Michael Penny

Mr. Hawkins
World History-P, Period 4
21 March, 2016
Describe the Techniques Hitler Used to Organize a Large Majority of German People to Accept
and Promote Nazi Ideology.
There are many ways that Adolf Hitler influenced people to promote Nazi ideology.
Hitler did a ton of things to influence peoples opinions of him and persuade them to follow him,
but everything he did can fit into one or more of these three categories: playing on popular
beliefs that already existed, the use of propaganda, and promising to solve the modern
Germans problems. Here are the things that he did.
To start off, here are some things that he did that played on already existing beliefs. A lot
of what Adolf Hitler did was play on widespread and long-established German antiSemitism (Website #1). He most likely did this so that people would view his opinion as a
popular one and join in, since they were already part of the trend of Anti-Semitism. This must
have helped Hitler win many people over to his side during elections and just in general. Hitler
also realized that people didnt like the treaty that Germany was forced to sign, so When
the Treaty of Versailles was signed in 1919, non-propagandists newspapers headlines across
the nation spoke German's feelings, such as schndlich! (Unacceptable!) (Website #1).
This helped him win more people over because this was another popular opinions that invoked
peoples strong feelings whenever mentioned, which helped in making sure that people would
listen to Adolf Hitler when he wanted. Hitler might have used this as a way to get people

convinced to vote for him, or he might have used it to rile the people up that listened to his
speeches. Another thing that was appealing to the common person of Germany was the
attribute of the Nazi Partys competition with Marxism (Website #3). The people of
Germany didnt want a Marxist government; especially after Hitler was done influencing them.
Somehow, Hitler made it so that Marxism seemed bad but the dictatorship that was soon to be
didnt seem like such a terrible thing. This was done by easing into it and making sure that
people thought that there were worse things coming if Hitler was not the one in power. He also
made them think that he was for the greater good of Germany. There was also the opinion of
being proud to be a German, although that was exaggerated to the extreme by the Nazis: The
Nazis projected the Aryan ideals, which promoted pride in having German blood. The
worth of being German was increased because they were stereotyped as being superior
intellectually and physically (Website #3). The Nazis played upon peoples nationalism also,
making sure that people focused on being proud of themselves for being German. Hitler did this
so that people would think of themselves as better than everyone else, and this made it so that
people wouldnt contradict his ideas since they wanted to be considered superior to most other
races. These are only a few of the ways that Hitler influenced people by voicing their opinions,
but he also used a lot of propaganda to influence their decisions when it came time for elections.
Adolf Hitler used a lot of propaganda when it came to persuading people to vote for him,
and many other things too. To Hitler, propaganda was very important. This view is directly
reflected by this passage: Nazi leader Adolf Hitler devoted three chapters of his 1925/26
book Mein Kampf, itself a propaganda tool, to the study and practice of propaganda
(Website #1). To Adolf Hitler, propaganda was very important and he used it a lot. It was one of
the most effective forms of what was essentially brainwashing over a period of time, right next to

his speechmaking skills. Hitler says in his book: Propaganda must always address itself to
the broad masses of the people. All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and
must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those
to whom it is directed (Website #1). This is basically saying that propaganda is useless if
people cant understand it, so Hitler made it so that everyone could understand and would
appreciate it. He obviously understood how effective propaganda can be if used correctly, so
studied it a lot and used it effectively. Hitler even used WWI as a tool for convincing people that
they needed to follow him: The argument that Germany lost the war largely because of
British propaganda efforts, expounded at length in Mein Kampf, reflected then-common
German nationalist claims. Although untrue German propaganda during World War I
was mostly more advanced than that of the British it became the official truth of Nazi
Germany thanks to its reception by Hitler (Website #1). People even believed him, because
what he was telling them involved another thing that they were easily worked up about. He could
use this to his advantage, though, and he did. He didnt only use propaganda, though, he also
promised to solve the peoples problems.
Adolf Hitler promised a lot of things, and he definitely promised to solve the common
peoples issues, making each individual person feel wanted and obligated to vote for him. It
[Nazism] was concerned only with Germany and German interests: restoring the German
economy, achieving economic self-sufficiency and providing for the German people
(Website #2). This was one of the biggest issues facing Germany in the post-war years: the
depression. Everyone was extremely poor and it got to the point where the bill was so useless
that people were using it as kindling to heat their homes. This was one of the main goals of the
Nazi party. Another one of the things that Hitler believed and promised he would do is that

Re-arming and expanding Germanys armed forces was essential for the defense of the
nation (Website #2). This could also go under the category of popular opinions, but he
promised this and went through with this. He re-armed Germany in direct violation of the Treaty,
which only made the Germans love him more since they hated the treaty. Hitler also got rid of all
the poverty, but in doing so, created the dictatorship he wanted but would lead to horrible events:
The principle of volksgemeinschaft was that all Germans should unite and work together
to reduce differences in class, wealth and standards of living (Website #2). This is what
Hitler wanted to do to make sure that people would think that he is a good leader since he is
leading Germany out of rough times for the economy. He successfully did so, and then everyone
believed in what he stood for. Hitler promised many things to the people and delivered, but that
was only one of the ways he swayed peoples opinions of him.
Hitler did many things to make people follow the Nazi ideology, such as playing on
popular beliefs that already existed, the use of propaganda, and promising to solve the
modern Germans problems. He made people think that he was a good leader and that what he
was doing was for the greater good, but it really wasnt. These things that he did convinced
people that he was the leader that would lead Germany out of the rough times that they were
having. To an extent, he did, but all it ended up in was another war. He convinced many people
that he was the leader that they needed and had them believing and accepting the Nazi ideology
that he promoted.