Routledge Revivals: The Rape of the Masses (1940)

First published in French in 1939, and later in English in 1940, this work by the author analyses and strongly critiques the effect of Nazi propaganda on the psychology of the masses. The English translation was updated to account for the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.

Autorentext

Sergei Stepanovich Chakhotin was a Russian biologist, sociologist and social activist of Russian origin. He was one of the first thinkers to describe the effect of propaganda on the psychology of masses and warned against the techniques used by the Nazi Party. He was friends with Einstein and discussed his fears concerning the rise of Nazism with him.

Inhalt

Introduction; 1. A Scientific Introduction: Psychology, an exact science 2. Collective psychology 3. The Instinct of Struggle 4. Symbolism and Politics Propagangda 5. Political Propaganda in the Past 6. The Secret of Hitler's Success 7. Resistance to Hitlerism 8. Psychical Violence on a World Scale 9. Active Socialism; Conclusion