Barry, Veronica (2024) An Examination Of Nazi Propaganda Directed At Women Of The Neutral States, 1933-45. PhD thesis, National University of Ireland Maynooth.
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2027-Veronica Barry Thesis.pdf
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Abstract
This thesis examines the gender dimensions of Nazi propaganda in six key neutral states:
Argentina, Ireland, Spain and Portugal (states that remained neutral throughout the Second
World War) and the United States and Brazil (states which abandoned their neutrality in 1941
and 1942 respectively). Women and the Third Reich has been the focus of important historical
investigations. However, these studies have predominantly adopted a national approach or have
been concerned with states that came under Nazi occupation. Nazi foreign policy and
propaganda have also been the topics of historical inquiry, but studies dedicated to examining
the gender dimensions of both are lacking. This thesis attempts to bridge these seemingly
separate historical fields of study. It aims to do so by arguing that the gender messages and
networks that emanated from the Third Reich to neutral states formed part of Nazi attempts to
use soft power projections to gain influence abroad. The extent to which women in the neutral
states served as targets of Nazi propaganda is examined along with the response Nazi efforts
received. The analysis then moves to focus on how women served as the subjects of the Nazis’
message, seeking to influence neutral opinions about the regime, its ideological and later
wartime adversaries. Finally, the thesis explores women’s involvement in the dissemination of
Nazi propaganda and, thereby, the furtherance of the regime’s foreign policy interests. The
findings in this thesis contribute to our understanding of Nazi attitudes and policies towards
women as well as Nazi soft diplomacy by showing that the Nazis’ used women to improve
their international reputation. Six politically diverse neutral states have been chosen to show
that their efforts in this regard were not confined to states within their sphere of influence or to
bilateral encounters but were also employed along multilateral lines and to states across the
political divide.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) |
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Keywords: | NAZI PROPAGANDA; WOMEN; NEUTRAL STATES; 1933-1945; |
Academic Unit: | Faculty of Arts,Celtic Studies and Philosophy > History |
Item ID: | 20117 |
Depositing User: | IR eTheses |
Date Deposited: | 27 Jun 2025 10:31 |
URI: | https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/20117 |
Use Licence: | This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here |
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