Government and Propaganda Flashcards
hitler’s lack of involvement in government
- Hitler presented himself as being a strong and charismatic leader
- in actuality, he was quire lazy and didn’t involve himself in the running of the Nazi state day-to-day
- Ian Kershaw called this the ‘Hitler Myth’
The difficulties of governance
- Hitler has unusual habits of a Fuhrer, namely getting up late and staying up late, which made governance difficult
- Ministers had to try and anticipate what Hitler would want due to his absence
inherited articles from the Weimar Republic
- effective bureaucratic system was inherited
- most civil servants and judges remained in their positions, having to take a loyalty oath
Conflict between organisations
- Nazi organisations began to assume state responsibilities alongside the pre-existing organisations and systems in place
- this led to an overlap and conflict thanks to a lack of a clear remit
- Reich chancellory struggled to control the growing number of organisations
New additions to the judiciary system
- New People’s Courts and Special Courts created in March of 1933
- these allowed the Nazis to go around the law
The SS’s involvement
- initially the SS was purely an instrument of the Nazi Party
- under Himmler, they began to act and encroach upon the state police
Law for the Official Reform of the Civil Service
- passed on the 7th of April 1933
- ‘Alien elements’ e.g. Jews, communists, were removed from courts, education and civil service
- existing civil service remained, but lost influence as the NSDAP set up more and more specialist agencies to develop and execute policies
Strengthening bureaucracy of the party
- different skills required to attract voters and to effectively run government
- Nazis trued to develop bureaucracy because of this, between 1933 and 39
- Hess and Bormann, deputy and chief of staff for Hitler, respectively, were the key drivers for this initiative
- all civil servants were require to be members of the Nazi Party from 1938 for example
- to help the Nazis supersede the state, the Department for Affairs of State was set up
The German Propaganda machine
- headed by Goebbels
- split into 3 parts: RMVP, Reich Chamber of Culture, and the NSDAP Central Propaganda Office
RMVP - Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda
- controlled propaganda, arts and entertainment
Reich Chamber for Culture
- to promote Germanic, Volkisch culture
- membership compulsory for anyone in the arts, media or culture
Control Methods of the Reich Ministry organisations
RMVP controlled aspects of media and arts in a number of ways:
- direct/part ownership
- controlling those in media and the arts
- overseeing what was produced
- dealing with non-conformists
licenses were issued to approved artists, which could be revoked
- one could not work if they did not have a license
Different types of propaganda - films
- not used overtly as propaganda since their overall value was to keep the masses entertained
- newsreels before feature films were be full of propaganda
- 1/6th of films were propaganda e.g. Jud Suss
Different types of propaganda - radio
- unified German radio system was created in April 1934, getting rid of any undesirable elements
- controlled all radio content
- cheap radios were provided by the Nazis with a limited range that only picked up one channel
- 70% of German households had one by 1939
- speeches from Nazi leaders would be broadcast from loud speakers in every district
Different types of propaganda - sports, rallies and festivals
- rallies at Nuremberg were filmed and shown on newsreels
- it was hoped that this would fill the people with Nazi enthusiasm
- key Nazi dates were celebrated with festivals
- e.g. Nazi seizure of power on 30th of January, Hitler’s birthday on the 20th of April and the Munich Putsch on November the 9th
- an international opportunity came with the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Different types of propaganda - printed word
Book burnings: not very effective but symbolic
- books by Jewish authors, as well as by political enemies, traitors and foreigners were burned
- there was a list of acceptable editors and journalists
- through the Reich Association of the German Press, the RMVP controlled content
- 69% of newspapers were controlled by the Nazis in 1939
Different types of propaganda - the arts
- artworks would portray superior, heroic Aryans, or an idyllic family life
- landscapes depicted rural Volk and the land on which they worked
- ‘Blood and Soil’
- abstract and surrealist art was banned, as well as work by communists and Jews
- public buildings were to be a memorial to the 1000 year third reich
