Boys In The Boat Essay

World War Two was a time of great tension and hardship all over the world. World War Two was a global conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945, involving most of the world's nations. The war followed a period of adversity and its predecessor World War One. World War One was caused by rising nationalism and imperialism. The First World War set up the time for the next one as it caused a major change in politics and the way of thinking in the people. Many nations grew and fell, and people began to grow a sense of nationalism. Nations around the world began to feel the effects of the war as they had to pay off debts. The people, especially in America, faced great debts too as there was overproduction and underconsumption of goods. In America,

Many recognized this global event as a prime opportunity to disseminate their respective ideologies to a wider audience and garner support for their military endeavors. One prominent figure who extensively exploited the 1936 Olympics for political gain was Adolf Hitler. Hitler saw the Games as a powerful platform to showcase the supposed grandeur and superiority of Nazi Germany. The book "Boys in the Boat" delves into how Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister, played a pivotal role in persuading Hitler to utilize the Games as a medium to present a sanitized and "perfect" image of Nazi Germany to the world. In the pursuit of promoting his racist ideals, Hitler's government imposed stringent conditions for Germany's participation in the Games, as highlighted in the movie "Race." Notably, one of these conditions was the exclusion of Jewish athletes from the German team. This discriminatory policy was reflective of the pervasive anti-Semitic ideology propagated by the Nazi regime. Furthermore, Hitler commissioned the construction of a grand new stadium, which served as a key element of his propaganda machinery, designed to awe and impress international visitors. Joseph Goebbels, as the minister of propaganda, worked tirelessly to shape Germany's image in the eyes of the international community. His primary objective was to present Germany as an appealing and innocuous nation, concealing the atrocities and human rights abuses perpetrated by the Nazi regime. Through meticulous planning and strategic manipulation of media coverage, Goebbels sought to create an illusion that Germany was an innocent and blameless country, deflecting attention from the regime's true nature. For Hitler and his government, the 1936 Olympics presented an unparalleled opportunity to whitewash their actions and project an image of Germany as a nation that had committed no wrongdoings.