'The most important reason why there was little opposition in Germany towards the Nazi regime was its use of propaganda' Explain how far you agree with this statement?

'The most important reason why there was little opposition in Germany towards the Nazi regime was its use of propaganda' Explain how far you agree with this statement?

Hitler's use of propaganda was very effective. It was in important factor to why there was little or no position in Nazi Germany from 1933-45; however it wasn't the only reason. Propaganda was a very powerful tool; Hitler used it to indoctrinate the German people with his Nazi ideology. Propaganda was everywhere; in the newspapers, schools, speeches and basically the whole media. If they didn't follow the propaganda they were punished and were brainwashed to believe that Hitler and the Nazis were right. In my essay I will discuss how far propaganda was the main cause of little opposition and discuss the alternative methods the Nazi party used to stop oppositions from rising.

Hitler indoctrinated everyone, even his party members. Complete control meant that Hitler could move forward with his plan for greater Germany. Hitler with the help of President Hindenburg, chief of propaganda they used propaganda to brainwash the people of Germany with Hitler's beliefs. There were constant rallies, speeches, parades and political gatherings, which promoted the Nazi party. The swastika was a huge influence as it stood for what the Nazis were.

Hitler mainly used two ways to control them one was using propaganda and the other is using force

Controlling main opposition

Mostly by propaganda

The first target area that Hitler targeted his opposition was socially. Hitler aimed the propaganda at the public. Hitler encouraged people into the regime; he did this by creating a new Germany. He helped people afford the new Volkswagen Beetle the new craze, by lowering the price. From then it became a lot more accessible for the public. Hitler encouraged the youth into the regime with his Hitler youth clubs which included activities for the children and teenagers. The activities were mainly to exercise them and keep them healthy and also to brainwash them to join the Nazi regime. The groups became the only legal options and in 1939 it became compulsory. If a parent refused to send their child there, it showed obvious signs of anti-Nazi views and the parents would be taken away from their children to be sent to labour camps. It wasn't unusual for a kid to grass their parents to the Nazis because they believed in the ideology so much that they loved Hitler more that their parents. This stopped the parents from uprising against the Nazis as they were even getting spied on by there kids. Hitler set up an organization that organised leisure time for worker, it was called 'strength through joy'. Hitler aimed to attract the poorer families because they were the majority and he feared they could spark a revolution, following the Bolsheviks in Russia. Another thing Hitler did to encourage people to join the regime was to re-establish the role of women in Nazi society. Hitler dictated that a woman's future was to bear children and be a good housewife. They were indoctrinated when they were working for the labour front and such other organizations such as the NSF and the DFW. Nazi women actually listened to Hitler when he asked for them to have as many children as possible; they were awarded with a gold medal after they had 8 or more children. The followed the KKK: 'Kinder, Kirche and Kuche' which translates into: children, church and kitchen. Basically it means that they had to be good housewives and mothers that bought their kids up the Nazi Aryan way. Radio's which were seen as a luxury and were made so anyone could buy one except the thing was, that u could only tune into Nazi stations. In the cinema, propaganda films were presented; short films of pro Nazi ideology were shown before the main film started. This is how Hitler controlled the media.

Another reason why there was little opposition in Nazi Germany was the reorganization of the protestant church. In 1933, nearly all Germans were Christians so it would be stupid of Hitler to completely abolish the church, so he decided to control and Nazify the church instead. In June 1933 a concordat was signed between Hitler and the Catholic Church. It stated that Hitler wouldn't change the church if they didn't interfere with the government. The churches response said that they agreed to keep their distance as the agreed with many of the Nazi ideas. As for the protestant church, Hitler united all into one and called it the 'Reich Church' and all Protestants became German Christians. They wore Nazi uniforms and used the swastika, salutes etc. Hitler now had control over the protestant church which most Germans belonged to. Hitler had militarised religion. Hitler handled some of his opposition by force, an example of Hitler using force; Schneider was arrested in 1934 for displaying anti-Nazi views. He was then sent to a concentration camp in 1937, stretched on a rack and whipped. He was then sent to an isolation cell where he soon died after. Defying the Nazi rule was intolerable. The situation had destroyed the church. Hitler had completely corrupted the church and had turned it into a worship Hitler religion now using religion as propaganda to pollute the publics minds further and to make them believe that his ideas are right. In conclusion, the reason why there wasn't or little opposition was the police. Hitler wouldn't have been able to handle most of the situations if it wasn't for the brutal force of his police. If there was no police, plenty more people would rebel as they wouldn't be scared of being sent to concentration camps. There would be more rebels and they could stick together as a group and Hitler wouldn't be able to do anything without the police and a revolution would be likely. To summarize, I believe that if it wasn't for the police and their brutality the propaganda would not have been effective enough to prevent opposition rising.

Another reason why there was little opposition in Nazi Germany was the effects of Hitler's economic policies. He promised his people three things: bread, freedom and work. After the depression caused by the Wall Street crash, many people were left in poverty. They were desperate for a drip of hope. Hitler attracted the poor and he started schemes similar to those of President Roosevelt's. Hitler created work schemes to help rebuild Germany, they made public buildings and roads etc. More significantly was that conscription was in important factor in employment. From the Wall Street crash to 1938, unemployment rates dropped from 5.6 million to just 0.5 million and this was all thanks to conscription and compulsory schemes created by the Nazi party. There was no unemployment benefit for those who didn't comply with the job schemes, so it looked the better option to take. This was part of the good side to tackling unemployment using it and propaganda to make Hitler look like a nice person. The forceful way of Hitler to deal with the unemployment was to use the police force if rebellion was seen. During the war everybody was encouraged (forcefully) to do their part for 'their beloved Fuhrer'. Hitler made it his best interest to please everyone. Small businesses e.g. shopkeepers and local craftsman found it difficult to compete with leading department stores, so the party banned new chain stores and made it illegal to expand your business. As an immediate result, local business excelled and the value of trade doubled from 1933-1937. Big businesses prospered because of Hitler's rearmament plans as factories began to produce arms for the army. Big profits were made and during the war, industry was booming. The unskilled were the ones that came off worse, but all unemployment was resolved by the work schemes. Farmers were seen as the most important group in the work force because they provided all the food for the population. Their debts were destroyed and food prices were allowed to increase. But it wasn't a free ride for the farmers either; the Nazis said that 65 eggs were to be laid by every hen each year. Also, there was lack of labourers as they had all gone to the cities in a search to find factory jobs, this meant life was actually harder than it seemed. This is where the 'Strength through Joy' came in. This was a scheme aimed particularly at the lower, working classes. It organised leisure activities such as hiking, swimming, and theatre and mainly fitness activities promoting sports and health. This was part of the propaganda to join the regime; it made it look like they were nice people. Beauty of Labour was a scheme set up, similar to a trade union but they were banned by the Nazis. It was the only one of its kind and it made sure the workers had better working conditions, e.g. air conditioning and heating and hot meals in the factory. Workers weren't allowed to strike for better wages or conditions and they were stopped from being promoted or moving to a better job in some areas. There was always propaganda in the labour. Posters were put up to be aimed at certain groups. E.g. the Volkswagen beetle, Hitler made it the most sought after and popular car through propaganda, he flooded the streets with posters promoting the car everywhere. Hitler made it popular and he made it cheaper so they would believe that he was a good leader. The public had their minds pumped with propaganda. They never saw the real problems or bad things in the country because it was all censored from the Nazi newspapers to make it look as if Germany is the great country that Hitler had promised. The papers no longer printed any bad material to make the Nazis look bad. The only way the newspapers would sell is if they printed pro-Nazi material. I think the main reason why Hitler's economic policies helped limit opposition was because of the laws and schemes passed that helped employment rates. If you didn't attend the unemployment schemes, it was likely that you would be sent to labour or concentration camps. If you didn't oblige with the schemes you would lose out as there was no dole payment. This raised the employment figures and it seemed like Hitler was a good leader and he was helping the country.

Mostly by force

One reason why there was little or no opposition was Hitler's foreign policy. Hitler used propaganda to gain support of the German people and reverse the Treaty of Versailles. In 1935, Hitler's first propaganda success was the Saar election. This gave Germany its resources back so the rebuilding of a greater Germany could begin the rebuilding of greater Germany. The second step was to militarize the Rhineland again in 1936. This gave Germany a lot more control over the surrounding countries and even though it broke a rule from the Treaty, the League of Nations did nothing to stop them. Hitler's next target was the Sudentenland, he claimed he was trying to unite all German speaking people and that he needed more 'lebensraum' living space. Hitler used the same excuse when he took over the Czech Republic. Hitler had full control as the league had been weakened because of USA quitting it, also they weren't prepared for another war and they didn't have an army. These victories were seen as propaganda victories but Hitler took it too far when he formed an alliance with Russia and invaded Poland. This pushed the League of Nations patience too far and sparked a second world war which saw the decline of the Nazi regime. As an effect from the war, rationing was introduced; women went back to work as there were hardly any men still alive, little or no hot water and depression fell. Propaganda was an important factor to Hitler's policy to show how well Germany was doing. Negative views weren't allowed to be published so the public didn't really know what was going on.

The communists were Hitler's biggest opposition and he was ready to do something about them. One of his main aims was to ban communism. The first step to combat them was the Reichstag fire, where there was supposedly a communist attack. Hitler arrested the man behind the plot; called Van de Lubbe, and he went on to persuade Hindenburg to pass a law for a decree of the protection of the state and the people. At the same time 4000 suspected communists were arrested in the connection to the fire, other communists fled the country as Hitler's police continued to intimidate and beat up the socialists and communists. From then, the enabling act meant that Hitler could rule without the Reichstag interfering and it meant that he could pass any laws he wanted. Thus, creating a dictatorship. On the 14th July Hitler made the formation of any political party other than the Nazis was made illegal and Germany was declared a one party state. This made it a lot easier to control politics and teach a lesson to anyone who was having ideas about opposing him. He kept tight security for the Nazis and used his police (made up of the SS, the SA, the Gestapo and the police) brutality to control and arrest any known communists, also anyone that could be possible opposition were taken to detention centres or concentration camps to be tortured for information or murdered. Hitler was well on his way to securing complete control over Germany.

An example of Hitler getting rid of any opponents is the Night of the long knives; this was where Hitler removed the threat of the SA who was growing quite powerful. They were a growing threat to the regime; the SA had been expanding their strengths and was building up a strong rivalry between the SS and itself. The regular army was becoming jealous of the SA who had a powerful influence over them. Hitler accused the leader of the SA (Ernst Rohm) of plotting against Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler's police force arrested and executed 400 of the top men in the SA completely weakening the force. When the president died in 1934, Hitler became president as well as Fuhrer. Hitler made all the police swear an oath of allegiance to him to prove loyalty so Hitler could control them further. In conclusion to the above, I think it was more to do with fear of the Nazis and their brutal ways than the use of propaganda. The majority of the communists were result of the Depression from the Wall Street crash, who wanted equality, not a single powered dictator deciding what you can and can't do. It wasn't necessary the propaganda as there wasn't any especially aimed at the communists, more at the attack of communism to deter people away from communism rather than change the mind of current communists.

Another way in which Hitler discouraged the opposition was controlling the minorities of Germany, the social misfits, homosexuals, beggars, prostitutes, the burdens of society and the Jews. Hitler believed in Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest and enforced this into society. Hitler believed that it would leave only his superior Aryan race and leave the rest to perish. Hitler hated the social outcasts and went by different ways to deal with each case. The work shy people or the people who couldn't work, the handicapped and beggars were not to be tolerated in society. Hitler's action was to round up all the invalids and social outcasts and send them to labour camps. Gypsies were the worst feared as not only did they not work but they were also homeless. In 1933 Hitler decided to ban marriage between anyone without pure German blood and those with pure German blood to stop them from polluting the Aryan race. In 1938, the decree for the 'struggle against the gypsy plague' was issued and all gypsies had to be registered to ensure complete separation from the Germans. Hitler couldn't just target these groups with no reason or it will definitely cause uproar within the public, so he had to convince the German people that they were a problem so they would see that he is doing the right thing. He always stirred up any thing that a social outcast did to make it look worse than it was and he blamed all of Germany's problems on them. This was easy for him as he controlled the propaganda, all he had to do was aim it at making the outcasts look bad and that was enough to brainwash the Germans. He then told the public that to complete his desirable perfect Aryan race he would have to eliminate all the impure genes. He passed a sterilisation law shortly after coming to power, in July 1933. This would mean that they wouldn't be able to produce any more babies and there race would end up being wiped out of Germany. This was what Hitler was trying to achieve. By 1945, 320-350,000 men and women had become compulsory sterilised. Hitler was still paranoid about any opposition so he sent thousands of delinquents, anyone that wasn't 'pure blooded' to be sent off to be indoctrinated with Nazi ideology and not to defy the Nazi regime, or they will face serious consequences, this was one of Hitler's 'final solutions'. A youth concentration camp was set up in 1937 and in 1938, another round up caught 11,000 gypsies, tramps and beggars, they were all sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. The final solution was the last step Hitler took to secure a single state party with no opposition. In 1939, the Nazis secretly began to kill the burdens to society at the concentration camps using carbon monoxide gas, which later became the main way to kill Jews during the holocaust. However, when the public found out, even though there were protests some people believed that what Hitler was doing was right and a normal human thing to do. People were so brainwashed by the propaganda that people actually wrote to the Hitler asking for 'mercy killings'. The persecution of Jews played an important role in Hitler's ways of getting rid of the minorities. Because people had been so brainwashed by the propaganda, they believed that the Jews were inferior to them. In school, youngsters were taught how to tell a Jew out from the crowd, they were told that if they had a big nose they were Jewish. They believed that this was an efficient way to tell a Jew. The German public were so brainwashed they would believe anything. Hitler passed many laws against Jews; the most significant was in 1935, on the 15th September, The Nuremburg law was passed which deprived all Jews from German citizenship and made marriage between Jews and Germans illegal. Also, in November 1936, Jews weren't even allowed to salute or say 'heil Hitler'. Hitler targeted Jews on a night called 'the night of the Broken Glass' similar to 'the night of the Long Knives', following the death of a nazi official, 91 Jews were murdered, 191 synagogues were ruined, 7000 businesses destroyed and 30,000 Jews were arrested and taken to concentration camps, its estimated that 2000 were murdered at the camp, most probably by the gas chambers. It was called the Night of The Broken Glass because so many windows were smashed of homes, synagogues and Jewish shops. Almost all of the attacks were carried out by Hitler's police. Because of the night of the broken glass, as of the 3rd December 1936, Jewish businesses were completely overtaken by Aryan executives. The genocide of the Jews was protested against but those who did were taken to concentration camps.

Another constraint for social misfits was the 'Hashude'. This was a housing estate that was under the complete control of the Nazis and families were sentenced to live there. It was the last chance before being sent to a concentration camp or labour camp. The men were made to work and the women were taught how to be perfect mothers and keep the house in order and clean as there were daily inspections. The children were sent to school. The use of alcohol was prohibited and the guards could enter the houses at any time they wanted to. There was no back door and no means of escape. If the families didn't cooperate or follow the rules there were punishments, these included an extra drill or locked up in a cell with little or no food. They were watched at all times and it was like a prison. The aim of the Hashude was to turn them away from their old lives and to brainwash them into joining the regime. Rebels who just wouldn't change and cooperate were sent to concentration camps straight away. In other words, if you didn't change you were sent to concentration camps. It really was a last chance. After the war, the Germans did admit that it was a rather expensive method, but also mostly effective. I think that the propaganda played that big a part in this because if it didn't work before I doubt it would work again. It was more likely that they were scared of dieing and pretended to change the ways to save their lives.

I believe that propaganda played a very important role to indoctrinate his ideas into their head and brainwash them, but not the only reason. Some people didn't believe in his ideas and saw through the propaganda, they rebelled and were dealt with by force from the police state. I believe that it was the powerful police that kept things in order and if it wasn't for them then uproar would have occurred and a possible revolution similar to the one in Russia. The police state was needed to find and send the criminals and minorities to the camps. The Nazi regime wouldn't have worked without their police. Propaganda was used to direct the attention and minds of Germans away from the problems and depression of Germany. Using the propaganda to gain supporters and the police to keep things in order Hitler had created what he had hoped for; a country under his complete control. The most important reason why there was little or no opposition in Nazi Germany was the propaganda, this polluted the public's mind into what they thought was acceptable and that Hitler was right. A revolt would have occurred without the police state though, but it was the propaganda which told the Germans that the police were fair and it permitted the Nazis to carry out their horrific acts. I agree with the statement and I believe that the police also played an important part.