Ian Kershaw's The Nazi Dictatorship

The importance of this investigation in terms of its historical context is that when Hitler became dictator of Germany, it ultimately led to several consequences. The first being the rise of the Nazi party, the death of approximately six million Jews, and the breakout of the Second World War. In addition, Goebbels was given complete control over several forms of media such as press and radio; he used the power that he had in order to regiment the German culture, which was a significant aspect to Hitler's regime. Without their use of propaganda, the German nation would not have been rectified in the eyes of Hitler and the Nazis; Goebbels had a significant role in this as he implemented his knowledge on propaganda to help Hitler achieve this. However, several historians have contrasting views on Goebbels
In his autobiography “The Nazi Dictatorship”, he discusses Goebbels efforts in regards to propaganda and his success at depicting Hitler as Germanys hero. The message that was being conveyed to the people of Germany was that the nation found their identity, their ‘incarnation’, which was evidently, Hitler. Kershaw says, “This accomplishment was because of Goebbels successfully adding pathos of the human qualities of the Fuhrer: his simplicity, and modesty, toil, and endeavor for his people, mastery of all problems facing the nation, toughness and severity, unshakeable determination though flexibility of method in the pursuit of far sighed goals” (Kershaw, 305). Kershaw then went on to discuss how these personal virtues that Goebbels created made the ‘human’ Hitler almost inhumane in the degree of his perfection (Kershaw, 305). According to Kershaw, the image Goebbels created of Hitler was his greatest and most successful propaganda achievement (Kershaw, 306). This was because Goebbels was able to use different forms of propaganda to manipulate the masses, such forms were education, newspapers,