For the 1951 anti-communist propaganda film see The Big Lie.

The Big Lie (German: Groe Lge) is a propaganda technique. The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler when he dictated his 1925 book Mein Kampf for a lie so "colossal" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously." Hitler believed the technique was used by Jews to unfairly blame Germany's loss in World War I on German Army officer Erich Ludendorff. Contents 1 Hitler's use of the expression 2 Goebbels's use of the expression 3 Usage in Hitler's psychological profile 4 The Big Lie in popular culture 5 See also 6 References 6.1 Notes 6.2 General references 7 External links Hitler's use of the expression

The source of Big Lie technique is this passage taken from Chapter 10 of James Murphy's translation of Mein Kampf:

But it remained for the Jews with their unqualified capacity for falsehood and their fighting comrades the Marxists to impute responsibility for the downfall precisely to the man who alone had shown a superhuman will and energy in his effort to prevent the catastrophe which he had foreseen and to save the nation from that hour of complete overthrow and shame. By placing responsibility for the loss of the world war on the shoulders of Ludendorff they took away the weapon of moral right from the only adversary dangerous enough to be likely to succeed in bringing the betrayers of the Fatherland to Justice. All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true within 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.

Adolf Hitler Mein Kampf vol. I ch. X1

In that same chapter Hitler accused "the Jews" of what he claimed was their use of the Big Lie.1 Goebbels's use of the expression

Later Joseph Goebbels put forth a slightly different theory which has come to be more commonly associated with the expression "big lie." Goebbels wrote the following paragraph in an article dated 12 January 1941 16 years after Hitler's first use of the phrase "big lie" titled "Aus Churchills Lgenfabrik" and translated "From Churchill's Lie Factory." It was published in Die Zeit ohne Beispiel.

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.2 Usage in Hitler's psychological profile

The phrase was also used in a report prepared during the war by the United States Office of Strategic Services in describing Hitler's psychological profile:34

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.5 The Big Lie in popular culture George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four 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.6 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....7 Frank Zappa continually referred to "the Big Lie" in his book The Real Frank Zappa Book. He used it to describe organized religion government and the music industry. The song "When the Lie's So Big" from Zappa's 1989 album Broadway the Hard Way also dealt with the concept. Richard Belzer defines The Big Lie in his book UFOs JFK and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Believe this way: "If you tell a lie that's big enough and you tell it often enough people will believe you are telling the truth even when what you are saying is total crap." In Six Days of War by Michael Oren "The Big Lie" is used in a similar context to describe the widespread accusation (primarily by Syria and Egypt) that the Arab defeats during the Six Day War were a consequence of direct United States and United Kingdom military intervention. According to Oren the use of this falsehood by Syria and Egypt further alienated the US and also critically worsened relations with the Soviet Union which wished to avoid further escalation.citation needed Marillion's 1994 release Brave opens with a song titled "Living with The Big Lie" about propaganda in the Western world. In 2002 French journalist Thierry Meyssan wrote a controversial book called 9/11: The Big Lie which argued that the 9/11 attacks were the result of a conspiracy by the United States government. Ian Fleming referenced the "Big Lie" in his James Bond book On Her Majesty's Secret Service when he had the pilot of a helicopter who had flown it through French airspace illegally respond to the flight controller's question as to who authorized the flight that he (the flight controller himself) authorized.8 See also Black Legend Noble lie The Purloined Letter Approach References Notes a b "Project Gutenberg of Australia - Mein Kampf tr. James Murphy". http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200601.txt. Retrieved 2008-08-23.  Joseph Goebbels 12 January 1941. Die Zeit ohne Beispiel. Munich: Zentralverlag der NSDAP. 1941 pp. 364-369 original German: Das ist natrlich fr die Betroffenen mehr als peinlich. Man soll im allgemeinen seine Fhrungsgeheimnisse nicht verraten zumal man nicht wei ob und wann man sie noch einmal gut gebrauchen kann. Das haupt-schlichste englische Fhrungsgeheimnis ist nun nicht so sehr in einer besonders hervorstechenden Intelligenz als vielmehr in einer manchmal geradezu penetrant wirkenden dummdreisten Dickfelligkeit zu finden. Die Englnder gehen nach dem Prinzip vor wenn du lgst dann lge grndlich und vor allem bleibe bei dem was du gelogen hast! Sie bleiben also bei ihren Schwindeleien selbst auf die Gefahr hin sich damit lcherlich zu machen. A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler. His Life and Legend by Walter C. Langer. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Washington D.C. With the collaboration of Prof. Henry A. Murr Harvard Psychological Clinic Dr. Ernst Kris New School for Social Research Dr. Bertram D. Lawin New York Psychoanalytic Institute. p. 219 (Nizkor) Dr. Langer's work was published after the war as The Mind of Adolf Hitler the wartime report having remained classified for over twenty years. Hitler as His Associates Know Him (OSS report p.51) George Orwell. 1984 (edition) p. 221 ibid. p. 223 Fleming Ian (1963). On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Signet. p. 229.  General references Baker White John (1955). The Big Lie. Evans Brothers. OCLC 1614230.  External links The German Propaganda Archive (GPA) (Calvin College) v d ePropaganda techniques Ad hominem  Bandwagon effect  Big Lie  Blood libel  Buzzword  Card stacking  Censorship  Code word  Dog-whistle politics  Doublespeak  Euphemism  Framing  Glittering generality  Government-organized demonstration  Historical revisionism  Ideograph  Indoctrination  Lawfare  Lesser of two evils principle  Limited hangout  Loaded language  Mass games  Newspeak  Obscurantism  Plain folks  Political correctness  Public relations  Slogan  Spin  Weasel word