3.3 - Controlling and influencing attitudes

Goebbels and Propaganda

Joseph Goebbels — Minister of People's Enlightenment and Propaganda from 1933. Controlled all media, culture and the arts. Used censorship (banning opposing views) and propaganda (promoting Nazi ideas). Wanted Nazi attitudes buried so deeply people didn't know they were being influenced.

Nazi Control of the Media

Press: 1,600 newspapers closed in 1935, journalists told what to write. Radio: all stations under Nazi control, cheap radios mass-produced, 70% of homes had one by 1939. Films: all plots approved by Goebbels, newsreels shown before every film, 1,300 Nazi films made.

Nazi Rallies and Sport

Annual Nuremberg rally — 200,000 supporters, giant searchlights, swastika banners — designed to show Nazi power and unity. Berlin Olympics 1936: Germany won 33 medals, used to show Nazi superiority. All sports stadiums covered in Nazi symbols, visiting teams made to do the Nazi salute.

Nazi Control of Culture and the Arts

Reich Chamber of Culture set up 1933 — all artists, writers, musicians had to be members. Modern/Jewish art banned, 12,000 paintings removed. Books burned in public bonfires (May 1933 — 20,000 books). Jazz banned. Architecture made massive and powerful to reflect Nazi strength. Everything promoted traditional German values and Nazi ideology.