The Significance of Nazi Propaganda under Hitler's Rule Essay

After Germany’s humiliating defeat in World War I, Germans had little faith in their government, and in the early 1930s following the stock market crash in New York, Germany was economically struggling . Millions of people were out of work due to the world wide catastrophe making it an opportune time for Hitler and the Nazis to rise into power. Hitler, who was a powerful and spellbinding speaker, attracted Germans desperate for change. He promised to make Germany a better country and promised the disenchanted, a better life. Nazis appealed especially to the youth, unemployed, and members of the lower to middle class. Hitler’s rise to power seemed instantaneous. Before the economic depression, Nazis were virtually unknown, winning less than 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag, which was the German Parliament. However, in the 1924 elections, the Nazis won a whopping 33 percent of the votes which was more than any other party. In January of 1933, Hitler was appointed Chancellor, the head of German Government . The Germans were convinced that they had found a savior for the Nation. The timing of his rise made it very easy for Hitler to gain power in a democratic government because people were hopeless and wanted a fast solution to the deficit. He promised things like a stronger economy, prosperity, and anything that they desired . He focused on first getting noticed and then grew from there. He didn’t say anything but what the people wanted to hear. Getting the people of Germany to trust him was how he started to gain so much control. Unfortunately, Hitler’s charm and persuasion was not the sole reason why Hitler gained so much power in a democratic

"Propaganda attempts to force a doctrine on the whole people... Propaganda works on the general public from the standpoint of an idea and makes them ripe for the victory of this idea." These words of Adolf Hitler are taken from his book Mien Kampf (My Struggle) published in 1926. Propaganda was an elaborate and essential tool used extensively by Hitler and the Nazi's during their terrorizing reign of Germany and throughout Europe. Not only was it used to promote and endorse the party and its leader's extreme anti-Semitic values, but also to mask the horrifying truths of what was to become known as the Holocaust.

To determine the extent to which Nazi propaganda was the key in Hitler’s consolidation of power, this report will identify the key factors that helped Hitler consolidate power and adjudge how big of a factor propaganda was in comparison to the others. Consequently, the report will include of a conclusive statement to answer the research question to whether or not Propaganda was a major factor to Hitler’s consolidation of power.

With Germans of all outlooks desperately seeking solutions for the nation's problems, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party began their climb to power. 'Hitler was gifted with effective political talents. He offered an explanation for Germany's defeat, and a vision of Germany's future destiny, that played upon the fears, prejudices, and hopes of many Germans. He promised to rebuild Germany's power and restore its prosperity' (Isaacman, 16). This won the support of many Germans. Hitler was such an effective speaker that anything he said was believed even if it was not true.

First off, propaganda enticingly misled Germans into following whatever Adolf Hitler said. It promoted a political cause or point of view. It almost

The Nazi regime had a top-notch propaganda ministry of the time. In fact, the government was able to adjust the public’s idea quickly. For the most part, They were able to control all media sources. As shown above, The public thought that the Jewish community was responsible for the hardship that they faced after the WWI. Furthermore, The head of the propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels was able to accomplish his goals by keeping the public from watching or listening to anti-Nazi ideas and to construct Nazi ideas are compelling to the audience (Trueman).

Prior to his upbringing and continuing, anti-Semitism propaganda was abundant in production. Nonetheless, Hitler established a Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda headed by Joseph Goebbels. The Ministry's aim was to ensure the Nazi’s anti-semitic message was successfully spread through any mode of communication. The propaganda reignited the resentment and underlying hatred inside every German through the exploitation of anti-semetic myths entrenched in the European culture for generations. Propaganda also encouraged passivity and acceptance of the impending measures against Jews, as these appeared to depict the Nazi government restoring

To what extent did Nazi propaganda influence the citizens of Germany during World War II? Propaganda is the function to attract supporters and the function to win different members over to make the people believe in certain beliefs. “World War II, which began in 1939 and ended in 1945, was the deadliest and most destructive war in history.” (The National WWII Museum para.1). The object of propaganda is to indoctrinate the people to allow people to change their behaviour in the desire of the propagandist. Forms of propaganda were eye opening to the Germans who were affected by fear and beliefs from the propagandists who implemented it into the society. However, Hitler was able to maintain his dictatorship due in large part because of the ideas and messages presented in the propaganda that was produced in Germany. The propaganda had to be simple and direct because most people during this deadliest war were not very intelligent since it was so power to new ideas from Hitler’s ideology, everyone was so susceptible to it. Hitler was able to persuade the people to his belief of unification of Germany through propaganda and the pride of the people. But, without propaganda, it is without a doubt that the war would have taken another route to make the ideology as widespread as it got during WWII. The citizens of Germany during World War II were emotionally drawn into the war due in large part because of propaganda. Propaganda affected individual beliefs and values, as well as

Edward Bernays, a pioneer in the fields of public relations and propaganda, wrote, “If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it” (Bernays 71). In this way, the Nazi party used propaganda to convince

70 Million. 3%. 6 Years. All these numbers have one thing in common, World War 2. It is horrendous to think that 70 million people’s lives can end in 6 years. Still, this number could be far more drastic had it not been for a number of things. Propaganda was one such thing. It was used to: implementing rations, swaying moods, or even in some cases controlling opinions. This was utilized by both the axis and allied powers throughout the war.

The rise and subsequent take-over of power in Germany by Hitler and the Nazi Party in the early 1930s was the culmination and continuation not of Enlightenment thought from the 18th and 19th century but the logical conclusion of unstable and cultural conditions that pre-existed in Germany. Hitler’s Nazi Party’s clear manipulation of the weak state of the Weimar Republic through its continued failure economically and socially, plus its undermining of popular support through the signing the Treaty of Versailles all lead to the creation of a Nazi dictatorship under the cult of personality of Hitler. This clear take-over of power and subsequent destruction of any

“The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape site from it” wrote Joseph Goebbel; a statement that Hitler strongly agreed with (Trueman). When Nazi Germany came to power in 1933, Goebbel was a master propagandist of the “Nazi regime and dictator of its cultural life for 12 years”. With Goebbles as a propaganda leader, Germany was able to develop an organized propaganda designed to to manipulate “ a cynic, devoid of inner devotions” and “ orchestrate a pseudo religious cult” (“Joseph Goebbels”). Subliminal propaganda proved to be a more valuable weapon than artillery and man power combined. Propaganda played a key part in every nation 's war effort; though, none were as efficacious as Nazi Germany. Germany knew the power that could be harnessed from propaganda and carefully cultivated, and molded their message to become one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Aldous Huxley, author of the famous dystopian works 'Brave New World’, commented that “Propaganda gives force and direction to the successive movements of popular feeling and desire; but it does not do much to create these movements”. The decree instating the new Ministry defined its task as the spreading of “enlightenment and propaganda within the population concerning…the national reconstruction of the German Fatherland”. It sought to Nazify German culture, wiping away the Weimar decadence of the 1920s with traditional values, societal sense of racial worth, ‘Führerprincip’ and concentration of German culture, purging it of degeneracy and Üntermenschen. Joseph Goebbels had two primary objectives: To ensure nobody in Germany could see or hear anything hostile or damaging to the Party and ensure that Nazi ideology was encouraged in the most persuasive possible manner. Nazi propaganda promoted ideology by demonising the enemies of the Nazi Party, especially Jews and communists, but also capitalists and intellectuals, it maintained the personality cult around Adolf Hitler, and promoted campaigns for eugenics and Pan-Germanism.

After all the hard work put in by the Nazis over several years in order to access rise to power, President Hindenburg finally appointed Hitler as Chancellor of Germany on 30th January 1933. Many historians have argued about how this all came about, however one in particular, Holtfriech, believes their rise to power was all due to the Great Depression, which was a world-wide phenomenon. This particular aspect however makes it sound all too simple as there also many other factors which play a crucial role in the Nazis’ success. Without Hitler’s oratorical ability, the role of propaganda and the support of a

In a time of war, when people are needy and weak, what worked rather well for the Nazi party to get its country back in shape was propaganda. Before World War 2 (1933-1938), the Nazis used propaganda to brainwash their citizens into believing that Germany was the best country, to create anti-Semitism. After losing the first great war which caused a major depression in the state, Nazi’s used Jewish people as a scapegoat for Germany's suffering economy and poor moral. This idea of using propaganda against the Jews tied into the Nazi ideology. Nazi ideology came to be after Adolf Hitler and others created the “National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP)”(Alpha History 1). They called this ideology that they developed ‘National Socialism’, which is now called Nazism today. This ideology was the centerpiece that the Nazi Party moved around. However, The NSDAP didn’t have a very clear expression of its ideology, the only documents that had concrete evidence were the Twenty Five points (1920), and Hitler's journal, Mein Kampf (1924). (Alpha History 1). The core beliefs of the Nazi party are as shown: “Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism, Nationalism, Militarism, Expansionism, Economic sovereignty, Traditional values, and Racialism” (BBC 1-2). The effective use of propaganda; which is “Defined as: information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc” (Dictionary.com), was one of the main reasons the Nazi