Hitler's new National Socialist government established the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda Use of Propaganda on March 1933 to enforce Nazi Party ideology in Germany and regulate its culture and society. The Ministry was headed by Dr.Joseph Goebbels who was responsible for controlling the press and culture of Nazi Germany. The Propaganda Ministry used many media to further the National Socialist message and maintain control over the people. Posters, newspapers, publishing, and the arts were all used and explicitly controlled by the Ministry. Goebbels had two main tasks:
To ensure that nobody in German could read or see anything that was hostile or damaging to the Nazi Party
To ensure that the views of the Nazis were put across in the most persuasive manner possible
To ensure this success, Goebbels wired with the SS and Gestapo (secret police) to capture those who produced articles defamatory to the Nazis and Hitler. The propaganda resulted in a system of censorship. You could only read, see and hear what the Nazis wanted you to read, see and hear. In this way, the people of Germany believed what they were told, and Nazi leaders sought opposition to their rule would be very small and only practiced by the extremes.
IMPORTANCE FOR HITLER IN CONSOLIDATING POWER Up to 1933, the Nazi Party won the majority of the votes at the Reichstag elections and may have been the largest political party in 1933, but they did not have the majority of the support among the people. Therefore, the people who had supported the Nazis needed to be informed on how correct their choice was with an emphasis on the strength of the party of the leadership- this relates to the part of the stool where the the people benefit from the rule. Also, people who opposed the Nazi Party had to be convinced that it was pointless continuing with their opposition and that they would be captured by the Gestapo if there was any voiced dissent towards the Nazis.-People who fear the rule(stool) The fact that Goebbels had so much power is indicative of how Hitler thought it was to ensure that the people were own over or intimidated into accepting Nazi rule. Also, Hitler consolidated his power through propaganda to the people who were ignorant to the current situation of the Nazis. The Nazis were brought to a good light and won over to the people who were ignorant. "The seed of peace, not dragon's teeth" a cartoon of Hitler. March 22 1936 Much of Hitler's propaganda rested on achievements in foreign policy. A recurring theme of propaganda before 1939 was that Hitler was a man of peace, but one who was determined to recover German territories "lost" as a result of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, drawn up at the end of WWI. In 1936, Germany reoccupied the Rhineland in contravention of Versailles. The cartoon above is from a right-wing magazine and dates from after Germany's illegal occupation of the Rhineland, but presents Hitler as a statesmanlike "sower" of peace. The back is a figure of peace.
The Propaganda Ministry used many media to further the National Socialist message and maintain control over the people. Posters, newspapers, publishing, and the arts were all used and explicitly controlled by the Ministry. Goebbels had two main tasks:
- To ensure that nobody in German could read or see anything that was hostile or damaging to the Nazi Party
- To ensure that the views of the Nazis were put across in the most persuasive manner possible
To ensure this success, Goebbels wired with the SS and Gestapo (secret police) to capture those who produced articles defamatory to the Nazis and Hitler. The propaganda resulted in a system of censorship. You could only read, see and hear what the Nazis wanted you to read, see and hear. In this way, the people of Germany believed what they were told, and Nazi leaders sought opposition to their rule would be very small and only practiced by the extremes.IMPORTANCE FOR HITLER IN CONSOLIDATING POWER
Up to 1933, the Nazi Party won the majority of the votes at the Reichstag elections and may have been the largest political party in 1933, but they did not have the majority of the support among the people. Therefore, the people who had supported the Nazis needed to be informed on how correct their choice was with an emphasis on the strength of the party of the leadership- this relates to the part of the stool where the the people benefit from the rule. Also, people who opposed the Nazi Party had to be convinced that it was pointless continuing with their opposition and that they would be captured by the Gestapo if there was any voiced dissent towards the Nazis.-People who fear the rule(stool) The fact that Goebbels had so much power is indicative of how Hitler thought it was to ensure that the people were own over or intimidated into accepting Nazi rule. Also, Hitler consolidated his power through propaganda to the people who were ignorant to the current situation of the Nazis. The Nazis were brought to a good light and won over to the people who were ignorant.
"The seed of peace, not dragon's teeth" a cartoon of Hitler. March 22 1936
Much of Hitler's propaganda rested on achievements in foreign policy. A recurring theme of propaganda before 1939 was that Hitler was a man of peace, but one who was determined to recover German territories "lost" as a result of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, drawn up at the end of WWI. In 1936, Germany reoccupied the Rhineland in contravention of Versailles. The cartoon above is from a right-wing magazine and dates from after Germany's illegal occupation of the Rhineland, but presents Hitler as a statesmanlike "sower" of peace. The back is a figure of peace.