How did the Nazi regime use propaganda as a form of political control?

The German Minister for Propaganda once declared: “The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape from it”. Nazi propaganda achieved just this; by manipulating the people’s perception of the Nazi regime, it was effectively implemented as a means of controlling German citizens. In this essay, three popular forms of propaganda; posters, newspapers and radio, will be explored, assessing how they were implemented as a form of control. Firstly, the impact of posters as a means of control will be assessed, by exploring how posters manipulated the beliefs of Germans on matters such as work and reproduction. Secondly, this essay will detail how newspapers were an effective form of control due to their easy accessibility and popularity within German. Finally, the effectiveness of radio as a form of control due to its cheap expense and regular playing in both homes and public places will be assessed.
In Nazi Germany, posters advertised the ideologies of the Nazi regime and were a popular means of control as they were difficult to avoid and inexpensive to mass-produce. Posters controlled women, youth and men by influencing their perspectives on matters such as reproduction, leadership and manual labor. Posters published policies that addressed women to leave the workforce and produce children; rallying them to “take hold of the frying pan, dust pan and broom and marry a man”. This was an effective form of control as records show a positive correlation between marriage numbers in Germany, a rise from 589,600 to 772,106 in 19391, and an increase in propaganda materials, such as posters. Likewise, a rise in manual labor was also evident due to a large quantity of propaganda posters targeted at males to enter the labor force. Nazi slogans such as “You are the Front2” appealed to a man’s sense of duty and nationalism. Posters targeted at men were an effective form of control as the number of unemployed fell from 6 million in 1933 to only 302,000 in January 19393. In addition, posters that directly addressed youth were focused on compelling children to reject and despise Jewish people. This was evident in posters on school walls that advertised Jews ransacking Germany and stealing land from the innocent.4 This was an effective form of control as young German citizens perceived themselves as the hope of Germany and the saviors of a world under siege by Jewish communities. Similarly, another form of propaganda that was highly successful in controlling the masses of Germany was newspapers.
By 1933, all newspapers were owned by the Nazi regime; allowing the selective promotion of materials that supported their ideologies and in turn, controlled the people of Germany. Newspapers were considered an effective form of control as they were easily accessible and displayed only pro-Nazi information, to the detriment of the Jews. Newspapers were infected with themes of pro-Nazi propaganda including “charismatic leadership, appeals to national unity, (and) anti-Semitism5”. The German people who were constantly exposed to biased news articles were manipulated into believing pro-Nazi ideologies, therefore newspapers were an effective means of control. Furthermore, the censorship of German papers allowed for articles such as “The enemy’s destructive desires make us even harder and more determined to fight”6 to be published, influencing societies approach to the war, and promoting over-confidence; as a means of control, that ensured people followed the Nazi regime without question. However, the fall in annual sales of newspapers such as “Vőlkischer Beobachter” between 1933 and 19397, convey the German publics annoyance at lack of choice in papers and constant repetition of Nazi ideology. Whilst newspaper popularity was shown to decrease, sales in radios or peoples receivers rose, allowing the Nazi regime to access another form of propaganda as a means of control.
Radio propaganda was of vital importance to the Nazis regime, due to its effortless spreading of Nazi messages; and was believed to have been the most fruitful form of Nazi control. Radios were an effective form of control as they were used to guide society towards accepting Nazi ideologies. The Nazi regime had complete power over state radio, “The Reich Minister for … Propaganda is responsible for all influences on the intellectual life of the nation; public relations for the state, culture, and the economy…”8. This effectively unified all German radio stations and enabled the constant broadcasting of pro-Nazi messages uninterrupted, across the country. What is more, the distribution of cheap radios to all members of the German public ensured that 16 million households, by the year 1940, were able to listen in on “highly charged emotional appeals” of Nazi ideologies9. With such a large audience of the Nazi German message, the regime was considered powerful, and the people’s fear of being ostracized reduced the possibility of opposition10. Therefore, radio was an effective means of control as its easy permeation into every corner of a citizens life ensured the regime effectively brainwashed the German masses into believing in and following the Nazi ideologies directed at them.
In conclusion, this essay has assessed the impact of propaganda as a means of control in Nazi Germany and proven that propaganda was both highly successful in manipulating the beliefs of the German people and forcing Nazi ideologies upon citizens. This has been proven in paragraph 1 which detailed how posters were implemented to pressure the German people and influence their perspectives. In paragraph two, it was shown that newspapers were successful as a means of control due to high availability and credibility. Finally, it was detailed that radio, which was cheap and highly accessible, was an effective form of control due to constant repetition of Nazi-pro material in both the home and public environments.