History Project

Nazi Germany Propaganda

Propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. It's first use dates back to 1622, shortly after the start of the Thirty Years' War, Pope Gregory XV established the Congregatio de Propaganda. This was a group of Cardinals who's duty it was to oversee the propagation of Christianity by missionaries whom were sent to non-Christian countries.

One of the most recognizable uses of propaganda was by the Nazi Party in Germany, during the period in which Aldolf Hitler was in power (1933-1945). After the Nazi Party seized power in 1933, Hitler established a Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. The main goal of the Ministry was to ensure that the Nazi message was successfully communicated through all media outlets; newspapers, magazines, comics, films, posters, radio, and books. Nazi propaganda provoided the party with key instruments to recruit and sustain power in Germany.

Nazi propaganda was used to create two types of enemies, internal (the Jewish people) and external (countries that inflicted the Treaty of Versailles upon Germany). The Nazi Regime was successful in using propaganda to implement and explain the anti-Semitism movement in Germany during this time.