CONTROLLING AND INFLUENCING ATTITUDES

• CONCORDANT WITH THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

  • Most of the country were either Protestant or Catholic
  • Christianity was a threat to Hitler and the Nazi Party because the Christian Church held different beliefs from the Nazi Party:
  • Hitler as leader, God as authority
  • Aryan race supremacy, all races considered equal
  • War and military important, peace and love favoured over war
  • Strong supported over the weak, strong should support and help the weak
• DESTROY OR KEEP CHRISTIANITY?

  DESTROY - Christianity had more members than the Nazi Party. Churches could spread anti-Nazi ideas. Christian beliefs conflicted with Nazi beliefs

  KEEP -  Many Christians had voted for Hitler during important elections. They shared similar beliefs on the importance of family. If the Nazis could control the churches, they could control the population
• CONCORDAT

  • CHALLENGES
  • 1st allegiance was to the pope
  • They had their own Catholic schools, which taught different beliefs to Nazi schools
  • Concordat - agreement between Pope and Hitler on behalf of the Catholic Church in Jul 1933
  • Catholics to worship freely and continue with school and in return priests would not interfere with politics and would swear loyalty to the Nazi regime
  • Persecution of Catholics continued
  • Around 400 priests were sent to concentration camps
  • Their schools were controlled or closed
  • Catholic Youth groups were banned
  • By 1937, it was clear the Concordat had failed
• PROTESTANT REICH CHURCH

  • Many Protestants supported the Nazi Party by 1933 as the party had promised protection from communists, who were anti-Christian
  • Ludwig Müller became Reich Bishop of a unified Protestant church called the Reich Church:
  • Around 2,000 individual churches joined
  • The swastika was displayed in some churches
  • Jewish people were not allowed to be baptised in the Reich Church
  • Pastor Martin Niemöller resisted Nazi intervention and set up the Pastors’ Emergency League (PEL):
  • The Confessional Church was created in 1934 and 6,000 churches joined
• NEWSPAPERS AND RADIOS

  • Journalists were briefed on what they could and could not publish
  • Control of newspapers allowed the Nazis to spread their messages to the public:
  • They controlled most newspapers by 1939, compared to 3% in 1933. Around 1,600 newspapers were closed down in 1935
  • The official newspaper of the Nazi Party was published daily:
  • It reached 1.1 million people by 1941
  • Radios
  • Goebbels had relied on radio during the pivotal election years of 1932 and 1933
  • After 1933, Goebbels censored most radio stations. The stations were used to spread Nazi beliefs and messaging
• NAZI RALLIES

  • Rallies had been used by the Nazi Party throughout the 1920s and early 1930s
  • Rallies became more frequent and created a sense of unity. Used to advertise the strength of the German army, despite the restrictions of the ToV
  • Nuremberg is a city in the centre of Germany and was chosen to host annual rallies from 1933-38
  • Hitler’s favourite architect, Albert Speer, designed the grounds where the rally took place
  • The 1934 Nuremberg rally had 200,000 in attendance:
  • 152 searchlights were used as pillars of light around the audience, known as the Cathedral of Light
• 1936 BERLIN OLYMPICS

  • Hitler and Goebbels believed that success in sport was essential:
  • To promote the Nazi belief that Aryans were superior
  • The Olympics was an opportunity for Hitler to show the might of Nazi Germany:
  • Germany won 38 gold medals, a ban on black and Jewish athletes was retracted after criticism from a number of countries
  • It featured the largest stadium in the world, which could hold 100,000 spectators, Nazi swastikas and imagery were displayed everywhere
  • Jesse Owens angered Hitler and the Nazis by winning 4 gold medals and becoming the most successful athlete at the game
• NAZI ART

  • All those involved in art were required to join the Reich Chamber of Creative Art:
  • Those who didn’t or couldn’t join were forbidden to teach, produce or sell art
  • Around 42,000 artists were accepted
  • Art that did not conform to Nazi beliefs was removed:
  • Expressionist artwork by Gogh and Picasso was seen as too modern
  • In 1936, over 12,000 paintings and sculptures were removed from galleries
  • Gestapo members would monitor the art being produced
  • Artists were rewarded for producing art the Nazis did approve of. The Greater German Art Exhibition featured 900 exhibits in 1936
• NAZI ARCHITECTURE

  • The Nazis disliked the modern designs during the era of the Weimar Republic
  • Nazi flags were used to merge the strength of Nazi Party with that of the architecture
  • Steps, pillars and arches were classical and historical architectural features
  • Buildings were to be impressive, but should still be rationally built with a clear purpose
  • Stone were used. Large buildings gave an impression of power and strength
  • Hitler’s favourite architect was Albert Speer, who designed some of Nazi Germany’s most important buildings, for eg:
  • the parade ground for the Nuremberg rallies
• NAZI MUSIC

  • The Nazis promoted music that represented traditional aspects of German culture:
  • Wagner, Beethovan and Bach were liked for their focus on folk music
  • Music produced by Jewish composers was censored:
  • A monument dedicated to the composer Mendelssohn was removed in 1936
  • Jazz music was disliked because it was associated with Black people
  • Many jazz artists at the time were also of Jewish origins
• NAZI LITERATURE

  • The Chamber of Culture approved books before they were published
  • Around 2,500 writers were banned because they did not conform to Nazi beliefs:
  • Works by Einstein and Oppenheimer were banned because of their Jewish origins
  • Lenin's work was banned because it was based on communism
  • In May 1933, students in Berlin burned 20,000 books by anti-Nazi authors
  • Books from 34 cities in Germany were burned for being “unwanted”
  • Joseph Goebbels delivered a speech encouraging the burning of books to an audience of 40,000
• NAZI CINEMA

  • The German film industry was very popular in the 1930s
  • Film was used by the Nazis to spread messages using ‘modern’ technology
  • Film plots had to be approved before they were made
  • Newsreels showing Germany’s achievements were played before the start of films
  • Films like Triumph of the Will by Leni Riefenstahl presented the strength and power of the Nazi Party
  • Films like Hitlerjunge Quex were used to spread political messages about the threat of communism
  • In total, 1,300 films were made by the Nazi Party