'm the twisted name on Garbo's eyes / Living proof of Churchill's lies / I'm destiny".
- George Orwell's novel '1984' refers to the Big Lie theory on several occasions. For example:
| “ | “The key-word here is blackwhite. Like so many Newspeak words, this word has two mutually contradictory meanings. Applied to an opponent, it means the habit of impudently claiming that black is white, in contradiction of the plain facts.” (Page 221)
“To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed…” (Page 223) |
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