Topic 3: Propaganda

Cards (14)

  • Propaganda
    Using fear as a tool to generate support for the Nazis and hatred for their enemies
  • Nazi propaganda
    • Reinforced the idea that the Nazis were in control
    • Used to generate support for the Nazis and hatred for their enemies
  • Dr. Joseph Goebbels
    Appointed Minister of Propaganda and Popular Enlightenment
  • Goebbels: 'The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so thoroughly that they can never escape from it'
  • Censorship of news
    • Newspapers could only print stories favourable to and approved by the Nazis
    • Goebbels held daily press conferences to tell editors what they could and could not put in newspapers
    • Communist and socialist papers were banned, only the controlled German press remained by 1939
  • Book burning
    • In May 1933, 20,000 books by 2,500 authors were burned in Berlin
  • Posters
    • The Nazis produced thousands of posters designed to persuade people to think like Nazis
    • Posters were cheap and easy to distribute, placed in prominent positions as constant reminders of Nazi ideology
  • Radio
    • All radio output was controlled by Goebbels' ministry
    • Listening to foreign radio stations was banned
    • Cheap radios called 'people's receivers' were produced, allowing Nazi propaganda to reach millions of German homes
  • Films
    • The Nazis made hundreds of films that carried Nazi messages
    • They bought shares in major film companies until they were completely under Nazi control
    • Anti-Jewish films were also made
  • Newspapers
    • In 1933, 73% of newspapers were controlled by the Nazis
    • By 1944-47, 82% of daily newspapers were controlled by the Nazi party
    • Editors were responsible for content and only journalists approved by the Nazis could work in the media
  • Large public events
    • Mass rallies were held to show public support for Nazism
    • The annual Nuremberg rallies from 1933-38 were organised by Albert Speer
    • The 1936 Berlin Olympics were used to showcase the success of the Nazi regime and the supposed superiority of the Aryan race
  • Nazi propaganda helped reinforce existing beliefs and made people more fanatically loyal to the Nazi party
  • The Nazi propaganda messages were pervasive in people's lives through mediums like loudspeakers and reached the impressionable younger generation
  • There was some opposition to the Nazis, such as from the Confessional Church and youth groups, but this was closely monitored and suppressed