The Nazi's goal was to have complete authority over Germany. To do this they had to:

1. Consolidate their grip on power.

2. Begin the process of Gleichschaltung, to conform all aspects of society to the Nazi Party (Nazification)

Hitler gained power in 1933 as the Chancellor of Germany. He immediately started changing laws to become a legal dictator, and gained complete control over the entirety of Germany.

Some methods you have seen already, some are new.

• Censorship and Propaganda work together to control the beliefs of the people and limit outside influences. You can not have one without the other.

  • Propaganda emphasises and celebrates the achievements (real or fake) of the regime.

  • Censorship limits or restricts access to information that would actively work to counter the regime's "achievements"

• The Ministry of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment, led by Joseph Goebbels oversaw all aspects of arts and media in Germany.

• Editorial Law October 1939 - Newspaper editors were told what the main stories of the day were, where to place them and even what pictures to use.

• Modernist art, such as Impressionism and Expressionism, and modern music, such as Jazz and Swing, and Jewish and Black musicians, were considered degenerate.

• The German Student Union encouraged book burnings that opposed the ideologies of Nazism, it was quickly adopted by Goebbels.

• Cinema and theatre were tightly controlled, and major propaganda works like Leni Riefenstahl's '"Triumph of the Will"; and other films like "The Eternal Jew", were created to culturally highlight Nazi ideals or exclude non-Nazi ideals.

• Propaganda serves two purposes. To persuade, and highlight the ideology of the regime.

• Goebbels' objective is to encourage the German people to love the Nazi Ideology, and to have faith in the course of action.

• Goebbels perpetuated the Hitler Myth and was integral in creating Hitler's Cult of Personality.

• Goebbels' ideas about propaganda were extremely effective, so much so that they are still in use today. Repetition, Simplicity and Emotion are used by political parties worldwide.

• Rallies and demonstrations were also extremely popular, specifically the Nuremberg Rallies. These were designed to magnify and construct Hitler as a god-like figure, and the audience was captivated by the uniforms, military music, flags, banners etc.

• This all helped to create the Volksgemeinschaft and Goebbels made sure that these events were broadcast widely so everyone could share in the experience.

• The Nazis also used propaganda to highlight features of their ideology. An example of this would be photo competitions of children who demonstrated "Aryan" traits (fun fact: Hessy Levinson was featured as an ideal Aryan child across the nation, despite being secretly Jewish).

• Propaganda would also showcase ideal Aryan families in order to convince people to align themselves with that belief.