Having control over what was said and published about their party was vital in the early years of the Nazi regime as it enabled them to cover up certain instances or portray them differently. For example, the Night of the Long Knives in July 1934, this was when the Nazi’s carried out a series of political executions on the SA. This event was portrayed in the media to the people of Germany as a noble act by Hitler that saved Germany from revolution. The purge therefore strengthened and consolidated the support of the people for Hitler. It also provided a legal grounding for the Nazi regime, as the German courts and cabinet quickly swept aside centuries of legal prohibition against extra-judicial killings to demonstrate their loyalty to the regime.
They also used propaganda and control of information to put out their anti-Semitic views. They indoctrinated many Germans into blaming the Jews of Germany and Europe for Germany’s economic struggles after the war, and particularly for the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. They used control of information to disguise the truth over where the Jewish people of Germany were being ‘relocated’ to and hid the dark secrets of concentration camps from the Germans they instead described them as work or labour camps and from the outside made them look more ‘humane’ most notably by the infamous motto on the entrance gates, ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’
They also enforced strict controls over Education, this involved a curriculum focused on racial biology, population policy, culture, geography and especially physical fitness. Teachers were forced to teach pupils the Nazi ideals, the idea of this was to indoctrinate Germans from a young age as they would be the future Generations who would supposedly take the country forward. Anti-Semitic policy led to the expulsion of Jewish teachers and professors and officials from the education system. And all University professors were required to be a member of the National Socialist Association of University Lecturers in order to be able to be employed as professors.
Another way in which the Nazi regime indoctrinated the youths of Germany was through groups such as the Hitler Youth and German Maidens. These were in effect the Nazi form of Scout groups, however they were used to teach the Nazi values of survival of the fittest and would prepare and push German boys towards the army, The German Maidens was the girls equivalent and instead taught the ideals that the role of the woman was to stay at home, cook, clean and have children. “Kinder, Kuchen, Kurche”.
A prime example of the Nazi regime controlling information is the 1936 Berlin Olympics. This was the perfect opportunity for the Nazi’s to show off the ‘new’ Germany and put across the message of what a great country it was. However the Nazi’s were weary they could not display values that were seen as extreme by the rest of the world as this would bring bad publicity to them and alert the rest of Europe and America that what they were doing was wrong. Therefore they dampened down anti-Semitism during the event and all soldiers and police were under strict instructions to be more lenient as Germany was in the public eye. They also used the games to bring attention to how grand the games was, this was done by building a huge stadium and the first ever Olympic opening ceremony, this was all done to show off how ‘great’ Germany was.
In conclusion, the Nazi regime controlled information and propaganda because they wanted a one party state and a regime of fear. By controlling everything about German culture and what was seen and heard enabled them to become the only option for German people and therefore their support was unprecedented as there was no opposition. The early need for propaganda was to consolidate their power. It also meant that the German people saw what the Nazi’s wanted them to see and the same of the rest of the world. This area of the Nazi regime is summed up well by the phrase Gleichschaltung meaning "coordination", "making the same", "bringing into line", this is a for the process by which the successively established a system of control over the individual, and tight coordination over all aspects of society and commerce.
Dom Ansell
L6P