How Did Hitler Use Propaganda

Hitler’s other weapon
Hitler did not rise to power completely through force; he used propaganda to convince German citizens that Jews (and other groups of people) were the cause of Germany’s economic problems. Hitler strategically blamed Jews for a majority of problems the German people faced, catering to all the demographics of the German population. In the book “Hitler's Propaganda Machine”, the author, Roger B. Nelson, states that,”…the Nazis embarked on a massive rearmament program that created many jobs, thereby addressing the unemployment problem and securing the support of the working classes. In addition, the Nazis were able to appeal to the lower middle classes, whose businesses had suffered under the difficult economic conditions,
by blaming the Jews for their problems, and to the middle classes by promoting the idea of a racially pure, powerful nation.
In doing so, they cleverly manipulated the fears and weaknesses of each group with targeted propaganda tools.” (Nelson).The Nazi party gained political favor through carefully planned propaganda tools which specifically tailored to every part of the German social classes; giving the German people a reason to support the Nazi party and begin to disapprove of the Jews, the Nazis also targeted other classes like, Roma (Gypsies), people with disabilities, Poles, Soviet prisoners of war, and Afro-Germans. As the Nazis continued spread their propaganda more and more people began to support their cause, propaganda was also used in the ranks of the military. Hitler exploited the “appeal of rebuilding Germany’s military strength” to get even more German support. He used “The military style of organization” (Nelson) to appeal to soldiers and Germans alike. This gave pride to the party members, and the German citizens a military to be proud
of and someone to follow.
The face of German propaganda
Joseph Goebbels was the person who was able to take Hitler’s idea and spread it through German society and media.
He was born on October 29, 1897 in Rheydt, in the Rhineland. Goebbels joined the Nazi party in 1925 and was made into the business manager of the NSDAP in the Ruhr district. Before the end of the year though Goebbels was the principle collaborator of Gregor Strasser, leader of the social-revolutionary North German wing of the Party. Before joining the Nazi party Goebbels had tried to join news bureau and was not successful. In 1925 after Goebbels was promoted he founded and edited the Nationalsozialistischen Briefe (NS Letters) and other publications of the Strasser brothers, where they would share their proletarian anti-capitalist outlook and call for a radical revaluation of all values. In 1926 Goebbels’s switched to Hitler’s side and was awarded the position as Nazi district leader for Berlin-Brandenburg. In his position he was placed at the head of a tiny, conflict-ridden organization, he rapidly prospered in taking control and weakening the influence of the Strasser brother in northern Germany and their domination of the party press. In 1927 he founded and edited his own weekly newspaper, Der Angriff (the attack in English). To further his influence he designed posters published his own propaganda, staged parades, and organized his bodyguards to participate in street battles, beer-hall brawls and shooting affrays as a tactic to further his political
agitation. His skills in propaganda and transforming Berlin into a strong organization impressed Hitler and in 1929 Hitler promoted him to Reich Propaganda Leader of the Nazi party. His skills in the field of propaganda were observed by Hitler many years later in statement he says that: "Dr. Goebbels was gifted with the two things without which the situation in Berlin could not have been mastered: verbal facility and intellect. . . .For Dr. Goebbels, who had not found much in the way of a political organization when he started, had won Berlin in the truest sense of the word." His true potential was demonstrated in the election campaigns of 1932 because of his crucial role in bringing Hitler to the centre of the political stage. On March 13, 1932 his actions were rewarded when he was given the position of Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, this position gave him total control of the communications media- i.e. radio, press, publishing, cinema and the other arts. Using his new political power Goebbels used propaganda, bribery and terrorism, “cleansing” the arts in the name volkisch ideal, subjecting editors and journalists to state control, eliminating all Jews and political opponents from positon's of influence. In May 10, he staged a ritual “burning of the books” in Berlin, where the works of Jewish authors, Marxist and other “subversive” authors were publicly burned in huge bonfires. Goebbels become a persistent Jew-Baiter, villainizing the stereotyped character of the "International Jewish Financier" in London and Washington allied with the "Jew-Bolsheviks" in Moscow, as the chief enemy of the Third Reich. While at the Party Day of Victory in Goebbels condemned “Jewish penetration of the professions" (law, medicine, property, theatre, etc.), claiming that the foreign Jewish boycott of Germany had provoked Nazi "counter-measures." Later, Goebbels became one of the chief secret abettors of the "Final Solution," personally supervising the deportation of Jews from Berlin in 1942 and proposing that Jews along with gypsies should be regarded as "unconditionally exterminable." After Hitler’s suicide Joseph Goebbels followed in his suit and killed himself along with his own family.