Hitler's Propaganda

Hitler once said:"I use emotion for the many and reserve reason for the few". This quote epitomizes the control that he had over the German masses and how he managed to gain support by exploiting the widespread dissatisfaction of the country. In hindsight, it is difficult to grasp the overwhelming popularity Hitler had, especially since he and his men carried out countless acts of horror and inhumanity. Ultimately, Hitler gained power through his charismatic leadership, using general discontent to his advantage, propaganda techniques, and his ideology.
When people today view Hitler, they often do so with disgust, thinking of him as a ruthless dictator who held radical ideas. The people of post World War I Germany viewed him as quite the opposite. …show more content…
The Nazi Party’s strong grasp on the public can be attributed to the superior propaganda that was produced efficiently and with calculated psychological tactics. Hitler’s dedicated supporters were responsible for producing and circulating propaganda material, and this often inconvenienced them greatly. In many accounts, Nazi supporters were so enthusiastic towards the cause that they would suffer financially as a result. Working and attending party meetings took up a lot of time, and many Nazis can attest to neglecting their families. In addition, running propaganda divisions did not pay and supporters had to pay for the costs themselves, often experiencing hunger. One crucial aspect of the propaganda was the amount which was produced. The Nazi Party produced far more propaganda material than any rival party, and it was unique in that Nazi propaganda techniques were self-regulating. Nazi leaders often were placed in charge of a small town or community and were responsible for recruiting new party members. The incentive to recruit as many as possible was a promotion in the party’s ranks, and this encouraged many local leaders to develop the tactic of altering messages to suit local interests. For example, in Northeim, the Nazi messages of anti-Semitism unsettled people, “and in consequence anti-Semitism was not pushed in propaganda except in a ritualistic way”. The Nazi method was to try and appeal to as many people as possible, and this included exploiting people’s emotions. An example that epitomizes this practice was the writing of personal letters to attract support. Local Nazi recruiters would hand-write letters following an accepted template to people in specific groups, such as men wounded in the war, widows who lost their husband in