[Q] How important was the work of Goebbels in the Nazi takeover of

Germany? Explain your answer [40 marks]

Joseph Goebbels was Hitlers right hand man, so his work was of importance, but
only to a certain degree in the Nazi takeover of Germany.

Joseph Goebbels joined the Nazi party in 1924, after which he quickly roe up the
ranks to eventually become Minister of Propaganda and Public Enlightenment by
1929. His skilful means of propaganda gained the Nazis a lot of support and
ultimately contributed to their success in the elections of 1933.

Goebbels was known for his use of posters to convey the Nazi message. These often
tried to capitalize on peoples hatred such as for the Treaty of Versailles and the
Jews in order to make them believe that the Nazis were doing the right thing.
Alternatively the posters were also used to promote negative cohesion by accusing
the Nazis political opponents.

For the Nazis, propaganda wasnt simply a means of promoting themselves, but
instead Goebbels was tasked with brainwashing people into being wholesomely
loyal to the Nazis. Goebbels accomplished this via a variety of methods, the most
prominent of which was the use of Radios. The Nazis produced short-ranged Radios
and sold them for an extremely low price such that practically everyone was able to
purchase them. These could only pickup the Nazi channels on which Hitlers brilliant
speeches were looped. Large Radios were also placed at almost every street corner
because of which people were continuously exposed to Nazi propaganda and the
Nazi Ideals were forced upon their brains. Similar to Hitler, Goebbels himself was a
very good speaker as well, a fact which he used to preach the Nazi message.

The Nazis brought about massive censorship in Germany, which was mainly
focused on the Newspaper Industry. Goebbels made sure that only pro-Nazi articles
were published such that people may not have even been aware until at a much
later stage about the true working of the Nazis. Those Newspapers which did not
comply with the Nazis were shut down and their writers sent to concentration
camps. Similarly was done with books as well in which only stories about pure
Aryans or which criticized Jews were allowed while others were burnt.

Goebbels produced films in which the Jews were portrayed as villains. These films
were effective in passively manipulating the minds of people and getting them to do
what the Nazis wanted. The Nazis wanted to control every aspect of peoples lives,
an important way in which they did this was to brainwash the children starting at a
young age. Two types of Education Systems were established The Hitler Youth for
boys and The League of German Maidens for girls. The Nazis had always believed in
women playing a domestic role and staying at home to take care of their family. The
League of German Maidens did just this by teaching the girls how to be a mother
and look after the house while the Hitler Youth trained boys for fighting. Goebbels
made sure that all the subjects taught related to the Nazi ideas in some wat such as
they were made to believe that the Jews were to blame for Germanys defeat in the
History of the First World War.

All of these aspects account for Goebbels importance in the Nazi takeover of
Germany.

On the other hand however, Goebbels cannot be credited entirely for the Nazis
success as there were other influential leaders as well in the Nazi party. One of
these being Heinrich Himmler who was responsible for the maintenance of order
and the elimination of opposition such as via the concentration camps. This was an
important reason for the Nazis success as many people were too afraid to oppose
them. The moderation of Germany was carried out by the SA led by Ernst Rohm,
however due to disagreements between Rohm and the Army, Hitler was forced to
execute Rohm and some influential members of the SA during an event known as
the Night of Long Knives. Later the SA was replaced by the SS. The Gestapo were
the Nazis secret state police who had the power to send suspected Nazi naysayers
to concentration camps without a trial. They were highly feared s people would
often tell on each other just to clear their own name.

The Crux of the Nazi party cannot go unmentioned, as it was after all Hitlers
determination and skill that practically raised the party previously known as the
German Workers party from the ashes. Hitlers influential speeches and leadership
were one of the main reasons for the Nazis success for his ability to adapt and deal
with the situation looming across Germany made the Nazis stand out. He took firm
decisions that made him look like the only person in the country who knew what to
do such as supporting the army during communist rebellions.

The Weimar Republic under Gustave Stresemann had Germanys economy up on

the loan from America under the Dawes plan and hence the depression struck the
Germans very badly as the American loan was recalled. The Nazis used the chaos
created by the depression to their advantage as people were willing to vote for any
party that had the capability of stabilizing the situation in Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles was a common point of hated throughout Germany since it
was the foundation of all their problems and hence the Nazis used it to their
advantage. The unstable economy had left people with absolutely nothing so all
they were not bothered about the cruelty of the Nazis as long as they received food
to eat and a house to live in.

Similar to the Nazis, the communists had also gained significantly increased support
after the depression and economic instability. Many people however were resentful
towards communism such as businessmen who would lose everything they owned.
The Nazis anti-communist stance appealed to these people and hence won their
vote.

In conclusion despite the significance of Joseph Goebbels propaganda, I am not of

the opinion that it was the single most important reason behind the Nazis success
as had it not been for the other prominent Nazi members, Hitler, The Treaty of
Versailles, the Depression and the Communists, the Nazis would have likely not
seen anywhere close to the same degree of success.