The story of nazi propaganda is the story of failure - How far do you agree with this statement?

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“ The story of nazi propaganda is the story of failure”- How far do you agree with this statement?

Undoubtedly, propaganda was vitally important to the Nazis and the German people were constantly subjected to it, whether it was during Hitler’s rise to the top or when he was trying to indoctrinate the people of Germany. The propaganda was very organised, spreading the Nazis views and policies, and creating the ‘ideal’ that was the Volksgemeinschaft.

However, looking back at that time, it is hard to establish whether or not the propaganda was entirely successful. This is because Hitler wanted propaganda to be everywhere, and he took away the basic rights that the people had, so there are no opinion polls available, and no neutral newspapers. Historians cannot fully justify that the mass of propaganda produced at that time actually worked. Indeed many people seemed to support the Nazi regime (or perhaps had no other alternative) but how many were actually serious hard-core Nazis?

The mastermind behind the propaganda was Goebbels. His attitude towards it was that it should be subtle and simple, and must surround the Germans so that they become unaware of how it worked upon them. The role of the propaganda in Hitler’s view was that it must be the link between the government and the people, thus, it was touching on ideals and beliefs that were already popular with them.

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The sheer mass of propaganda shows the dedication the Nazis have toward this idea of indoctrination, and they can be put into three categories: media, arts and social.

The media propaganda dealt with press, radio, and films. The Nazis took control of the radio by 1934 and established a unified radio system. By 1939 70% of Germans owned a radio (aided by the fact they were sold cheap) Goebbels described the radio as “ the spiritual weapon of the totalitarian state”, and it was one of the most powerful ‘weapons’ the Nazis had. Hitler used the radio to broadcast his ...

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