The racial state: Nazi society 1933-9 (Propaganda and censorship)

Question 1

Considerable resources were directed towards the development of the propaganda machine in order to achieve what following aims?

Answer 1

To glorify the regime
To spread the Nazi ideology values (and in turn to censor the unacceptable)
To integrate the diverse elements of the nation into the ‘people’s community’

Question 2

All the means of public communication were brought under what control?

Answer 2

State control

Question 3

Hitler and Goebbels recognised the effectiveness of new technology and used it in what election?

Answer 3

1932-3

Question 4

Up until 1933, German broadcasting had been organised by who?

Answer 4

Regional states

Question 5

What did Goebbels create to bring all broadcasting under Nazi control?

Answer 5

Reich Radio Company

Question 6

What percentage of staff were dismissed and who were they replaced with?

Answer 6

13%
Replaced by his own men

Question 7

In 1925, what percent of German households owned a wireless radio?

Answer 7

25%

Question 8

Consequently of the low % of Germans with a wireless radio, what did Hitler do?

Answer 8

Produced a cheap set
The people’s Receiver (Volksempfanger)

Question 9

By 1939, what % of German homes had a radio?

Answer 9

70%
Highest national figure in the world

Question 10

How was broadcasting also directed at public places?

Answer 10

Installation of loudspeakers in restaurants and cafes, factories and offices made them all into venues for collective listening.

Question 11

What was appointed to co-ordinate the listening process?

Answer 11

Radio Wardens

Question 12

How many daily newspapers did Germany have in 1933?

Answer 12

4700

Question 13

Why did Germany have so many daily newspapers in 1933?

Answer 13

Strong regional identities which still existed in a state that had only been unified in 1871

Question 14

How were the papers owned and who did they have loyalty towards?

Answer 14

Privately owned
Traditionally owed loyalty only to their regional publishing company, not the central gov.

Question 15

The Nazi publishing house bought up numerous newspapers, so by 1939, how much of the German press did it control?

Answer 15

2/3

Question 16

All news agencies were merged into one, what was it called, and what did they do?

Answer 16

They merged into the state-controlled Deutsches Nachrichtenburo
Vetted news material for journalists

Question 17

What did Goebbels introduce?
(Press notes)

Answer 17

Daily press conference at the Propaganda Ministry to provide guidance on editorial policy

Question 18

What did the Editors’ Law of October 1933 do?

Answer 18

Made newspaper content the sole responsibility of the editor, who had to satisfy the requirements of the Propaganda Ministry or face consequences.

Question 19

What did a cynic imply about the Editors’ Law of October 1933?

Answer 19

‘There was no need for censorship be cause the editor’s most important function was that of censor.’

Question 20

Nazis succeeded in controlling the press so that what was forced to close in 1943?

Answer 20

Internationally renowned Frankfurter Zeitung

Question 21

What newspaper reached 1.7 million by 1944?

Answer 21

Circulation of the party’s newspaper Volkisher Beobachter

Question 22

What was the price of success in the press?

Answer 22

Evolution of bland and sterile journalism which eventually contributed to a general decline in newspaper circulation

Question 23

When were the 1936 Olympic games awarded to Berlin?

Answer 23

1931

Question 24

How was the Nazi ideal emphasised?

Answer 24

Through the image of the athlete Siegried Elfrig lighting the torch at the start of the games

Question 25

The Nazi gov. were meticulous in overseeing all of the what for the Berlin Olympics?

Answer 25

All the media preparations

Question 26

What did the Nazi gov. do for radio for the Olympics?

Answer 26

20 transmitting vans put at the disposal of foreign media w/ 300 microphones
Radio broadcasts at Olympics given in 28 diff. langs.

Question 27

What did the Nazi gov. do for film for the Olympics?

Answer 27

Promoted and financed filming by the famous director Leni Riefenstahl, who produced four-hour film Olympia

Question 28

What did the Nazi gov. do for Television for the Olympics?

Answer 28

Tv was in its early stages
Games prompted significant technical development. Broadcasts of games were made and seen by 150,000 people in 28 public television rooms in Berlin

Question 29

What did US correspondent William Shirer say about the Nazi’s success at the Olympics?

Answer 29

‘Nazis have run the games on a lavish scale never before experienced, and this has appealed to the athletes… Put up a very good front for the general visitors, especially the big business men.’

Question 30

What were the aspects of the Nazi ritual?

Answer 30

Heil Hitler greeting
Nazi salute
Horst Wessel anthem
Preponderance of militaristic uniforms

Question 31

What did the Nazi rituals intend to do?

Answer 31

Strengthen the individual’s identity with the regime

Question 32

How were Nazi rituals encouraged?

Answer 32

Establishment of a series of public festivals to commemorate historic days in the Nazi calendar

Question 33

The Reich Chamber of Culture was supervised by the what ?

Answer 33

Propaganda Ministry

Question 34

Those involved in cultural activities had to be what?

Answer 34

Accountable for their creativity

Question 35

Nazi culture was dominated by what key themes?

Answer 35

Anti-Semitism
Militarism and the glorification of war
Nationalism and the supremacy of the Aryan race
The cult of the Fuhrer and the power of absolutism
Anti-modernism and the theme of Blood and Soil
Neo-paganism and a rejection of traditional Christian views

Question 36

Why did music fare reasonably well in the Nazi environment?

Answer 36

Because of its less obvious political overtones

Question 37

What happened to Mahler and Mendelssohn?

Answer 37

Both Jewish composers were banned

Question 38

What music was exploited by the regime?

Answer 38

Germany’s rich classical tradition from the works of Bach to Beethoven

Question 39

What happened to the new wave of modern classical composers?

Answer 39

They were disparaged
New genres of jazz and dance-band were labelled negroid or decadent

Question 40

The place of those who left Germany were replaced by a lesser literature group who what?

Answer 40

Either sympathised with the regime or accepted the constraints

Question 40

What fact is representative of how sadly German writers and dramatists viewed the new cultural atmosphere?

Answer 40

Over 2500 of Germany’s writers left their homeland during the years 1833-45

Question 41

Why did actors contented themselves with productions of the classis?

Answer 41

In the knowledge that such plays were politically acceptable and in the best traditions of German theatres

Question 42

What did the Nazis think of modern schools of art?

Answer 42

They were held in total contempt
Weimar’s cultural awakening was rejected as degenerate and symbolic of moral and political decline

Question 43

What happened to the pieces in the ‘Degenerate’ Art exhibition?

Answer 43

They were mocked

Question 44

What happened to the pieces in the ‘Great German Art’ exhibition?

Answer 44

Glorified all the major Nazi themes of ‘people’s community’ and celebrated classic styles and trad. 19c German romanticism