The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was formed in March 1933 under Josef Goebbels. Its job was to enforce Nazi ideology.

They key Nazi messages were:

Racial Purity: the Aryan race is superior and Germany must become racially pure again. (Hitler believed that a key reason why Germany had lost WWI was due to the Germanic race becoming diluted).
The Hitler Myth: Hitler is a ‘super-human’ leader, the saviour of Germany.
The Volk: the community is more important than the individual and everyone must contribute to society. This philosophy was used to justify the persecution of minority groups such as Jews, non-Whites, the disabled, the mentally ill and the homeless.

Goebbels used the following media to push these messages:

Newspapers: he reduced the number of papers from 4700 to 1000 to make it easier to control them.
Radio: the Nazis encouraged everyone to buy a People's Receiver. This could only receive German stations. By 1939 about 70% of homes owned one.
Films: for example The Eternal Jew and The Triumph of the Will, directed by the Nazi filmaker Leni Riefenstahl. Goebbels appreciated that films needed to entertain as well as promote his messages.
Posters: in all towns and villages.
Rallies: e.g. the Nuremberg Rallies were lavish events to demonstrate the power of the State and the stability the Nazis had brought after the chaos of the Weimar Republic.
Book Burnings: books that opposed Nazism were burned.

It is hard to assess how much impact propaganda had. Not all Germans believed it and others supported the Nazis for their own reasons, such as the improvements they had brought to the economy. However, censorship definitely made it harder for opponents to gain support, and it is likely that propaganda played a key role in motivating informers who were a fundamental part of the Terror State.

Exam Focus

Which was more important in helping the Nazis to control Germany: Terror or Propaganda?

GCSE Germany 1890 - 1945 AQA

Propaganda