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    An Examination Of Nazi Propaganda Directed At Women Of The Neutral States, 1933-45


    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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    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)
    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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