The Use of Propaganda
During Hitler's rise to power, the Nazi party carried out continuous campaigns to win more support. There were many factors of the Nazi's party's use of propaganda that set Hitler apart from other running candidates. On the contrary to other political parties in Germany at that time, who campaigned only when elections were approaching, the Nazis campaigned the whole year through. Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels led an extremely effective campaign, which targeted specific groups of society with different slogans and policies, meaning that the party could relate, appeal and adapt to all members of the public. Hitler stated in Mein Kampf, "All propaganda has to be popular and has to adapt its spiritual level to the perception of the least intelligent of those towards whom it intends to direct itself.” Goebbels also stated that, “good propaganda leads to desired results.” He knew that in order to persuade the great mass, propaganda “must cast its shadows over all areas of human life”. This unique understanding of the use of propaganda allowed the Nazi party campaigns to excel beyond the other running campaigners and strive to achieve their desired result, which was to lead Germany. The success of Goebbels’s campaign is evident in the results of the Nazi party elections. From 1928 to 1932, voters rose from 810,000 to 13,450,000. One particular justification for this drastic rise in statistics is the number of young voters who were able to cast votes for the first time in those four years. The Nazi party was highly successful at winning the votes of young workers, who due to the depression found themselves unemployed after apprenticeships, as fulltime employment was too expensive for business owners. However, the Nazi party was most successful at gaining the votes of the ‘old middle class” known as the “Mittelstand”, which included small retailers, peasants and industrial workers. Through adapted propaganda, the Nazi’s portrayed themselves as the party that could unite the previously divided German society and the idea of the “Volksgeminschaft”. They made promises of attacking against department stores and large co-operations so that could appeal to the smaller businesses that were struggling to compete against the monopolies. The Nazi party was also successful in winning the votes of the Protestant communities in Northern Germany, as shown in the map above (Noakes).
Following the Great Depression and the collapse of the Weimar, Germany's economy plummeted. At such a weak time for the country, Hitler's promises to rebuild Germany with a strong government and stability were widely supported. The Nazis used propaganda to build an image of Hitler as a great leader and a man with a great vision. In propaganda posters, Hitler was shown as a superman as well as a man of the people. He did not allow parliamentary discussions about decisions but rather made them himself, putting himself higher than all other people. However, he also interacted with the people as he travelled around the country. Hitler had extremely strong public speaking skills, which he used to appeal to the patriotism of the German people. He promised to break free of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, which was still a sore wound for the majority of the population. The majority of the German people blamed the Government for the embarrassment and blame stated in the Treaty, most believing that they had been falsely accused. This despite towards the Government played in the Nazi party’s favour. Hitler preached his plans to re-arm Germany by recruiting a large army and building a new navy and air force. This brought hope of reduced unemployment to the struggling workforce and the opportunity to redeem pride as they fought against the chains bound by the other European nations during the Treaty.
Another factor that set Hitler apart from the other running candidates was his use of his airplane, allowing him to attend rallies in twenty different cities over a period of six days. This allowed the concepts and ideas of the party to spread across Germany at an astonishing rate. Rallies were huge organised events with banners and marching bands, which would be broadcasted over the radio to the whole country. Goebbels used people's fear of uncertainty and instability to portray Hitler as a man that could turn that all around. Goebbels also tactically arranged the venues and timings of Hitler's speeches in order to achieve more suspense and make the party appear extremely popular. The venues were always too small so that the crowd appeared too large, making Hitler seem very popular. Combined with that, Hitler was without fail fashionably late to every rally, so that the crowd could be pumped up into a frenzy. As well as rallies, the Nazis depended strongly on the power of word of mouth. In his speech on January 9th, 1928, Goebbels said, “the greater and simpler the idea is, the more it relates to daily life, the more one has the desire to tell everyone about it.”
Another factor that set Hitler apart from the other running candidates was his use of his airplane, allowing him to attend rallies in twenty different cities over a period of six days. This allowed the concepts and ideas of the party to spread across Germany at an astonishing rate. Rallies were huge organised events with banners and marching bands, which would be broadcasted over the radio to the whole country. Goebbels used people's fear of uncertainty and instability to portray Hitler as a man that could turn that all around. Goebbels also tactically arranged the venues and timings of Hitler's speeches in order to achieve more suspense and make the party appear extremely popular. The venues were always too small so that the crowd appeared too large, making Hitler seem very popular. Combined with that, Hitler was without fail fashionably late to every rally, so that the crowd could be pumped up into a frenzy. As well as rallies, the Nazis depended strongly on the power of word of mouth. In his speech on January 9th, 1928, Goebbels said, “the greater and simpler the idea is, the more it relates to daily life, the more one has the desire to tell everyone about it.”