Terror and Persuasion

A crucial element in maintaing the Nazi dictatorship was to create a climate of fear, making people too frightened to oppose the Nazi state

This was achieved through

• the Gestapo
• the **
• secret service
• Nazi control of the legal system

Once Hitler had removed opposition, he had to create a state with supported Nazi ideals. This was achieved through:

• skillful use of propaganda by Goebbels
• control of the media, arts and entertainment 

The ** had been formed in 1925 to act as a bodyguard for Hitler and was lead by Heinrich Himmler afer 1929

Himmler built up the ** until it had clear visible identity (black clothing)

Showed total obedience to the Führer

By 1934 the ** had over 50,000 members who were fine examples of Aryan race and were expected to marry racially pure wives

After the Night of the Long Knives, the ** became responsible for the removal of all opposition to the Nazis

By 1939, membership had grown to 250,000

Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei) was set up in 1933 by Goering

Came under the ** in 1936, supervised by Himmler's deputy, Reinhard Heydrich

By 1939, the Gestapo were the most important police section of the Nazi state, able to arrest and imprison and suspects

Opposing the state and its presence was detectable everywhere

The most likely destination for suspects was a concentration camp

By 1939, it was estimated that 160,000 people had been arrested for political crimes

The Sicherheitdienst (SD) was set up in 1931 as the Nazi intelligence organisation

Under command of Heinrich Himmler

Himmler appointed Heydrich to organise department

Main aim was to discover actual and potential enemies of the Nazis and see that they were removed

Members of the SD were employed by the Nazis who paid their salaries

The SD attracted many professional and highly educated people such as lawyers, economists and professors of politics

As soon as the Enabling Act was passed, the Nazis established a new type of prison - a concentration camp - to confine those who opposed their political, racial and ideological beliefs

At first, they were set up to detain political opponents, including communists, socialists, trade unionists and others who had left-wing and liberal political views

In 1939, there were more than 150,000 people under arrest for political offences

The SA and ** ran the concentration camps, but only the Gestapo could perform arrests or interrogations to send people there

Prisons were classified into different categories wih different triangles to be worn

Initially, work in the camps was hard and rather pointless, like breaking stones, but gradually the prisoners were used as forced workers in quarries, building, coal mines and armament factories

The inmates were underfed and treated with great brutality. Mortality rates were very high

If an inmate died, their family received a note saying they were diseased or shot attempting to escape

Even though the Nazis controlled the Reichstag and could make laws, Hitler wanted to ensure all laws were interpreted in a Nazi fashion. Courts, therefore, needed Gleichschaltung (Nazification)

Some judges were removed and the rest had to become members of the National Socialist League for the Maintenance of the Law, meaning that Nazi views were held up in court

In October 1933 the German Lawyers was established and there were more than 10,000 members by the end of the year. The lawyers had to swear to 'strive as German jurists to follow the course of our Führer to the end of our days'

In 1934, a new People's Court was established to try cases of treason. The judges were loyal Nazis

Judges knew the Minister of Justice would check to see if they had been lenient and sometimes Hitler would alter sentences if he felt they were too soft

In March 1934, Josef Goebbels set up the Ministry for Propaganda and National Enlightenment to control the thoughts, beliefs and opinions of the German people

It was important for the long-term future that the majority of Germans believed in Nazi ideas

Goebbels used

• radio
• cinema
• rallies
• posters
• books
• newspapers
• architecture
• art

to control Germany.

All radio stations entered Nazi control

Cheap mass-produced radios were sold and could be bought on instalments. By 1939, around 70% of German families owned a radio

Sets were installed in cafes, factories, schools and offices, and loudspeakers were placed in streets

It was important that as many people heard the Nazi message, as often as possible

The People's Radio lacked shortwave reception, making it difficult for Germans to listen to foreign broadcasts

Hitler and Goebbels regularly made broadcasts

Goebbels also realised the popularity of cinema (and was one of the first)

More than 100 films were made each year and audiences exceeded 250 million in 1933

All film plots were shown to Goebbels before going into production

He saw that many Germans were bored by overly-political films, so romantic and thriller stories were instead given Nazi slants

One best-known was Hitlerjunge Quex (1933), a story about a boy who runs away from a communist family to join the Hitler Youth, only to be murdered by a communist

All films were accompanied by a 45-minute official newsreel about Nazi achievements and Hitler

One Nazi film director who gained international praise was Leni Riefenstahl, who produced a documentary on the Nazi Party Conference and Rally of 1934 and the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Hitler ordeed Goebbels to also produce anti-Semitic films. While these were not as popular, they were produced frequently after 1940. They include Jud Sü** and Der Ewige Jude

Rallies

An annual mass rally was held at Nuremberg to advertise to power of the Nazi state

Spectacular parades were held on other special occasions such as Hitler's birthday

Local rallies and marches were led by the SA and Hitler Youth

The Nuremberg Rallies would last for several days and attracted almost 1 million people yearly

Posters

Posters were cleverly used to put across the Nazi message and were especially targeted at the young

They were made to be seen everywhere and their messages were simple and direct

All books were carefully censored and controlled to put across the Nazi message

Encouraged by Goebbels, students in Berlin burned 20,000 books written by Jews, communists and anti-Nazi university professors in a massive bonfire in Berlin in May 1933

There were similar burnings in other cities across German that year

Many writers were persuaded (or forced) to write books praising Hitler's achievements

Some famous German writers such as Thomas Mann and Bertold Brecht went into self-imposed exile rather than live under the Nazis

About 2500 writers left German between 1933 and 1939

All aspects of the media, including newspapers, were censored by Goebbels

The arts were also used by the Nazis as methods of propaganda

Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Culture

Musicians, writers and actors had to be members of the Chamber

Anything thought to be unsuitable was banned

Many left German in protest of these conditions

Non-Nazi newspapers and magazines were closed down, and surviving editors were told exactly what they could print so Germans could only read what the Nazis wanted them to know. Failure meant arrest and confinement in a concentration camp

By 1935, Nazis had closed down more than 1600 newspapers and thousands of magazines

The Reich Press Law was passed in October 1933 and resulted in the removal of Jewish and left-wing journalists

Editors were told by the Propaganda Ministry what could be printed and any foreign news which was published had to be taken from the Nazi-controlled German Press Agency

Music

Hitler hated modern music

Jazz, which was 'black music', was seen as racially inferior and banned

Nazis encouraged traditional folk music together with classical Bach, Beethoven and especially Richard Wagner, Hitler's favourite composer

Theatre

Concentrated on German history and political drama

Cheap theatre tickets were made available to encourage people to see plays, which often had a Nazi political or racial theme

Hitler took a particular interest in architecture

He encouraged the 'monumental style' for public buildings - large buildings made of stone often copied from ancient Greece or Rome - which showed the strength of the Third Reich

In addition, the 'country style' - traditional buildings with shutters - was used for family homes and hostels to encourage pride in Germany's history

Hitler admired the Greek and Roman style particularly because the Jews had not 'contaminated' it

Hitler had earned a living as an artist and believed himself an expert in the area

He hated modern art (any art under the Weimar Republic), which he believed to be backward, un-patriotic and Jewish. Such art was called 'degenerate' and was banned

Instead, Hitler encouraged art which highlighted Germany's former greatness and strength and the power of the Third Reich. He wanted to reject the weak and ugly, and to glorify healthy, strong heroes

Artists were, therefore, expected to portray workers, peasantsand women as glorious and noble creatures

After 1934, it was decided that all buildings must have sculptures demonstrating Nazi ideals

Paintings showed:

• the Nazi ideal of a simple peasant life
• hard work as heroic
• the perfect Aryan - young German men and women were shown to have perfect bodies
• women in their role as houswives and mothers