Analyzing the statement; The most important reason why there was little opposition towards the Nazi regime was because of its use of propaganda.

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Propaganda

In this essay I will be analyzing the statement; The most important reason why there was little opposition towards the Nazi regime was because of its use of propaganda. In order to do this I will explain how the Nazis actions and the events leading up to the war prevented opposition.

During the pre ww2 era and particularly in the 1930s Hitler focused a lot of his attention on the propaganda surrounding himself and the policies of his Nazi party.  A massive propaganda campaign was launched which aimed to convince the German people that all the Nazis did was right and good. The man behind this campaign was Josef Goebbles, a vain, ambitious, anti- Semitic womanizer. Geobbles campaign was so effective that opposing views would rarely have been visible publicly; however there were some instances, in particular one involving an attempt on Hitler’s life that showed that there was some opposition to the Nazi regime. This opposition involved communist and social democrat parties youth groups, churches and the army. An example of opposition arose when two members of the white rose organization, Hans and Sophie Scholl began distributing a series of anti Nazi pamphlets depicting the negative side of its regime. They were quickly dealt with by the Nazis and subsequently executed. The Nazi party also encountered political opposition during February of 1933 when the German Reichstag was set on fire. A Dutch communist called Marinus van der lubbe was blamed for the attack. However, many people believed that the fire was not the work of communists but instead a clever, Nazi engineered way of creating anti communist hysteria among the German people. Goering was later said to have boasted about Nazi responsibility for destroying the Reichstag. Of course, Hitler seized on this event and claimed that a bolshevist revolution was underway in Germany and that communist were attempting to seize power. 

The church was also involved in opposing Nazi regimes. An organization called the confessing church was formed. It spoke out against Nazism, how it infiltrated the church and the Nazi anti Semitic policies. Members of the Confessing Church also helped approximately 2000 Jews escape to freedom.

Probably one of the most significant and blatant acts of opposition towards Nazism occurred during the latter stages of the war in July 1944 when a bomb plot executed by members of the German army took place. The intent was to kill Hitler and hopefully end his regime, however the plan failed and Hitler survived despite badly injuring his right arm. The plan was nicknamed the Stauffenberg bomb plot.

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Although the opposition instances mentioned caused the Nazis some concern, Goebbles and his Nazi propaganda machine managed to overcome them. They did this by taking control of the medial and cultural aspects of Germany to win over the German people. They also manipulated events (e.g. the Reichstag fire) using propaganda to abolish any opponents who were seen as a threat towards the Nazi power struggle. Goebbles fought for control of newspaper companies and radio stations and hundreds of pro-Nazi films were made. Germany had no real national newspapers in 1933 but had 4700 local newspapers, some of which were ...

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