1918–1933
Selling Nazism in a Democracy
On November 9, 1918, a revolution overthrew Germany’s imperial government. It established a democracy that was known as the Weimar Republic. Two days later, Germany’s new leaders signed an armistice with Allied military commanders, ending the fighting in World War I (1914–1918). In June 1919, German officials signed the Treaty of Versailles, which deprived Germany of territory and forced it to pay large reparations to the Allies and associated governments. German politicians of the left, right, and center denounced the treaty “dictated peace.”
The Nazi Party emerged out of the political and economic turmoil that plagued the new republic from 1919 to 1923. It denounced Germany’s democratic leaders as the “November criminals”; who overthrew the imperial government and signed the widely unpopular Versailles treaty.
The Nazi Party initially attracted few followers. However, when the Great Depression struck in 1929, Nazi favor dramatically rose in a polarized Germany. Millions of Germans found Nazi propaganda messages to be appealing. In July 1932, the Nazi Party became the largest political party in the German parliament, or Reichstag.
Hitler and Nazi Propaganda
Few political leaders took a greater interest in propaganda than did Adolf Hitler. World War I had shaped many of his ideas. Hitler believed that Germany lost the war because of internal enemies—Jews, socialists, liberals, and other civilians—who had stabbed Germany in the back. He also blamed Allied propaganda, which he believed had weakened the German will to fight.
Hitler, a former German soldier, joined the newly formed Nazi Party in September 1919 and became its first director of propaganda. His skills as a public speaker increased the party’s profile and attracted new members.
Hitler’s ideas about propaganda guided Nazi strategy until his death in 1945.
Adolf Hitler gives a speech at the third Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, August 1927.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Joanne Schartow
Hitler Campaigns against Germany’s New Democracy
Adolf Hitler hated the Weimar Republic. His subversive propaganda aimed to undermine the young democracy. Hitler used election campaigns to whip up anger toward the country’s leaders. He blamed them, along with Germany’s Jews, for the nation’s problems. He emphasized that the Nazi Party bore no responsibility for the nation’s economic and social ills because it had never been part of the government. Thus, he pledged to restore German greatness and to cleanse the state of political corruption.
At this 1932 campaign rally, Hitler denounced Germany’s democratic government, which resulted in applause from the crowd.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv
Nazi Political Strategy in a Democracy
Nazi political strategy evolved during the Weimar Republic from inciting insurrection to Nazis winning at the ballot box. Party activists focused on winning elections by building a large grassroots movement that spread their propaganda throughout Germany. By 1930, the Nazi Party had a huge following.
Nazi electoral strategy involved winning over as many Germans as possible. The propagandists claimed that the Nazi movement was open to all Germans regardless of their social class, religion, or home region. This Nazi myth called for creating an ethnically united German “national community” (Volksgemeinschaft) in which the collective interests of the “people” (Volk) took precedence over individual interests. Nazi propagandists denounced Germany’s other political parties as special interest groups that did not represent all Germans.
Nazi ideology at its very core was racist and antisemitic, and its leaders considered Germany’s Jews to be a “foreign” race that had no place in the new Germany. Even Jews who had converted to Christianity could not be a part of the national community.
Germans view rival political posters during the 1930 parliamentary elections. Berlin, September 1930.
Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin / Art Resource, New York
A Nazi flag.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Chiverton-Rose family
Propaganda Technique
Creating a Trademark
Symbols serve as powerful tools for promoting political allegiance, nationalism, and ideology. Hitler chose Nazi symbols carefully. In 1920, he designed the Nazi flag with the colors of the former German monarchy: black, white, and red. The vibrant red also drew on the popularity of the red flag used by the leftist Social Democrats and Communists.
The Nazi flag’s centerpiece was the swastika, a symbol found in many ancient cultures. In India, the swastika represented good luck. Hitler transformed it into the trademark of the Nazi Party. To the Nazis, it symbolized racial struggle. It has since become an enduring symbol of hate.
The Nazi Party shared broad, vague slogans such as “To Freedom” (Zur Freiheit) to gain followers. Mjölnir (Hans Schweitzer) for the Reich Party Congress of the Nuremberg National Socialists, August, 1927.
Bundesarchiv
This Nazi Party poster for the 1932 Prussian state parliamentary election features a heroic image of a farmer sowing seeds of a productive future, offers three simple, appealing, and completely vague solutions to the key crises of the Depression: unemployment, hardship, and hunger. Felix Albrecht, 1932.
Library of Congress
This 1930 parliamentary election poster presents the Nazi Party, symbolized by the swastika, as a sun-like force bringing the seeds of German freedom and economic prosperity to life. Mjölnir (Hans Schweitzer), 1930.
Library of Congress
Propaganda Technique
Slogans
Slogans simplify complicated issues or problems for mass audiences. They substitute appealing words or phrases for detailed policy statements. Skillful propagandists create slogans that distill their messages down to a few memorable words or phrases.
The Nazis used phrases such as work and bread in slogans as a symbol of the party’s claims that, if elected, it would create jobs and provide Germans with food. The slogans, however, did not spell out how the Nazis aimed to accomplish those tasks.
Propoganda Technique
Creating a Public Image
Adolf Hitler understood the importance of crafting a strong public image, but many of his political rivals in the Weimar Republic did not. He presented himself as an “unknown soldier” who was just like millions of other German veterans. This carefully crafted public image of Hitler as a common man, one not born of wealth or privilege, was appealing to Germans.
This poster from the presidential election of 1932 highlights the sophisticated construction of the Hitler myth. Presented like many of the film stars of the period, silhouetted against a black backdrop, Hitler gazes directly at the viewer, offering himself as a leader of strength, will, and determination, able to lead Germany out of the Great Depression.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Hitler prepared for his speeches and performances as an actor would. He rehearsed physical gestures to enhance his performances, and he tailored his clothes and speech according to the audience. For Nazi Party assemblies, he wore his uniform and spoke using radical, violent language. In front of Germany’s political and economic elites, however, Hitler dressed in a dark suit and used a calmer tone. This role-playing won him support from diverse audiences.
While these images may appear somewhat comical, they are an earlier form of media training. By practicing in front of the camera or a mirror, Hitler developed the gestures and poses that best worked to engage his audience.
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek / Fotoarchiv Hoffmann
Mass Marketing the Nazis’ Program
The Nazi Party harnessed mass communication methods to get its messages out to German voters. It used commercial advertising techniques to create eye-catching posters. It produced its own films. It pioneered the use of electric loudspeakers at outdoor rallies. And its leaders gauged audience response in order to revise the party’s messages so they would have broader appeal.
National Recording Service record, Adolf Hitler—Our Leader! Berlin, 1932.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Robert M. W. Kempner Papers
By 1932, the Nazi Party was no longer a small, extremist organization with few followers. Its leaders had created a national, grassroots network of trained speakers and had established Nazi Party newspapers as well as film and radio associations. The party had propaganda bureaus throughout Germany. Nazi publicists urged local groups to increase the party’s visibility by pasting posters in well-trafficked areas. These campaigns gained public attention and support.
Nazi propagandists developed a keen appreciation for technology, including the gramophone. With it, recordings of Nazi speeches and entertaining martial music could be played either at local meetings for each group’s listening or in the streets through loudspeakers mounted on trucks.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Bud Tullin
Image from the cover of the Nazi Party pamphlet Hitler über Deutschland (Hitler over Germany) by Josef Berchtold, 1932.
Randall Bytwerk
Revolutionizing Election Campaigning
Hitler over Germany
The Nazi Party continually found new ways to advertise their messages. Hitler’s 1932 political campaign electrified German audiences. The Nazi Party chartered planes to fly Hitler from city to city, something unheard of at the time. Use of planes enabled him to speak at almost 200 rallies and to reach more than ten million spectators.
The campaign paid off. Hitler won 30 percent of the ballots—more than 11.5 million votes. Forced into a runoff election, he gained two million more votes for a total of 37 percent. Though he lost to incumbent Paul von Hindenburg, Hitler polled well—especially for a first-time candidate for political office.
Revolutionizing Election Campaigning
This silent film shows Hitler arriving via airplane for a 1932 presidential campaign rally.
Bundesarchiv Filmarchiv
The 1937 painting In the Beginning was the Word by Hermann Otto Hoyer depicts Hitler in the 1920s as he mesmerizes an audience with his oratory.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of US Army Center of Military History
Propaganda Technique
Public Meetings and Rallies
Nazi propagandists emphasized the importance of the spoken word to win over audiences. In the 1920s, Hitler earned a reputation as a spell-binding orator. His speeches were far more dynamic than many other German politicians of the time. Contemporary observers have noted how audiences felt a sense of personal attraction to Hitler’s words. They felt as if he was speaking to them personally.
The Nazis liked the spoken word for more practical reasons. It was the cheapest form of getting a message across in contrast to posters, newspapers, or film. It also helped the party evaluate whether its messages were resonating with Germans in real time.
Witnessing Hitler
In this video, Holocaust survivor and historian Dr. George Mosse discusses the feeling of watching Hitler speak in person: “You were carried away.”
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Nazi stormtroopers put up a poster for the 1932 German presidential election. Mecklenburg, 1932.
Bundesarchiv, Koblenz, Germany
Propaganda Technique
Mass Advertising with Posters
In Germany, posters played an important role in advertising products, events, and political candidates. On public streets, they competed with each other for public attention. Posters that had eye-catching graphics, minimal text, and clear messages generally proved more successful.
Nazi propagandists took an avid interest in this form of mass communication. They learned from World War I propaganda posters as well as from posters of their political opponents. Party activists tracked how audiences reacted to particular posters and revised them if needed.
Various factors contributed to the Nazis’ success with campaign posters. First, the party had a recognizable leader (Hitler) and logo (the swastika) that could be featured prominently. Second, Nazi posters used strong visual language. Last, the Nazis had a grassroots organization that was able to widely distribute posters, along with other propaganda materials.
German youth stand near displays of Nazi propaganda for the 1932 parliamentary elections. On the wall behind them are posters specifically directed at German women, workers, and farmers. Rosenheim, Germany, 1932.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of the Stadtarchiv Rosenheim
Propaganda Technique
Niche Marketing
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, Nazi propagandists developed advanced ways of attracting voters. One technique was what we now call niche marketing, which tailored different messages to different audiences.
The Nazi Party conducted informal public opinion research to determine what issues were important to local voters. Party members probed the needs, hopes, and fears of workers, people in the middle class, women, farmers, and youth. Nazi propagandists then crafted their themes, messages, and language to match what would best address what people wanted.
The messages broadened the Nazi Party’s audience and reduced support for its competitors.
Propaganda Directed at Workers
1932 German propaganda poster
Museum recreation
The Nazi Party repeatedly tried to win over workers, with limited success. Much of the German working class supported the Social Democratic Party or the Communist Party. Nazi propagandists broadened the definition of worker to include white-collar employees—those who worked with their minds—as well as those who worked with their hands.
The Great Depression left around seven million Germans without work, an unemployment rate of about 30 percent. The Nazi Party claimed it was the only political party capable of creating jobs, and Nazi propagandists played up popular discontent with the current government to win over unemployed Germans.
Unknown artist, October 1932. Bundesarchiv
Propaganda Directed at Women
1932 German propaganda poster
Museum recreation
The Nazi Party repeatedly tried to win over workers, with limited success. Much of the German working class supported the Social Democratic Party or the Communist Party. Nazi propagandists broadened the definition of worker to include white-collar employees—those who worked with their minds—as well as those who worked with their hands.
The Great Depression left around seven million Germans without work, an unemployment rate of about 30 percent. The Nazi Party claimed it was the only political party capable of creating jobs, and Nazi propagandists played up popular discontent with the current government to win over unemployed Germans.
Felix Albrecht, 1932. Bundesarchiv
Advertisement in the German newspaper Weltdeutscher Beobachter for a multi-volume braille edition of Hitler’s Mein Kampf, 1932.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of the Wiener Library for the study of the Holocaust & Genocide
Propaganda Directed at Blind Germans
The Nazi Party used propaganda to reach out to a variety of often-overlooked audiences. One of these audiences was blind Germans. Nazi propagandists issued a number of publications in Braille, one of which was a three-volume edition of Hitler’s Mein Kampf.
The Nazis claimed that other German political parties marginalized blind Germans. Moreover, Nazi propagandists appealed to blind Germans by reminding them that Hitler had been blinded in a poison gas attack in World War I, so he understood their plight. They promised to integrate blind people into the Nazis’ ideal of a national community.
Anti-Jewish Propaganda
1928 German propaganda poster
Museum recreation
Antisemitism, or hatred of Jews, was a central theme of Nazi ideology. The Nazis claimed that Jews around the world were conspiring to gain economic and political power. They falsely accused Jews of causing Germany’s revolution and its loss in World War I. They also charged that the creation of the Weimar Republic had benefited Germany’s Jews by allowing them to rapidly take control of the country’s economy, culture, and press.
Nazi propaganda drew on centuries of anti-Jewish prejudice. It promoted old stereotypes of Jews as criminals, dishonest businessmen, and enemies of Christianity. Many Germans were already afraid of communism and exploitative finance capitalism so the Nazis claimed that those philosophies were tools in the service of Jewish world domination. The Nazis understood, however, that antisemitism alone did not appeal to all Germans. To win votes, the Nazis often toned down their anti-Jewish rhetoric for particular audiences and campaigns.
Fips (Philipp Rupprecht), 1928. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC
Propaganda Directed at University Students
1930 German propaganda poster
Museum recreation
The Nazi Party attracted students who were unhappy with their current student organizations and German democracy. Middle-class student organizations had long supported ultra-nationalism and antisemitism. Nationalist student coalitions attacked the Versailles Treaty and demanded German rearmament. They supported the creation of university chairs of what they called “racial science.” Student groups demanded quota systems to limit the numbers of German Jews who entered white-collar professions. By the early 1930s, the Nazis and their sympathizers had made major inroads into the leading university student groups.
Ludwig Hohlwein, ca. 1930. Library of Congress
Propaganda Directed at Farmers
1932 German propaganda poster
Museum recreation
After 1925, Nazi support increased among Germany’s conservative rural population. By 1932, many German farmers had seen their incomes reduced and their debts increased. In fact, many had lost their farms to foreclosure. Nazi propaganda portrayed Hitler as the one politician capable of rescuing rural Germans from poverty. Campaigns in the German countryside emphasized the party’s pledge to clear out the supposed corruption of the Weimar government.
To depict that corruption, this poster shows a larger-than-life Nazi farmer. He is cleaning the stables of those the Nazis blamed for his troubles: torch-wielding Communist revolutionaries, corrupt Social Democratic Party bosses, and Jewish financial capitalists. The current German chancellor, Heinrich Brüning, is depicted among them. His severe economic measures, including high taxation and cuts in social welfare spending, failed to curb either the Great Depression or the suffering in the countryside.
Felix Albrecht, 1932. Bundesarchiv
Weimar Democracy in Crisis
After several years of stability, Germany’s democracy virtually collapsed when the Great Depression struck in 1929. Political parties disagreed over economic policies. Politics became more polarized. Support for centrist political parties dwindled as Nazi popularity grew. The failure of Germany’s numerous parties to put aside their differences brought the country to a standstill.
Collectively, the anti-Nazi left, including the Social Democratic Party and the more radical Communist Party, held more seats in the German Reichstag than did the Nazi Party. However, the parties refused to work together. The Nazi Party exploited this crisis by further promoting popular discontent with the status quo.
Two Nazi SA men (left), along with representatives of the (Catholic) Center, Social Democratic, Communist, and other parties, campaign in Berlin, July 31, 1932.
Bundesarchiv (Bild 102-03497A), Koblenz, Germany
This 1932 presidential campaign poster reads “Our Last Hope: Hitler.” Mjölnir (Hans Schweitzer), 1932.
Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, DC
Why Did Many Germans Believe Nazi Propaganda?
With the onset of the Great Depression, millions of Germans turned to the Nazi Party because its message spoke to their fears. Economic collapse and massive unemployment fueled voter anger. The government’s inability to end the crisis further added to the problem. Many voters turned to Hitler out of fear of impoverishment and revolutionary communism. The Communist Party was the third-largest party in Germany and was growing.
Nazi antisemitism appealed to right-wing radicals but not to all of Hitler’s supporters. Although antisemitism may not have gained the Nazi Party huge mass support, it also didn’t scare off large numbers of voters.
German anti-Nazi political propaganda poster promoting the Social Democratic Party, 1932. It features a man smashing a swastika, the most recognizable symbol of the Nazi Party.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Opposition to the Nazi Party
In the final days of the Weimar Republic, German police officials tried to suppress Nazi violence with arrests. The police temporarily shut down Nazi newspapers and banned Nazi paramilitary groups. Communists and Social Democrats fought Nazi Stormtroopers on city streets.
In spite of the Nazis’ propaganda, the party never attained a majority of seats in the German parliament. Millions of Germans opposed the Nazi movement. In democratic Germany’s final free parliamentary elections in November 1932, the Nazi Party lost two million votes and 34 seats.
Combating Nazi Propaganda
Historian and Holocaust survivor Dr. George Mosse discusses one way in which Jewish groups tried to fight back against rising antisemitism.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Adolf Hitler Becomes Chancellor
Propaganda helped to increase the popular appeal of the Nazi Party. However, it was a backroom political deal that made Hitler the chancellor, or head of government, on January 30, 1933.
Associates of President Paul von Hindenburg hoped to use Hitler’s base to boost their own political careers. They believed that backing Hitler would create stability by ensuring a parliamentary majority in the next election. In addition to appointing Hitler chancellor of Germany, they created a coalition government, primarily made of conservative politicians and only three Nazi members. Hindenburg and associates hoped to control Hitler and restrain his party’s extremism.
Those plans failed because Hitler quickly outmaneuvered the non-Nazis in the German cabinet.
Crowds cheer Adolf Hitler following his appointment as German chancellor. Berlin, Germany, January 30, 1933.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park