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GCSE · EDEXCEL

EDX.WN4 Nazi Germany, 1933-1939: Propaganda, Censorship and the Churches

EDEXCEL 1HI0 · Calculators not allowed · about 75 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Question 15 refers to Source A. Questions 17, 18 and 19 refer to Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2. Write in full sentences for Questions 16, 17, 18 and 19. You are advised to spend about 75 minutes on this pack.

Source A, and Interpretations 1 and 2

Source A was written for Revision Library. It is an original text representative of a radio announcement of the kind broadcast to promote the cheap 'People's Receiver' radio set in the 1930s. It is not a reproduction, translation or paraphrase of any surviving broadcast script, and no genuine programme or named announcer is reproduced. Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2 were also written for Revision Library, in the style of history textbook extracts discussing how effective Nazi propaganda and censorship were in winning genuine support for the regime; they are not the work of any real, named historian.

SOURCE A: a radio announcement written for Revision Library, representative of broadcasts encouraging German households to buy the low-cost 'People's Receiver' radio set during the 1930s.

Every German home deserves a place by the wireless. The People's Receiver brings you the Fuhrer's speeches, stirring music and the news of Germany's achievements, all at a price every family can afford. Gather your household each evening to listen together. Community listening points are also open in every town square and factory canteen, so that no citizen need miss an important broadcast. A nation united in listening is a nation united in spirit. Ask your local dealer about easy weekly payments today.

INTERPRETATION 1: from a history textbook written for Revision Library, discussing how effective Nazi propaganda and censorship were in winning genuine support for the regime.

Nazi propaganda was highly effective at building genuine enthusiasm for the regime, particularly in its early years. The cheap 'People's Receiver' radio put Goebbels' broadcasts within reach of almost every household, mass rallies at Nuremberg created a powerful sense of shared national purpose, and events such as the 1936 Berlin Olympics presented an image of a confident, successful Germany to millions of Germans and to the wider world. By constantly linking everyday improvements, jobs, order, national pride, to Hitler personally, propaganda succeeded in making many ordinary Germans genuinely grateful to the regime, not merely obedient to it.

INTERPRETATION 2: from a history textbook written for Revision Library, discussing how effective Nazi propaganda and censorship were in winning genuine support for the regime.

Propaganda's main achievement was enforcing conformity rather than winning hearts and minds. Because censorship, the Reich Chamber of Culture and the book burnings of May 1933 removed almost all alternative sources of information and opinion, ordinary Germans had little way of testing Nazi claims against any other version of events. What looked like enthusiasm was often simply the absence of any visible alternative: attending a rally or displaying loyalty in public was, for many, a matter of prudence in a society where dissent was dangerous, rather than clear evidence of genuine, freely chosen belief.

Name the Nazi Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, appointed in March 1933.

(Total for Question 1 is 1 mark)

Give the date, in May 1933, on which Nazi-organised book burnings took place across Germany.

(Total for Question 2 is 2 marks)

State two types of book targeted by the Nazi book burnings of 1933.

(Total for Question 3 is 2 marks)

Name the organisation, established in September 1933, that controlled who could work in culture, the arts and the media in Nazi Germany.

(Total for Question 4 is 1 mark)

Give the cheap radio set, subsidised by the Nazi government, that brought propaganda broadcasts into ordinary German homes.

(Total for Question 5 is 1 mark)

Name the city in which the Nazi Party held its large annual propaganda rallies from 1933.

(Total for Question 6 is 1 mark)

Give the year in which Germany hosted the Berlin Olympic Games, used by the Nazi regime for propaganda purposes.

(Total for Question 7 is 1 mark)

State two methods, other than radio and rallies, that the Nazi regime used to spread propaganda.

(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)

Give the July 1933 agreement between the Nazi government and the Vatican, in which the Nazis promised not to interfere in Catholic Church affairs.

(Total for Question 9 is 2 marks)

Name the movement, founded in 1934, of Protestant pastors who opposed Nazi interference in the Church.

(Total for Question 10 is 1 mark)

Name one Protestant pastor who helped found the Confessing Church, and give the year in which he was arrested for opposing the Nazi regime.

(Total for Question 11 is 2 marks)

State what the 'German Christians' movement, led by Reich Bishop Ludwig Muller, tried to achieve within the Protestant Church.

(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)

Give two ways in which Nazi censorship restricted what ordinary Germans could read, hear or watch between 1933 and 1939.

(Total for Question 13 is 4 marks)

Give two reasons why the Nazi regime treated the Christian Churches carefully rather than attacking them directly, despite wanting to reduce their influence.

(Total for Question 14 is 4 marks)

Give two things you can infer from Source A about how the Nazi regime used radio broadcasting. Support each inference with a detail from the source.

(Total for Question 15 is 4 marks)

Explain why propaganda and censorship were important to the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1939.

(Total for Question 16 is 12 marks)

What is the main difference between Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2 about how effective Nazi propaganda and censorship were in winning genuine support for the regime? Explain your answer, using details from both interpretations.

(Total for Question 17 is 4 marks)

Suggest one reason why the authors of Interpretation 1 and Interpretation 2 might have different views about how effective Nazi propaganda and censorship were.

(Total for Question 18 is 4 marks)

Which interpretation do you find more convincing about how effective Nazi propaganda and censorship were in winning genuine support for the regime? Explain your answer, using Interpretation 1, Interpretation 2 and your own knowledge.

(Total for Question 19 is 16 marks)

Mark scheme · EDX.WN4 Nazi Germany, 1933-1939: Propaganda, Censorship and the Churches

Question 1

B1 Joseph Goebbels
Answer: Joseph Goebbels

Question 2

B1 10 May
B1 1933
Answer: 10 May 1933

Question 3

B1 books by Jewish authors
B1 books by communist or socialist authors, or works judged critical of the war or Germany (e.g. anti-war novels)
Answer: Books by Jewish authors, and books by communist/socialist authors or judged critical of Germany.

Question 4

B1 the Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer)
Answer: The Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer)

Question 5

B1 the People's Receiver (Volksempfanger)
Answer: The People's Receiver (Volksempfanger)

Question 6

B1 Nuremberg
Answer: Nuremberg

Question 7

B1 1936
Answer: 1936

Question 8

B1 film, e.g. carefully made documentaries and feature films promoting Nazi ideas and achievements
B1 newspapers and posters, tightly controlled and used to spread the party's message and, in some cases, antisemitic ideas
Answer: Film (documentaries and feature films promoting Nazi ideas) and controlled newspapers/posters.

Question 9

B1 the Concordat
B1 correctly identifies it as an agreement between the Nazi government and the Vatican (the Catholic Church)
Answer: The Concordat, an agreement between the Nazi government and the Vatican.

Question 10

B1 the Confessing Church
Answer: The Confessing Church

Question 11

B1 Martin Niemoller
B1 1937 (accept a date in the range 1937-1938)
Answer: Martin Niemoller, arrested in 1937.

Question 12

B1 it tried to unify Germany's Protestant churches into a single pro-Nazi Reich Church
B1 it aimed to bring Christian teaching into line with Nazi ideas, for example by removing Jewish influences from Christianity
Answer: It tried to unify the Protestant churches into a pro-Nazi Reich Church and align Christian teaching with Nazi ideas.

Question 13

B2 books judged 'un-German', including works by Jewish, communist and pacifist authors, were publicly burned and banned from sale from May 1933 onwards
B2 membership of the Reich Chamber of Culture, controlling who could work in the press, film, music and the arts, was compulsory from September 1933, so anyone excluded, including Jewish artists and writers, could no longer publish or perform
Answer: Book burnings and bans on 'un-German' authors from May 1933, and compulsory Reich Chamber of Culture membership from September 1933 excluding Jewish and dissenting artists.

Question 14

B2 the great majority of Germans identified as Catholic or Protestant, so openly attacking Christianity risked alienating a large part of the population the regime needed to keep on side
B2 the 1933 Concordat with the Vatican gave the regime international respectability in its early months, an advantage it did not want to lose through open conflict with the Catholic Church
Answer: Most Germans were practising Christians, so open attacks risked losing popular support, and the 1933 Concordat gave the regime valuable international respectability.

Question 15

B1 inference 1, e.g. the regime wanted radio ownership to be widespread and affordable, so as many households as possible could hear its message
B1 supporting detail for inference 1 from the source, e.g. it advertises the set as being 'at a price every family can afford' with 'easy weekly payments'
B1 inference 2, e.g. the regime wanted listening to be a shared, collective experience rather than a private one, reinforcing a sense of national unity
B1 supporting detail for inference 2 from the source, e.g. it urges people to 'gather your household each evening' and mentions 'community listening points... in every town square and factory canteen'
Answer: The regime wanted radio to be affordable and widespread; and it wanted listening to be a shared, collective experience reinforcing national unity.

Question 16

Level 1 (1-3): Identifies one or two general reasons why propaganda and censorship mattered, with little or no supporting detail or explanation.
Level 2 (4-6): Identifies and begins to explain one or two reasons, supported by some accurate detail.
Level 3 (7-9): Explains two or three reasons for their importance, each supported by accurate and relevant detail.
Level 4 (10-12): Explains three or more reasons in a well-developed, logically structured way, supported throughout by precise and accurate detail, showing how the reasons connect.
Indicative content:
- Propaganda under Goebbels, appointed Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda in March 1933, aimed to build genuine enthusiasm for Hitler and the regime, using cheap radios (the Volksempfanger), mass rallies at Nuremberg and film to spread a consistent message to millions of Germans.
- Censorship removed alternative sources of information: the May 1933 book burnings and the September 1933 Reich Chamber of Culture, which controlled who could work in the arts and media, meant most Germans had little access to any account of events that contradicted Nazi claims.
- Together, propaganda and censorship reinforced each other: it was easier for positive Nazi messages to be believed when critical or alternative viewpoints had already been silenced, so control of what was said worked alongside control of what could not be said.
- International events such as the 1936 Berlin Olympics were used to project an image of a strong, orderly, successful Germany abroad as well as at home, helping to counter foreign criticism of the regime.
- Propaganda also helped bind ordinary Germans to Hitler personally: by crediting improvements such as falling unemployment and restored national pride to Hitler's leadership, propaganda encouraged loyalty to him individually, not just to the Nazi Party or state.
- These reasons connect because a regime that had abolished rival parties and independent trade unions relied on winning at least the outward loyalty of the population by persuasion as well as by force, making propaganda and censorship essential complements to the police state.

Question 17

B2 Interpretation 1 argues propaganda was highly effective at building genuine enthusiasm, through the radio, rallies and the 1936 Olympics, making Germans grateful to Hitler personally
B2 Interpretation 2 argues propaganda mainly enforced conformity rather than genuine belief, because censorship removed alternative viewpoints, so apparent enthusiasm could reflect prudence rather than real conviction
Answer: Interpretation 1 sees propaganda as building genuine enthusiasm; Interpretation 2 sees it as mainly enforcing conformity, with apparent support often reflecting prudence rather than real belief.

Question 18

B2 the authors may focus on different kinds of evidence: Interpretation 1 emphasises visible enthusiasm, such as attendance at rallies and radio ownership, while Interpretation 2 emphasises the absence of alternative information caused by censorship
B2 the authors may hold different views about how to interpret outward displays of loyalty in a dictatorship, e.g. one taking them at face value and the other seeing them as shaped by fear of the consequences of appearing disloyal
Answer: They may focus on different evidence (visible enthusiasm vs the absence of alternative information) or interpret outward loyalty differently, taking it at face value or seeing it as shaped by fear.

Question 19

Level 1 (1-4): States a simple preference for one interpretation, with little or no supporting reasoning or own knowledge.
Level 2 (5-8): Describes the content of one or both interpretations and gives a limited reason for a preference, with some own knowledge.
Level 3 (9-12): Explains reasons for a preference between the interpretations, using relevant own knowledge to support or challenge each one.
Level 4 (13-16): Evaluates both interpretations critically, using precise own knowledge to reach a sustained and well-supported judgement about which is more convincing, or how far each is convincing.
Indicative content:
- Evidence supporting Interpretation 1: the Volksempfanger radio and community listening points brought Goebbels' broadcasts to a mass audience, and the carefully staged 1936 Berlin Olympics and Nuremberg rallies were genuinely popular spectacles that many Germans appear to have enjoyed and taken pride in.
- Evidence supporting Interpretation 2: the book burnings of May 1933 and the Reich Chamber of Culture from September 1933 removed almost all legal alternative sources of opinion, so it is difficult to know how much apparent support was genuine when disagreement could lead to arrest by the Gestapo.
- A convincing answer might note the two views can be combined: propaganda likely did build real enthusiasm among many Germans, particularly around visible achievements such as falling unemployment, while censorship simultaneously made it dangerous for anyone who was not persuaded to say so.
- Own knowledge that opposition, such as the Confessing Church founded in 1934, did exist despite propaganda and censorship could be used to argue that support, while widespread, was not universal, supporting a more balanced reading of Interpretation 2's caution about taking outward conformity at face value.
- A full answer reaches a supported judgement, weighing genuine popularity against the effects of censorship and fear to argue for one interpretation over the other, or for a combined view.

Nazi Germany, 1933-1939: Propaganda, Censorship and the Churches - Worksheets, Questions and Revision