How did the Nazis use propaganda to control the German people?

Learning objective – to be able to assess the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda.

I can describe some of the ways that the Nazis used propaganda.

Grade D

I can explain the impact of Nazi propaganda.

Grade B

I can explain and assess the impact of Nazi propaganda.

Grade A

Starter – list the different ways that politicians can try to persuade people to agree with their

views.

What was Hitler’s view on the role of propaganda in the Nazi state?

‘The powers of understanding of the masses are feeble. And they quickly forget. So effective propaganda has to be limited to a few bare essentials and those must be as simple as possible. These slogans should be repeated until the very last person has come to grasp with the idea’

Adolf Hitler in Mein Kampf

What was the role of Josef Goebbels?Throughout the regime, working class groups produced anti government leaflets, sabotaged factory production, secretly sheltering Jews and spying. Some church leaders openly criticised the regime, particularly during the euthanasia campaigns.

However, with the development of the police state, open opposition decline as opposition tended to go underground to avoid arrest.

What were the main forms of propaganda used by the Nazi Party?

Newspapers

Radio

Films

Rallies

Culture

Sport

How did the Nazis control the press?Germany did not have national newspapers but, instead, had over 4,700 local newspapers.

The controls implemented by the Nazis on the press were –

• Anti-Nazi newspapers were shut down.• Jews were banned from owning or working for newspapers.• Daily instructions were given to the press reminding them on what they must report on, what angle reports must take and what pictures to publish.• Approved newspapers were put in public display boxes to read.

How did the Nazis control radio?Hitler and Goebbels thought that people took more notice of the spoken word over the written word. Radio was, therefore, very important in their propaganda strategy despite radios being very expensive and with no national network.

The controls implemented by the Nazis on radio were –

• Goebbels set up the Reich Radio Company which controlled all local radio stations.• Millions of very cheap radios – ‘The People’s Receiver’ – were made. By 1939, 70% of Germans had a radio and loudspeakers were set up in public squares which broadcast Nazi speeches and programmes.• Foreign programmes were banned and Nazi approved broadcasts included those on German history and German music.

How did the Nazis control films?The German film industry was very strong and of high quality. This meant that the Nazis would need to keep up this high standard if people were to watch approved films.

The controls implemented by the Nazis on film were –

• Entry to the cinema was only allowed at the beginning at before the film 45 minutes of official Nazi newsreels were shown.• Film-makers had to sent proposed film plots to Goebbels for approval.• The most popular films during the Nazi regime were adventures, romances and comedies.• Some openly pro-Nazi films, such as The Eternal Jew, were made.• Nazi propaganda films, such as The Triumph of the Will, were seen as masterpieces, with directors such as Leni Riefenstahl seen as groundbreaking in their film techniques.

How did the Nazis control rallies?Rallies and festivals were a very popular part of the Nazis campaign for power and they continued to use them to keep people loyal and remind them of their culture and history.

The ways Nazis used rallies in their time in power were –

• Built a bigger arena at Nuremberg specially for rallies and parades. The Nuremberg Rallies were held annually and the highlight of the propaganda calendar.• The Nazis created a new calendar of important days they expected people to celebrate, such as Hitler’s birthday and German Culture Day in July.• Rallies and Festivals were an important way to show people that the Nazis brought order and control to Germany.

How did the Nazis control culture?Germany had a long cultural history which brought much pride to the nation. The Nazis tried to control this through the Reich Chamber of Culture, which forced all artists, writers and actors to become a member of – otherwise they were not allowed the perform.

The ways Nazis imposed control over culture were –

• In 1933, the Nazis drew up a list of banned books which were removed from bookshops and libraries.• In 1935, public book burnings took place of books that were not approved, such as those by Jews and Communists.• The Nazis encouraged books about race, war and the history of Germany.• The Nazis encouraged the theatre to put on plays about German history and political dramas. They created the Nazi Cultural Association, which gave members cheap tickets.• Music was tightly controlled with traditional German music, such as folk, marching and classical music to the fore. Jazz music was banned.

How did the Nazis control sport?The Nazi regime thought that sport was a good opportunity to show Nazi Germany in a good light. They used the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a way of showing the world that Nazi Germany was a civilised society and boost their international reputation as well as domestic popularity.

The ways the Nazis used the Olympics were –

• Building the Olympic Stadium which could hold 110,000 people – the largest stadium capacity in the world.• It was faultlessly organised – showing precision and efficiency.• The Germans won more medals than any other country.• However, the main story that hit the international headlines was the Jesse Owens 4 Gold Medal haul.

Task

This word cloud summarises the content of the story Bonus Army.

In pairs, pick the 10 most important terms in the word cloud and using the PowerPoint and the sheet given to you, list the 10 terms and, for each term, write their relevance Nazi propaganda in two sentences.

TaskComplete the table on Nazi propaganda on the sheet provided. On the table, you should record the following –

• Ways the Nazis used different forms of propaganda.• Examples of the propaganda the Nazis used.• Reach a judgement about how effective the Nazis used each

form of propaganda.

Plenary – a touch of Scrabble

What are the three key words from this lesson that sums up your learning?

Which word has the highest value if you used in a game of Scrabble?

Compare with the person next to you. Which word has the highest value?