How did the nazis gain and keep popular support ?

Résumé du document

If dictatorships often are the consequences of revolutions or coups, like that of Hitler's access to power, then they are absolutely not democratic. When the dictator tried to become the leader of Germany by undemocratic ways, he failed. Thats what happened in Munich in 1923 when his Putsch attempt didn't succeed and landed him in jail. From that moment, he decided to use popular support to achieve his goals. Propaganda became one of the main basis of Hitler's strategy. But what kind of support did he rely on and how did his 'relationship' with the German people really occur? We can see that Hitler never consulted the Germans opinion in his decision making process. When he came to power, he just manoeuvred them by his rhetoric speeches in order to establish his rule definitely. In fact, we can consider that by this method, he linked Germany's fate to his own self-centred policy.

Extraits

[...] By saying that, we can analyze if this propaganda has been really effective and if the Nazis actually got this popular support. The central aim of Nazi propaganda before 1939 had been to psychologically prepare the German people for war. It has actually partially, but not wholly succeeded. It was effective in persuading people who did not need much convincing anyway that Germany's revisionist claims were legitimate, that Germany was threatened on all sides and that would it come to war the fault would not be Germany's. [...]

[...] From September 1939, the chief aim switched to the preservation of morale during the war. And in this aim, propaganda encountered growing failure. Distrust of German propaganda, coupled with boredom, paved the way even in the period of German military triumph for the later drastic collapse of confidence. Miscalculations, errors of emphasis, and downright embarrassing blunders did not help the willing image of propaganda. By 1942, long before the major military defeats, the image was largely negative. Stalingrad was a propaganda disaster. [...]

[...] How did the Nazis gain and keep popular support? If dictatorships often are the consequences of revolutions or coups d'Etat, Hitler's access to power is absolutely democratic. When the dictator tried to become the leader of Germany by undemocratic ways, he failed. That's what happened in Munich in 1923 when his putsch attempt didn't succeed and put him into jail. From that moment, he decided to use popular support to achieve his goals. Propaganda became one of the main basis of Hitler's strategy. [...]

[...] Thus, if the Germans were not all in favour of a dictatorship between 1929 and 1933, the false evaluation that most of them made of the Nazis' plan was probably due to a voluntary blindness. Since then, Hitler would be able to rely on his unconditional fans but also on this large part of society which, without necessarily supporting his ideology, would be easy to manoeuvre. During the twelve years the Nazi regime lasted, Hitler had several reasons to draw on popular support. [...]

[...] Robert Hezstein wrote that greatest success of the Goebbels propaganda apparatus was reflected in the continuation of the struggle by the German people until 1945”. But what can be highlighted is that the Nazis and Hitler drew on popular support only when they had to. The restrictions of individual liberties had already ensured the power for a long period. It really was a way relationship” as the Germans never questioned Hitler's dictatorship but never got anything in return. Hitler just wanted to achieve a personal ambition without taking into account the Germans' wishes. [...]