Hitler was able to legitimize these mass killings through the idea of the Volk to the German population. The last hindering aspect of the Volkish ideals from controlling German politics was its lack of direction in a political party. While the ideology was popular and was supported by the German population; political parties that maintained Volkish ideals had had difficulties in controlling the ideology’s ambiguity and implementing a national action plan from it. Hitler’s quick rise to power was his ability to construct …show more content…
Historians have mixed opinions on the overall effectiveness of propaganda in Germany however. Prior to the Nazi party gaining control, “person-to-person contact was the core of the propaganda effort.” When Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, he also created a government-controlled Propaganda Ministry to control the national media networks, drastically changing the role of Nazi propaganda. Bytwerk argues, “if before 1933 the Nazi goal had been to win enough support to take power, their goal afterwards was a uniform public opinion and behavior on matters of interest to the state.” Nazi propaganda became a vital role in Nazi operations and through various publications such as newspapers, radio, literature, and film, Hitler was able to spread his message throughout Germany. Mass media was able to convey simple propaganda messages with “intellectual levels adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to.” By portraying simple, but clear messages that all types of Germans could respond to and understand easily, Nazi propaganda appealed to Germans of lower economic classes and also those in rural geographical regions that otherwise would not be been connected with Nazism and Hitler. In 1933, Hitler appointed Dr. Joseph Goebbels as the head of the new Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (RMVP). Goebbels was able to take Nazi propaganda to an extraordinary level of success during Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930’s, and that success stayed constant throughout World War II. However, the success of the propaganda is due to the emphasis on bringing propaganda to the grassroots level. Goebbels understood that in order to be truly effective, Nazi propaganda must reach the rural, and lower class levels of the Germany “at the interpersonal level, which the