How successful was propaganda in indoctrinating Nazi ideals?

The Nazi propaganda after the consolidation of power featured many of the common characteristics associated with totalitarian propaganda; Twisted truths, stereotypical and distorted pictures of populace groups, simple messages repeated frequently and the use of a common enemy as a scapegoat. Also the Nazi propaganda featured many new methods of indoctrination, such as the mass rally meetings and the extensive radio propaganda. But how successful where these ways in conveying and convincing people of Nazi ideals? That is the question which I plan to investigate in my essay.

The propaganda campaign launched by the Nazi government was headed by the brilliant orator Joseph Goebbels which was put as Reich Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda where he coordinated the seven different departments: administration and organization, propaganda, radio, press, films, theatre, and adult education. From the department Goebbels controlled all aspects of Nazi propaganda, and since he was such a skilful propagandist almost all parts of the propaganda campaign, especially the radio, became huge successes.

Of all the medias available to Goebbels his unquestionable favourite was the radio- the peoples receiver. Goebbels wanted to ensure that every home in Germany was equipped with a "Volksempfänger" from which they could listen to propaganda at all times of day. Prices where slashed and in the late 1930 the Germans could boast having the cheapest radios in the world. Radios where even put up in working places and public areas to ensure a maximal amount of listeners. And due to the large effort put into the campaign it became one of the most successful, by 1940 16 million households in Germany listened to Nazi Propaganda via the radio.

Another effective way of supplying propaganda to the German people, was ,in theory, by the use of the censored press. In the beginning the press remained relatively unchanged, propaganda message where inserted in some magazine and papers, but most of the press friendly towards the regime remained unchanged, at least in the beginning. Soon Nazis propaganda was found in every page in every paper and by 1945 the Nazis ran 82% of all the newspapers in print. And as not all Nazis where brilliant journalist the result of this takeover could only result in one thing; a sharp decline in quality and readers of German newspapers and magazines.

Apart from the radio, the cinema was the media that most appealed to Goebbels. He hade many great plans for this fairly new entertainment industry and was once quoted saying "It is my ultimate goal to establish the German film as the dominant cultural world power." This goal was of course never accomplished but even so the film industry did experience a Golden age under the lead of Goebbels. The main reason for this was the idea that movies should never be excessively propagandist but entertaining and enjoyable. Which might have been indirectly derived from the failed press campaign. Some movies did however have a very clear propagandistic message. Like the faked documentary The Eternal Jew which clearly shows why the Jew was unfit to live. These films did evidently not reach the same public success since they where of little entertainment value.

The most interesting and unique way the Nazis used to spread their Propaganda was the mass meetings. At the meetings hundreds of thousands of loyal "servants", among them the Hitler youth, gathered in neatly arranged masses. It was a very subtle way of presenting Nazi ideals, it's main purpose was to give the Germans a sense of strength and unity in the Nazi party and the German state which according to Nazis should not be separated but exist as one.

But what effect did the propaganda actually have on the population, did the Germans actually believe what they where told to believe. Many official sources show that support for the party during it's entire existence was very strong. Where did then this support come from, did the people support the party because of what they had done to improve living conditions or because of their ideology. As it was the first factor that had gotten the Nazis into power in the first place it would probably account for the larger part of their support. But no government would have meet such enthusiastic support from so many millions simply by increasing living conditions, therefore one should not discard the second factor either.

The problem when answering these question is that there where very few unbiased polls concerning the racial and political ideas of the German people during the Nazi era. There are however many indicative signs that point at, mainly, that propaganda did have an important role in creating popular support for Nazi decisions and actions. One example of this is the attacks on Jews on the street, where hundreds of Germans watched and sometimes even cheered on the attackers. In the 1920 a similar event would have been impossible. One of the main reasons why this "evolution" could take place was most probably the extensive Nazi propaganda campaign.

In conclusion one can say that propaganda was in fact highly effective in indoctrinating Nazi ideals, but only because it was backed up by a powerful and totalitarian government that brought back Germanys economic and military strength. Nonetheless propaganda was needed in order to create a new environment in which the Nazis could be justify their actions and easily crush any resistance. This was done by ensuring that ignorance of Nazi ideas was impossible for anyone in the German Reich, a task handled mainly by the propaganda ministry. This fight for popular acceptance, aided by the use of extensive use of propaganda, became so successful that it produced a conviction of Nazi ideals unmatched in Germany history. So to say that the propaganda played not but the leading role in successfully indoctrinating Nazi ideals is a serious misjudgement of it's overwhelming power. Nazi Germany could never have existed without propaganda.