How Did Hitler's Use Of Propaganda

Was the main reason for popular support for the Nazis 1933-45 the use of propaganda? [20 marks]

Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view. The Nazi's used propaganda in way that maximised the manipulation of the German public. It enabled the Nazis to speak to the various German peoples, through exploiting every means possible and accessible. Despite this, propaganda alone would not have allowed the Nazis to retain as much support as they did, as other factors, such as the policies that the regime implemented, swayed public opinion. The success of the Nazis use of propaganda can be assessed in the short term and long term; leading up to and during the Second World

Jobs were scarce towards the end of the Weimar rule, with over 4 million Germans unemployed by 1932. The Nazis attempted to resolve unemployment. In 1938 the number of Germans unemployed had decreased to 0.2 million - lower than what it was prior to the Nazis coming into rule and even before the Wall Street Crash. Hitler had achieved this by implanting new policies. Public work schemes, such as RAD, were endorsed by the state in 1932, largely boosting the production of building of homes and motorways. Moreover, there were government given subsidies for hiring more workers in the private sector, as well as a growth in jobs in the government bureaucracy. This had an immense impact in reducing unemployment in Germany, seen by the drastic shrinkage in percent of the unemployed workforce and means that the measures the Nazi government took were in fact succeeding. This, combined with the constant reinforcement of the Hitler myth, meant that Germans supported the new regime, because the Nazis were resolving and supporting the idea of the Hitler myth - with making Germany great again by improving the economy and resolving the unemployment