5) The Police State

< PROPAGANDA & CENSORSHIP

JEWS AND MINORITIES IN NAZI GERMANY >

BY 1934 Hitler had created a TOTALITARIAN STATE.

This is a form of Government which has complete control over all aspects of of life.
Individual human rights are worthless.

TERROR & PROPAGANDA
Controlling Germany

How did Hitler CONTROL Germany?

Hitler may have achieved complete political power by 1934 but he had to CONTROL society in order to make Germany the ideal Nazi state. He did this in TWO ways:

By the use of PROPAGANDA
By the use of TERROR

WHAT IS PROPAGANDA?

Propaganda simply means to SPREAD SELECTED IDEAS AND INFORMATION to make people think and believe what you want them to. Some see this as INDOCTRINATION or Brainwashing. Hitler and the Nazis were masters of Propaganda and were fantastic at using the latest technology to spread their ideas.

REMEMBER:
The Nazi regime could not have survived if it depended entirely on the use of FORCE to control the German people. The Nazis put a lot of effort into PERSUADING German citizens that life there under the Nazis was good

WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF PROPAGANDA?

Joseph Goebbels

The job of persuading the German people to support the Nazis was given to JOSEPH GOEBBELS.

He was the head of an organisation called THE MINISTRY FOR POPULAR ENLIGHTENMENT AND CULTURE

RADIO

Radio was the biggest form of information and entertainment in Germany.
Goebbels believed Propaganda was much more effective when heard rather than read.
The Nazis controlled all radio stations
Radios were cheap and available. Germany had more radios per head of population than even the USA. 70% of houses owned a radio. The Nazis nicknamed the radio the 'PEOPLES RECEIVER'
Hitler often used the radio to put out his speeches and Nazi Propaganda.
Radio was often played on loudspeakers so people would even hear in the streets or factories

All Germany hears the Fuhrer

MASS RALLIES

Hitler addresses a mass rally

Hitler was a master of political theatre and public speaking.
Mass rallies were some of the most impressive types of Nazi propaganda.

Hundreds of thousands of people would turn out to these rallies to hear him speak.
The Nazis carefully choreographed and planned these events.
They were filmed immaculately. Flags were everywhere, music played; troops paraded. The audience was organised and obedient.
The most famous rallies were at NUREMBURG

POSTERS

The Nazis, like any other dictatorship relied on images and on posters in particular. Posters were particularly crafted to create a certain image. A strong Leader, A bright Future, A new country.
These two posters above come from rival political ideologies - the Nazis and the Communists. Yet both give the same message glorifying the leader. The Nazis used posters in a variety of ways.

BBC VIDEO: Eyewitness account of Mass Rally

FILMS

The Nazis also used the Cinema as a way to indoctrinate people.

They controlled movies in various ways.

They produced movies that glorified Germany or Hitler.
They also used it to show their racial and anti semitic ideas.
Famous Nazi films include The Triumph of the Will - a film by a German female director Leni Riefenstahl. It was highly artistic and organized and much admired at the time. It clearly however glorified the Nazi ideals.
Even more sinister were films like the 'Eternal Jew' These were graphically anti semitic and compared the Jews to Rats and cockroaches. Anti Semitic films however were not wholly popular with German audiences.
All movies were CENSORED to ensure the 'right Nazi message'

NEWSPAPERS

In 1933 there were over 4,000 daily newspapers in Germany

The Nazis firstly closed Communist or left wing newspapers.
They then began to control other newspapers. By 1939 the Nazis owned nearly 70% of all German newspapers.
CENSORSHIP was used. This meant all news stories had to be passed by the DNB - The German press agency. The EDITORS LAW meant that newspaper editors were held accountable for the stories in their papers- this created fear
Daily Briefings told the journalists what to print and not to print.
Journalists had to be on a Nazi approved list to continue working

CENSORSHIP

Nazi ideas were supreme. They wanted to eliminate (get rid of) all other ideas that did not suit their ideology.

In 1933, 20,000 books were publicly burned outside universities and libraries - if they were 'un German' in any way.
2,500 authors were banned
In 1934 a law was passed banning anti Nazi Jokes
Jazz music was banned (due to its African American origin)
All films in the cinema were censored as well as theatre plays.

Joseph Goebbels - Nazi Propaganda Minister

Joseph Goebbels was a dedicated Nazi and devoted his life to Nazi Propaganda. Germans secretly called him 'Poison Dwarf' and he was known as a serial adulterer and bitter anti-Semitic.
Goebbels genius lay in controlling the immense propaganda machine in Nazi Germany. It could be said that his Propaganda was so successful that Germany really did fight to the end - believing it could still win!
Goebbels was so mesmorised by the Nazi cause that he and his wife both smothered their 5 children to death in Hitlers bunker at the end of the war 'rather than let them live in a non Nazi Germany'

PROPAGANDA CASE STUDY
THE 1936 BERLIN OLYMPICS

1936 was a key year for Hitler. He was able to at last show the world the achievements the Nazis had made. This was a propaganda spectacular. The games were a huge success for Nazi Germany. The world was impressed with the efficiency and confidence of the new German state. Germany also came out top of the medal table - appearing to show 'Germanys superiority'

Hitler had however papered over any problems in Germany for the olympics. Anti semitism was played down - for a while -
Hitler also had to watch as an african American athlete Jesse Owens won 4 Gold medals - dispelling all Hitlers racial ideas of superiority

KEY NAZI PROPAGANDA MESSAGES

1. They were part of a MASTER RACE. Others were inferior
2. The German nation was more important than individuals
3. Jews and Communists were to blame for Germanys past problems
4. Hitler knew what was best for the German people

There is no doubt, Nazi Propaganda did have a huge impact on peoples lives. However, it perhaps helped reinforce peoples existing beliefs (People who already agreed with Hitler were more inclined to believe the Propaganda
It was perhaps less successful in winning over people who were opposed to the Nazis - This is where Force becomes necessary for the Nazis

HOW DID HITLER USE TERROR TO CONTROL GERMANY?

Germany from 1933 was also a state increasingly built on the use of Terror. This could range from Persecution through to Mass murder. Civil Rights and Freedoms vanished in Germany when Hitler took power.

THE SS

The GESTAPO

These were the NAZI SECRET POLICE.

Many Germans lived in fear of the gestapo for a number of reasons

1. They could imprison and torture without trial.
2. They bugged phones (listened to telephone conversations)
3. They openened letters and read them.
4. They had a network of informers who would denounce neighbors.

JUDGES

Judges were gradually 'Nazified' from 1933.

Hitler's control was total and Nazi judges enforced the regime.
They were called 'PEOPLES JUDGES'
Show trials in 1944 showed the power and cruelty of these judges
Up to 250,000 people were thought to have been convicted of a 'crime against the state' under the Nazis

DECREE FOR PROTECTION OF PEOPLE AND STATE

This 1933 law made it possible for opponents of the Nazis to be arrested and placed in 'protective custody' in concentration camps

CONCENTRATION CAMPS

After 1933 concentration camps were started all over Germany.

They started by simply holding political prisoners (Communists and anyone else who disagreed with the Nazis).
Soon inmates would include: political opponents of the Nazis; criminals; gypsies, tramps, the 'work shy', communists,the 'anti social' homosexuals and Jews
Conditions in these camps were terrible with lack of food and water and little medicine. People were crowded into primitive huts where they would often die.

Later in the war they would become death camps dedicated to killing. Camps such as AUSCHWITZ and TREBLINKA killed millions

The use of Terror and the POLICE STATE in controlling Germany was very successful.
Many Germans did not like the Nazis and privately grumbled about them. Very few, however, joined any opposition groups, due to fear. Discontent only started emerging during the Second World war.