Domestic Policies of Hitler: Economy, Education, Arts, Media, and Propaganda

1. Domestic Policies of Hitler: Economy, Education, Arts, Media, and Propaganda

2. Hitler and the Economy – Dealing With Unemployment • Hitler knew if he could do the following, he would secure more support: • Get the unemployed back to work • Get small businesses to become sufficiently profitable again • Provide security and promotion opportunities for civil servants • Improve benefits: pension, sickness leave, workman’s comp, insurance and vacation days • From Hitler’s appointment until Nov. 1938, unemployment fell (6 mil 1933 - 2.5 mil 1936)

3. Hitler and the Economy - Economic Policies of Hjalmar Schacht • Stabilized the German currency after the inflation of 1923 • Persuaded major industrial companies to support the Nazis in elections and urged Hindenburg to appoint Hitler chancellor • His reward was appointment as the President of the Reichsbank in 1933 and Economic Minister in 1934 • Successfully promoted trade • Introduced the “New Plan” – public works • Created the National Labor Service – men aged 18-25 were required to join and learn basic skills for the most needed work • Clashed with Hitler’s plan to rebuild the military; Schacht felt it would drain money from where it was really needed

4. Hitler and the Economy – Four-Year Plan • Four-Year Plan (1936) – Hermann Goring shifted the economy to wartime production • It created huge public works projects and armament expenditure was rapidly increased, while taxes were lowered • It was based on deficit spending

5. Hitler and the Economy – Economic Help • Farmers – With guaranteed prices for their produce, farmers recovered during the first three years of the regime • Small businesses – Were helped with state spending and loans • Industry – Grants and loans were made to install machinery • Unemployed – Work was created in slum clearance, housing, road repairs, hospitals, schools, and Autobahn construction

6. Hitler and the Economy – Various Important Policies • In Apr. 1933, Jewish businesses were boycotted • In Jun. 1933, loans were provided on condition that female spouses leave their jobs (and make babies) • In 1935, conscription was reintroduced, drawing working-age men from the labor • By 1938, 75-80% of all business that had been Jewish as of 1933 had been Aryanized - Aryanization is the process of taking over Jewish-owned firms through discrimination, pressure, force, or shady legal means • Kristallnacht – Night of the Broken Glass (Nov. 1938) – Thousands of Jewish businesses were destroyed

7. Hitler and the Economy – Wartime Economy 1939-1942 • Hitler didn’t envision war in 1939 because he believed that it would take Germany another four years to be ready • The wartime gains between 1939-42 didn’t bring about the gains that might have been suspected because: • A full-scale domestic war effort wasn’t achieved until the later years of the war • There was no body with overall responsibility for organizing the war effort

8. Hitler and the Economy – Albert Speer • In 1942, Speer was appointed head Minister of Armaments and War Production • Streamlined industry • Communicated better with managers • Freight movement was streamlined • Industrial plants were more flexible in what they could produce • Doubled German armament production • 1942 – 4,500 tanks; 1944 – 17,300 tanks

9. Hitler’s Germany - Education • German Teacher’s League - Teachers had to belong to this league. Those who didn’t were dismissed • Children were encouraged to inform authorities if teachers don’t teach Nazi values

10. Hitler’s Germany - Education • Textbooks were rewritten to emphasize: • The German army had been “stabbed in the back” • Economically drained by the Jews • How to recognize a Jew • The superiority of the Aryans

11. Hitler’s Germany - Education • History – blamed Jews • Biology – Social Darwinism • Geography – Lebensraum • Science – war slant • Math – war slant • PE – very important to instill war values. Sports with a potential military application were emphasized

12. Hitler’s Germany - Education • Hitler’s Youth – a group to train boys 14-18 to have Nazi virtues • German Young Folk – younger 10-14 year old version of Hitler’s Youth • Both became compulsory in 1939 • Boys would even dress in uniforms and do regular military drills

13. Hitler’s Germany - Education • League of German Maidens – Female counterpart of Hitler’s Youth • Young Girls League – Female counterpart of German Young Folk • Both became compulsory in 1939 • Girls were taught to be dutiful wives and mothers

14. Hitler’s Germany – The Arts • All culture had to be German or Nazi • Controls were placed on: • Music • Theater • Literature • Radio • Press • Visual arts • Film

15. Hitler’s Germany – Arts • Outdoor theater emphasized the theme of “Blood and soil” and reinforced the kinship between modern Germans and ancient Greeks • All actors had to be members of the Nazi party and only books by approved authors could be read • Student groups conducted book burnings to demonstrate their disdain toward intellectualism

16. Hitler’s Germany – The Arts • In 1933 in Berlin, a book burning of over 20,000 books took place • Texts included: • Jewish authors – Einstein & Freud • Hemingway • Keller

17. Hitler’s Germany – Media and Propaganda • The goals of propaganda were to: • Promote the German nation as supreme • To rid the nation of all Jewish influences • To develop the Fuhrer as a faultless leader to whom all Germans owed obedience • To encourage pride in the Aryan race as the highest form of human development

18. Hitler’s Germany – Media and Propaganda • Newsreels, movies and books were impossible to publish without prior approval and censorship by Goebbels' ministry • He made sure that it presented Germany's domestic and foreign policy aims in terms of Nazi ideology

19. Hitler’s Germany – Media and Propaganda • Hitler emphasized the importance of propaganda in Mein Kampf: • The masses find it difficult to understand politics, their intelligence is small. All effective propaganda must be limited to a very few points • The function of propaganda is, for example, not to weigh and ponder the rights of different people, but exclusively to emphasize the one right which is has set out to argue for. Its task is not to make an objective study of the truth… • Only after the simplest ideas are repeated thousands of times will the masses finally remember them

20. Hitler’s Germany – Media and Propaganda • Goebbels also pioneered the use of broadcasting in mass propaganda, promoting the distribution of inexpensive single frequency radio receivers (the so-called Volksempfänger (People's radio)) to the German public • This ensured that millions of people heard the output of the Reich's propaganda ministry while being unable to receive news and other broadcasts from outside Germany

21. Hitler’s Germany – Media and Propaganda • He played probably the most important role in creating an atmosphere in Germany that made it possible for the Nazis to "clean" the Reich of Jews, homosexuals and other minorities

22. Hitler’s Germany – Media and Propaganda Rallies were held in Nuremberg each year from 1923-1938 400,000 attended these rallies Hitler gave a speech 150 search lights lit up the sky Bombers flying in the shape of a swastika

23. Spotlights at a Nuremburg Rally

26. 1936 Nuremburg Rally

27. Nuremburg Rally, 1938