Nazi Germany, 1933-1939: Propaganda, Censorship and the Churches
The Nazis worked hard to shape what Germans thought as well as what they did. Joseph Goebbels headed the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, set up in March 1933, which controlled newspapers, radio and film. Cheap, mass-produced radios, the Volksempfanger, brought Nazi speeches and messages into ordinary homes, and huge, carefully choreographed events such as the annual Nuremberg Rallies and the 1936 Berlin Olympics projected an image of a strong, united nation to Germans and the world. Censorship removed anything the regime judged undesirable: in May 1933, students publicly burned thousands of books by Jewish, communist and other 'un-German' authors, and the Reich Chamber of Culture controlled who could work in art, music, theatre and journalism. Relations with the churches were more complicated. The Nazis signed a Concordat with the Catholic Church in July 1933, promising not to interfere in Catholic religious practice in exchange for the Church staying out of politics, while attempting to bring the Protestant churches under Nazi influence through a new Reich Church. Some clergy resisted; Pastor Martin Niemoller helped found the Confessing Church in opposition, and clergy who spoke out against Nazi policies faced arrest.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn what Goebbels' Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda actually controlled: newspapers, radio (spread through cheap Volksempfanger radios), film, and the staging of mass rallies such as the annual Nuremberg Rallies.
- Learn one specific detail for the Berlin Olympics of 1936: the Nazis used the games to present Germany internationally as a modern, orderly, successful nation, temporarily toning down some of the regime's more openly antisemitic public displays for the benefit of foreign visitors.
- Learn the censorship side precisely: the book burnings of May 1933 targeted works by Jewish, communist and other authors the regime judged 'un-German', and the Reich Chamber of Culture controlled who was permitted to work in art, music, theatre, film and journalism.
- Learn the two, different Nazi approaches to the churches: a formal Concordat with the Catholic Church in July 1933, largely respecting Catholic religious practice, alongside a more direct attempt to control the Protestant churches through the Reich Church, which met greater resistance.
- Learn one named example of church resistance: Pastor Martin Niemoller helped found the Confessing Church in opposition to the Reich Church and Nazi interference in religion, and was later arrested.
- For a 4-mark 'give two things you can infer' question, look for what a source reveals about either the regime's propaganda methods or the limits it placed on culture and religion.
- For a 12-mark 'explain why' question, treat propaganda (building support) and censorship or church control (removing alternative viewpoints) as two separate, linked purposes, and explain how each specifically served the regime's goal of total control over what Germans believed.
Worked example
Explain why the Nazi regime placed such importance on propaganda between 1933 and 1939.
- Identify the underlying goal: the Nazis wanted not just obedience but genuine belief in Nazi ideology and loyalty to Hitler personally, which required constant, controlled messaging rather than force alone.
- Explain the institutional side with detail: Goebbels' Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, set up in March 1933, took direct control of newspapers, radio and film, ensuring a single, consistent message reached the public.
- Explain the technological side with detail: the cheap Volksempfanger radio put Nazi speeches and news directly into ordinary homes, reaching a mass audience that earlier German governments could not have influenced so directly.
- Explain the spectacle side with detail: huge, carefully staged events such as the Nuremberg Rallies used uniforms, banners and choreography to make individual Germans feel part of a powerful, unified national movement, while the 1936 Berlin Olympics projected the same image internationally.
- Conclude by linking these methods to the wider aim: propaganda was designed to make Nazi rule feel normal, popular and inevitable, reducing the regime's reliance on terror alone to secure obedience.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Who was in charge of the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, set up in March 1933?Show answer
Answer: Joseph Goebbels.
Q2What was the Volksempfanger?Show answer
Answer: A cheap, mass-produced radio set that brought Nazi speeches and propaganda directly into ordinary German homes.
Q3What happened in Germany in May 1933 involving books by Jewish, communist and other authors?Show answer
Answer: Students publicly burned thousands of such books, judged 'un-German' by the regime.
Q4What did the Reich Chamber of Culture control?Show answer
Answer: Who was permitted to work in fields such as art, music, theatre, film and journalism in Nazi Germany.
Q5What did the Nazis agree with the Catholic Church in the Concordat of July 1933?Show answer
Answer: That the regime would not interfere in Catholic religious practice, in exchange for the Church staying out of politics.
Q6Who helped found the Confessing Church in opposition to Nazi interference in Protestant religion?Show answer
Answer: Pastor Martin Niemoller.
Q7Why did the Nazis use the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a propaganda opportunity?Show answer
Answer: To present Germany internationally as a modern, orderly and successful nation, temporarily softening some of the regime's public displays of antisemitism for foreign visitors.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE History exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Study Source A. Source A: from the memoir of a schoolboy who attended the Nuremberg Rally in 1935. 'We stood for hours as columns of uniformed men marched past in perfect step, banners stretching further than I could see. When the searchlights lit the night sky in tall white columns, the whole crowd fell silent, and I remember feeling, for the first time, that I truly belonged to something enormous.' Give two things you can infer from Source A about the purpose of events like the Nuremberg Rallies. Complete the table below. Inference 1: Detail in the source that tells you this: Inference 2: Detail in the source that tells you this:
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Explain why the Nazis placed such importance on propaganda and censorship between 1933 and 1939.
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Study Sources B and C. Source B: an official description of a book burning organised by the German Student Union in Berlin, May 1933. 'Thousands of volumes by Jewish and communist writers were thrown onto the flames as students chanted slogans against un-German ideas. Officials declared that German literature was being purified for the good of the nation.' Source C: an account written after the war by a former member of the Confessing Church, describing a sermon by Pastor Martin Niemoller in the mid-1930s. 'He spoke plainly about the danger of the state controlling what we were permitted to believe, and warned the congregation that obedience to Hitler could not come before obedience to God. Several members of the congregation looked around nervously before he had even finished.' How useful are Sources B and C for an enquiry into Nazi control of German culture and religion in the years 1933 to 1939? Explain your answer using Sources B and C and your contextual knowledge.
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