NAME: Yap San Joe

SCHOOL: Sri KDU International School, Kota Damansara

How significant was propaganda to Hitler’s authoritarian state?

The definition of propaganda is the propagation of information - facts and statistics, arguments or
lies to influence public opinion. It was also believed in its use to manipulate and indoctrinate
societal ideologies, moral beliefs or support for different political views. Mediums delivering
effective ‘political’ propaganda to influence the public are posters, radios, books, speeches and
political rallies to name a few. An authoritarian regime can be described as a whole group of
society that establishes their citizen’s blind submission to the state or government without
freedom or question and there is a formalised power structure with the Fuhrer at the top.
Propaganda was a significant apparatus of power to the Nazi Party and was vital to Hitler to a large
extent, as it influenced every layer of society which was far reaching and denoted similar traits
taken from terror.

To understand the importance of propaganda, we must first understand it helped achieve most of
Hitler’s goals in establishing an authoritarian regime. It can be extremely vital to Hitler’s rule and
control over the people as the effect can penetrate every single layer of society. This would ensure
a smooth rule over a nation as every single layer of society shares the same belief/common
thoughts, hence it would be easy to conform and to manipulate a large group of people. Therefore,
in this essay, I would like to explore how far reaching or how ineffective was propaganda to Hitler’s
utility of transitioning Germany from a two party state country to a one party state dictatorship,
the contrast between terror and incentives and how Hitler transformed a normal authoritarian
state with the presence of incentives that are not particularly present in most authoritarian
regimes.

One significant form of propaganda can be highlighted through censorship, utilised by Hitler as a
vital tool for seizing authority over society. Joseph Goebbels was appointed by Hitler as the
minister of propaganda in Nazi Germany and was responsible for creating and controlling all
aspects of Nazi propaganda. For instance, all radios and stations were under Nazi control which
the Nazis implemented to each household in order to make sure that a large population would
have access to low-cost radios such as “The People’s Receiver”. It was effective as it led to
accessibility to public speeches of Hitler and special events held. Furthermore, news outlets were
censored, which led to editors requiring to attend meetings in order to be told what to publish.
This was evident in the Nazi book burnings during 1933, student groups at universities across
Germany in the attempts to destroy books they judged to be “un-German” or contrary to national
interests. Some of these included notable works by Jewish authors such as Brecht, Einstein, Freud
and other intellectuals, as well as any works which contained material critical of Hitler or his
policies. This was effective as the opinions around the Nazis political group was positive, to
prevent the flow of critical information and knowledge/ideas, to spread the mainstream Nazis
ideologies as well as ultimately winning the elections for the following years.

On top of that, the significance of Hitler himself being a form of exploitative propaganda allowed
for control over the mass media as well as the life of many Germans to be influenced by.
Nuremberg rallies were used to hear about new laws and decrees that had been passed by Hitler’s
government. According to Hitler’s public speaking charisma, he was persuasive and was able to
touch the hearts of every layer of society with his outspoken personality such as stomping the
ground and hitting the table to convey rage or pride, in leading to fuelling ideologies for the Nazi
regime. To add on, the annual Nuremberg Rally was effective as it was broadcasted internationally
for other countries to watch, which in turn drove people’s enthusiasm and brought the country
together. The swastika symbol and the uniforms were a symbol of propaganda as they were used
to promote the strength of their nation’s political and military dominance. The marching swastika
formation led to the emotional power generated by the rallies to be preserved in films such as -
“The Triumph des Willens”. In summary, the propaganda mythology aims to dominate the German
public perceptions and opinions. Hitler became the most important figure by demonstrating his
dominance via propaganda methodology, and as a corollary, the messages meant for the German
public had evolved from.

The Nazis also used propaganda to spread the essential German family values that were taught
important to women (the three Ks - Kinder, Kirche, Kuche). After the downfall of the Weimar
Republic, the Nazis wanted to reverse the gender roles placed onto women especially when
women of Germany during the Weimar’s rule were seen as more progressive in the way that they
had professional careers and the rights to vote. The Nazis saw an opportunity for women to belong
within a certain gender construct as it was thought of as an advantage to boost its birth rate for
the country’s expansion and population growth. In addition, the establishment of the Lebensborn
programme allowed for pure and unmarried Aryan women to be impregnated by racially pure
German men and donate the child to the Fuhrer to be reared in state institution. This was done so
to replace the losses of the population from WW1 and to provide sufficient members of the
“Master Race” to occupy annexed territories and populate them. In order to maximise the
effectiveness of this policy, the Nazis also managed to place incentives to encourage marriage and
childbearing such as marriage loans, maternity leave, family allowances and fertility medals
awarded on the number of children the mother has given birth to. The Marriage Encouragement
Law provided married couples with a 1000-mark loan and allowed them to keep 250 marks for
each child they had. In comparison to other forms of control, an increase in the Aryans means
more loyal subjects to Hitler because it benefits the economy. Overall, it can be considered
significant as the complement of both state propaganda and incentives measures helped to
motivate and influence women of Germany to house children and family.

Contrastingly so, we see a change in the effectiveness of the policies throughout the regime’s later
years. After 1937, as the country entered WW2, policies had to be reformed due to the country’s
rearmament needing more labour to work within this area in order to cope with the demands of
the industry. Those industries could no longer meet the required number of employees because of
the exhaustion of men in the workforce from the casualties in war. Thus, women were needed
back in work and many soon had to cope with taking care of children and domestic chores. After
1939, the Nazi regime became increasingly confused in its propaganda towards women as it tried
to pursue two different objectives, which was: the increase in birth rate which required women to
be home as well as the wellbeing of the war economy which required women to be working.

Nonetheless, the use of propaganda could be considered less effective alone unless used with
terror. In order to establish a self-governed authoritarian regime, Hitler utilised fear to capture
the control of the city government and police force. The event of the “Enabling Act,” was a
significant instrument in securing the Reich government to lay the foundation for the complete
Nazification of German society where Hitler could rule with full power unless Hindenburg
intervened. As the Reichstag Fire was the starting point from which Hitler was able to establish an
authoritarian state, it could be seen as significant as it gave Hitler the right to make laws without
the approval of the government for the next four years and in this context, banning the 81
Communists and 26 Social Democrats from assuming their seats, incarcerating them in Nazi
controlled institutions and using the decree for the Protection of People and State. Hitler could
have all powers to society because the cause of “The Enabling Act” ensured the seamless growth of
propaganda and terror by establishing allegiance with public services by municipal governments
and police forces who were sacred of disobeying. Overall, this event could be justified as a catalyst
to Hitler’s steps to laying the foundation of an authoritarian regime because the Decree abolished
all of the citizen’s civil rights and gave complete power to eliminate all opposition to his reign.

Moreover, the deployment of Gestapo frightened the Germans the most as they acted as a secret
police force of the Nazis, its mission was to search for evidence of opposition or resistance to
Nazi’s control. Their significance in instilling fear into German citizens' lives was crucial as they
perpetuated the belief that they had the potential to report on any citizens actions and having the
network of informers listening to people's discussions. This led to distrust and uncertainty, in turn
forcing citizens to comply within the authority. For instance, the Gestapo shut down German trade
unions because they posed a threat to the party’s supremacy; political opponents, such as the
German Communist Party, were dissolved as a result of this; as a result of the multitude of actions,
the people were extremely fearful; and the presence of the SS and Gestapo created loyal citizens to
the rulings. Nevertheless, they had broad powers where they had the ability to arrest civilians and
detain them in concentration camps without a trial or even an explanation. Therefore, the
Gestapo acquired control through intimidation, which was aided by their strength and the fact
that they operated beyond the law and their immense powers elicited little opposition or protest.

Lastly, the Nazis banned Trade Unions and replaced them with the German Labour Front Union
and established the “Strength Through Joy” movement. It was initially drafted as a form of
incentive in order to boost the country’s productivity rate and to offer employment opportunities.
KDF was designed to fill the leisure time of hard workers by giving them a variety of holidays,
which propelled the notion that the Nazi Party was treating their workers well. This prompted
workers to be more productive and gave the understanding of how benevolent their government
was, ensuring support in the future. However, on the other hand, the KDF could be considered
ineffective as there was dissatisfaction held from the workers complaining at how the itinerary
was strictly structured, the company employers were to follow them for the trip which prevented
privacy and did not feel like an actual holiday. Predominantly, the successes to the German Labour
Front organisation prevented rights of workers to demand for extra pay, better working
conditions and equal treatment since it was controlled under the supervision of the Nazis. By
banning trade unions, the Nazis were able to eliminate strikes and legal responsibility and the
forced conditions for workers to give up their rights over to the DAF in return for the incentive
perks offered in the feared consequence of the SS.

In conclusion, propaganda was successful to an extent specified at the early years of Hitler’s
authoritarian regime. Propaganda gradually lost its effectiveness overtime because people
disregarded the propaganda as they became aware that Hitler utilised propaganda to make them
support the Nazi Party. Furthermore, as the war progressed, Germans began to lose faith in
Hitler’s leadership as a result of the attacks during WW2, which indicated that Germany's image
was deteriorating. Moreover, incentives played a part throughout Hitler's authoritarian regime
but it wasn’t effective enough towards the end as there was still much opposition towards the Nazi
party, where civilians could choose to conform or not. Thus only with the addition of terror, did
propaganda help play a significant role towards the end of WW2 as terror promoted fear and for
Hitler, who had higher objectives to control civilians.

BIBLIOGRAPHY -

https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/visual-essay-impact-propaganda
https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/nazi-germany/propaganda-in-nazi-germany/
https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1933-1938/establishment-of-dachau-ca
mp
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxb8msg/revision/2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2932p3/revision/2
Mein Kampf - Adolf Hitler
https://www.cdarwin.com/attachments/download.asp?file=198&type=pdf
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z2932p3/revision/2
https://www.walton-ac.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2019/02/Life-in-Nazi-German
y-Revision-Guide.pdf
https://www.annefrank.org/en/anne-frank/go-in-depth/germany-1933-democracy-dictat
orship/#:~:text=In%201933%2C%20Hitler%20came%20to,turned%20Germany%20into%20
a%20dictatorshp.
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-was-volksgemeinschaft-1221370
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-reichstag-fire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Labour_Front
Complete 20th Century History for Cambridge IGCSE & O Level