It is true that Hitler was a great motivational speaker and that he had achieved a great deal of publicity through the failed Munich Putsch, but what really made Hitler such a revered public figure and constructed his image was propaganda and Geobbels its coordinator. Geobbels organised rallies, posters, speeches and literature which all contributed and created the ‘Hitler myth’ which portrayed an image of a messiah like figure and a man who was the saviour of Germany. This both helped Hitler into power as well as enabling him to control the minds of the German people.
Goebbels used the technique of ‘total propaganda’ to control not only the media but also culture through the government. Goebbels realised that without variation to the theme of the propaganda people would soon grow tired of the same message. Therefore, he took control of the newspapers subtly; the writing style of the newspapers didn’t change, but all the papers promoted fascism.
Geobbels was largely responsible for bringing Hitler to the centre of the political stage in the first place, because of this he was rewarded with the position of Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. This covered every aspect of the communications media. Anyone who produced, distributed, broadcast, published or sold any kind of cinema, media, press or literature had to first join one of the departments and then follow the rules of that government department. Along with the compulsory membership, came the prohibition of all Jewish newspapers, radio and cinema. Due to the censorship of media and the control of its content the general mood of the media was made very pro-Nazi, therefore anyone who disagreed with the media’s views would be stepping out of the public mood. The terror of not conforming, due to the total propaganda they were subjected to, contributed greatly to the consolidation of power in Nazi Germany. This terror was made even more potent by organised violent acts against anything considered anti or un-Nazi, such as the book burning during the spring of 1933.
Propaganda was also used to show the public that Nazi Germany was a regime of modern progress and further convinced the public that it was the only solution in order to progress. Geobbels tried to show this through film by using special effects and big budgets just like the major Hollywood films of the time, by doing this he was creating a public sense of modernisation and power.
The need to constantly update the public with speeches and propaganda was the reason for the release of the 'Volksempfänger' - the people’s receiver. This was a cheap radio which increased the listening from 4.5 million households in 1933 to 16 million households in 1940. The invasive nature of propaganda is made clear because political broadcast were made during working hours and were often played through the company speakers to the workers to listen to Hitler. With such large audience figures in both cinema and radio the Nazi message was overwhelming, and the fear of being ostracised ensured that opposition was small. The constant barrage of pro-Nazi and pro-Hitler propaganda meant that Hitler’s ideas and messages were constantly in the mind of the German people and this made it much easier to control them.
However propaganda coupled with censorship did generate some resistance, for example the music that was banned under the Nazis (swing and jazz) was surprisingly resilient, Groups called the ‘Jazz Youth’ and Swing Youth’ organised illegal dances. These groups were made up mostly of teenagers and young adults, these groups were an indicator that the Nazi regime was less well accepted by the youth of Germany despite Nazi organised clubs like the ‘Hitler Youth’
Though propaganda was one of the main reasons for Hitler conserving his power, the threat of violence for non conformists was too great not to consider it as another main reason if not an equal reason for Hitler and the Nazi party’s consolidation and maintenance of power.
The threat of terror worked well because though it was only implemented on a minority it affected a large majority in not speaking out over issues that did not affect them. However, although fear may have helped consolidate power, propaganda played a part here too. It was through the use of propaganda that Nazis ‘justified’ their violent acts, such as the Reichstag fire and the Night of the Long Knives on 30th June 1934. Instead of keeping this major incident quite, they made it open conveying the message that Rohm and the other leaders were dangerous and that the Nazis actions were for the greater good of Germany. Here, propaganda played the vital role of preventing an uprising and convincing the people that because the Nazis were open about the event it had to be for the 'good of the nation.'
