Hitler and Propaganda
The Nazi regime in Germany implemented itself swiftly and effectively - the National Socialists had only three Nazis in a cabinet of twelve in January 1933, yet within two months Hitler had consolidated his political power by entirely legal means. With this, came the need for support from the German public. For a regime to 'consolidate' its power people could be too afraid to rebel against it, or they could be convinced of the value of the regime, or a combination of both. In the National Socialist era, the latter was used. In the period of 1933-1939, this was achieved by a number of methods, notably the use of propaganda, the various legislative and administrative changes, Hitler's personal charisma, the achievement of economic recovery and the 'reign of terror'. The extent to which each contributed to the consolidation of National Socialist regime is an issue that has remained in discussion, and is to be addressed in this essay. Although the relative importance of factors is in debate, it is certain that propaganda was one of the major causes of consolidation of power. As the historian Ian Kershaw emphasises, "It was plain from the beginning that the regime would attach a high priority to the steering
Lee, Routledge, 1998, · "A Social History of the Third Reich", Richard Grunberger, Longman, 1971 · "Opposition and Resistance in Nazi Germany", Frank McDonough, Cambridge, 2001 · "Hitler and Nazi Germany" Frank McDonough, Cambridge, 2001 · "Modern Germany", V. Therefore, the nation's concrete evidence that the country was prospering, which although was true to an extent, was further fabricated due to the services of propaganda. Hohne, Ballantine, 1967 · "Life in the Third Reich", R. While the cinema was experienced with others, radio had the ability for the Nazi party to talk to people in their own homes, but they could also share it with the public due to the radio speakers in the street. In addition, people's interest in art, literature and culture in general declined in interest under the Nazi regime. Lee describes the press as 'problematic' as a propaganda tool, whilst Richard Gruberger places heavier emphasis on it's power, citing Goebbel's opinion that it had a similar effect to the radio - "The reader should get the impression that the writer is in reality a speaker standing behind him. The invasive nature of propaganda is made clear because political broadcasts were often made during working hours, and workers often had their work suspended in order to listen to Hitler. Lee highlights the cyclic nature of economic upswings and downswings, which, by striking (and unfortunate) coincidence, meant that Hitler came to power just as the economy was beginning to recover naturally anyway. Goebbels was intelligent enough to realise that without variation people would soon get tired of the same message. This terror was accentuated further by direct acts of rebellion against the old order, such as the book burning during the spring of 1933. However, the issue of to what extent propaganda consolidated Nazi power can only be assessed once other aspects of the Nazi regime have been analysed and their links with propaganda explained. It did this by permeating the whole system - the Nazis laid the foundations of the system with the legal revolution, the outlawing of any other opposition, and the creation of the SS and Gestapo. Any increase in certain newspapers in reality could be blamed on compulsory subscriptions due to being members of the Nazi Party or the Hitler Youth. However once again, propaganda also had a role in this factor, as the statistics depicting prosperity in the Reich were glorified by propaganda, and the more pessimistic information remained filed away and undisclosed.
Common topics in this essay:
World War,
Weimar Republic,
SJ Lee,
Deutscher Kleinempfanger,
Ian Kershaw,
Undoubtedly Nazi,
Joseph Goebbels,
Lee Unemployment,
German Reich,
Richard Gruberger,
nazi regime,
nazi germany,
consolidation power,
frank mcdonough,
nazi party,
stephen lee,
economic recovery,
national income,
ian kershaw,
nazi power,
· hitler nazi,
cambridge 2001 ·,
mcdonough cambridge 2001,
hitler nazi germany,
historian frank mcdonough,
|
Acceptance Essays
