Modern History EssayTo what extent did Hitler's power depend upon the use of propaganda and terror in the period from 1933-1939?Adolph Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in January 1933 and his power depended upon propaganda for the Nazi's and terror. This essay will attempt to show how the Nazis used fear and propaganda to sustain power during the 1930s.Once Hitler became Chancellor he set out to establish a one-party state using the legal means available to him as chancellor. By doing so this meant that he had no opposing parties against him and he could rule with total control.On March 23, 1933 Hitler introduced the Enabling Act 'Law for removing distress of the people and the Reic ...view middle of the document...
Just as effective was the imposition of conformity. In March 1933 Joseph Goebbels was appointed head of a newly created Ministry of Popular Enlightment and Propaganda with the responsibility for 'all tasks of spiritual direction of the nation', literature, art, the press, the wireless, the film industry and government propaganda. One historian, George Reuth wrote that,'Officially the new ministry was intended to promote enlightment and propaganda among the populace as to the policies of the Reich government and the national reconstruction of the German fatherland. The actual purpose was to set in motion a mental mobilisation of the masses, to work on them until the people could no longer resist them.'One of Goebbels first jobs was to organise the burning of 'un-German' books, which were tossed into a bonfire outside Berlin University on the 10th of May 1933. Newspaper criticism of the government was banned. Hitler wanted total control of everything and the German people were scared that if they didn't follow the Nazi ideology they would be imprisoned.In regards to education non-Aryans were dismissed from their teaching positions in April 1934 and textbooks were 'nazified'.As mentioned before Hitler used massed rallies designed...
