Nazi Propaganda
Kennedy Starnes
4th Block The technique of propaganda used by the Nazi party in Germany contributed to their success as a political party and got them support from the people and their power. Propaganda also contributed to their recognition first starting out, the support they needed from the people of Germany, and kept the people under their control by giving the Nazis influence over the minds of the people. Several groups and organizations aided the Nazis in their propaganda; groups were also attacked by the propaganda while others were a target audience. The Nazi s used different forms of propaganda from posters to postage stamps to reach and influence as many people as they possibly could. They used different methods to get people to believe and feel what the Nazis wanted them to. Before and during the war, several events occurred that gave shape to the Nazi s power, from the use of with propaganda; events such as speeches, marches and rallies made Nazi Germany what is was during the time of Hitler. Groups and organizations were a vital part to Nazi propaganda because it was easier to get support from a group as a whole than to just try to appeal to single people. It was also easier for the Nazis to attack certain groups of people in their propaganda because of stereotypes and ideas or feelings that people had towards these groups. Groups and organizations in Germany also did their part to contribute to Nazi propaganda by organizing events and using their resources to get the propaganda of the Nazis out to as many people as possible. The Nazi's propaganda tried to appeal to groups, which would be the most influenced by the ideas that the Nazi party held such as the youth. The main target audience of the Nazis was the commercial middle class and others effected by the failing economy. The Nazi propaganda tried to persuade the small townspeople that if they voted for the Nazis, it would mean new times and the Nazis would rid Germany of the past difficulties. Groups that were considered weak-minded and easily influenced such as women and children were also targeted. The women targeted were usually housewives and several women s groups which were part of the Nazi party sprung up to show their support. The youth were also affected greatly by the Nazis because younger people are easily persuaded and do not have as much tradition and as many strong ideas like that of the older generations. Nazi youth organizations were then formed later on. The Nazis targeted even the smallest children with board games such as the Stutkos Attack. The Nazis also had groups that they disliked that were attacked by their propaganda. The main group of people that were hated and shown in propaganda was Jews. Hitler was very anti-Semitic and in even some of the earliest propaganda, anti-Semitism was shown. Farmers were influenced to hate the Jews by posters that perceived Jews overseeing the seizure of the farmer s cows. Another way the Nazis got Germans to dislike the Jews was showing them with the Versailles Treaty which some still had hard feelings about. The Nazis wanted to show that every Jew was to blame because they were together as a group, loyal only to each other and not to Germany. The Nazi party didn't only have Jews attacked in their propaganda, but had communist as well. Posters would show communists burning German farms, sabotaging the railways, storing arms and murdering their opponents. The attacks of groups influenced the German people to believe in the Nazi s ideas, thus people would have similar ideas to the Nazis. Organizations in Germany helped the Nazis get their ideas and propaganda to as many people as possible. Media, youth and other groups organized rallies, parades, and events plus used their power and connections to get the Nazi ideas out there. Since the most influential form of propaganda was media, companies in media were very important to Nazi propaganda success. The GGZ was a German newspaper