Hirohito and Goebbel-- Similar Yet Different

When reading Goebbels and Emperor Hirohito’s speech they come off as complete opposites. One is trying to persuade the people to quietly surrender while the other rallies the nation up and encourages them to continue their fight. Emperor Hirohito and Joseph both had very different speeches but used similar rhetorical devices in achieving their goal.

 As Japan had recently been bombed by the nuclear bomb Emperor Hirohito has the tough job of telling his nation that they will be surrendering. Considering how proud and loyal the Japanese are to their Emperor it becomes even more difficult to do so. One of the things Hirohito does is use the feelings of nationalism to convince the Japanese that surrendering is the best thing to do. In the statement “Despite the best that has been done by everyone—the gallant fighting of our military and naval forces, the diligence and assiduity of out servants of the State and the devoted service of our 100,000,000 people..” Hirohito is very clever in his diction. Words such as gallant fighting, diligence and assiduity, and devoted service are used to show that the Japanese people gave it their all. He then says the “war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage”. By using such an understatement he softens the blow of losing the war. In fact, he turns the situation around by claiming that their surrender is the ultimate sacrifice. They are essentially saving the world from the “total extinction of human civilization” and paving the way for the future of Japan. Rather than delivering a speech about merely surrendering, Hirohito turns it around to make it seem as if they are still fighting.

Though Goebbel has a different goal his speech uses techniques similar to the ones used by Hirohito. Goebbels states how the German people are “raised, educated and disciplined by National Socialism” and is “armed against weakness and uncertainty”.  Here Goebbels uses the sense of nationalism in the German people to get them to agree and support him. He also makes a heavy claim that the survival of the whole world depends on them. “This is a threat to the Reich and to the European continent that casts all previous dangers into the shadows. If we fail, we will have failed our historic mission “.  Goebbel continuously says throughout his speech the German people are the only one capable of saving the world from the evils of Bolshevism. In that sense, both speeches are similar in ways of using the people’s sense of pride to agree that surrendering or fighting is the best for their country.

However there are obvious differences in the two speeches as well. Goebbel uses guilt to make his audience agree with him. He refers back to the “heroic sacrifices of heroism“ at Stalingrad multiples times implying that they must live up to that. Rather than directly addressing the loss at Stalingrad he makes use of soldiers to set remodels of the German people. Goebbel also instills fear to insure that everyone complies with him.  He conjures an image of the Jewish as the “incarnation of evil, as the plastic demon of decay and the bearer of an international culture-destroying chaos”. And if that isn’t frightening enough, he makes very ominous threats such as when he says “we will respond appropriately.”

Both speeches were successful in persuading the nation to do what they wanted. While nationalism is effective for both what sets them apart is the writer’s way of delivering them. Though Hirohito makes understatement and some exaggerations like the "obliteration of Japan"  most of his content is agreeable  Hirohito has more faith in his people while Goebbel seems to have none considering that the speech is based mainly lies, prejudice, fear, and guilt. One thing that can be known for sure is that when you convince the people that they are the hero that will save the fate of man kind from impending doom-- like worldwide destruction from the deadly bomb or enslavement by the Communist Jews-- they are more likely to comply.