NAZI Government Ministries: Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda


Figure 1.-

One of the major changes in the goverment structure as the creation of a new Ministry of Propaganda. Hitler months before seizing power informed Joseph Goebbels that he had decided to make Goebbels director of a new propaganda ministry when the NAZIs seized power. Goebbels at the time was disappointed, hoping for a more powerul position. Goebbels was only 35 years old. He would be the youngest minister in the Hitler's cabinet. It was one of his most successful intuitive appointments. Goebbels would become indispensable to the to Adolf Hitler and his NAZI regime. Soon he began planning an empire that would control schools, universities, film, radio, and propaganda. He would later write, "The national education of the German people will be placed in my hands.” Goebbels initially objected to the term propaganda, understanding that the term had the connotation of dishonesty. Creating a Propaganda Ministry was a fairly new idea for a country at peace. There had been propaganda agencies set up by the beligerant coyntries during World War I. The first peace time propaganda agency was the Soviet censorship agency, Glavlit. Their task was to eliminate undesirable printed materials and make sure the correct Marxist iideological view appeared in published material. Goebbels had a more sophisticated media industry to work with. It rivaled Hollywood in Europe. Hitler did not allow Goebbels to totally control propaganda. This was just one small aspect of his overall appraoch to governing. He believed in ministries with overlapping responsibilities, forcing his senior leaders to come to him to settle inter-jurisdictional disputes, keeping him at the center of affairs. In this case, several ministries had important propaganda ministries outside of Goebbel's control. Important NAZI leaders like Reich Marshal Hermann Göring and ideologue Alfred Rosenberg created their own propaganda offices. Goebbels wielded enormous influence. Film, radio, theater, and the press largely fell under Goebbels’s jurisdiction (though he shared power over the press with the head of the Reich Press Chamber, Max Amann, the NAZI newspaper magnate, and after 1937 with Otto Dietrich, head of the Reich Press Office). Even so, Goebbels came to wield enormous influence within the Reich. While there were other prpaganda ofices, it was Goebbels who controlled movies, radio, and theater. Only with the press did he share power with the head of the Reich Press Chamber in the Chancellry--Max Amann. Later Otto Dietrich, head of the Reich Press Office (1937). Goebbels also controlled the Party’s propaganda apparatus which reached throughout the Reich down to the local NAZI organizations.

Josef Goebbels

One of the major changes in the goverment structure as the creation of a new Ministry of Propaganda. Hitler months before seizing power informed Joseph Goebbels that he had decided to make Goebbels director of a new propaganda ministry when the NAZIs seized power. Goebbels at the time was disappointed, hoping for a more powerul position. Goebbels was only 35 years old. He would be the youngest minister in the Hitler's cabinet. It was one of his most successful intuitive appointments. Goebbels would become indispensable to the to Adolf Hitler and his NAZI regime.

Proppaganda

Soon he began planning an empire that would control schools, universities, film, radio, and propaganda. He would later write, "The national education of the German people will be placed in my hands.” Goebbels initially objected to the term propaganda, understanding that the term had the connotation of dishonesty. Creating a Propaganda Ministry was a fairly new idea for a country at peace. There had been propaganda agencies set up by the beligerant coyntries during World War I. The first peace time propaganda agency was the Soviet censorship agency, Glavlit. Their task was to eliminate undesirable printed materials and make sure the correct Marxist iideological view appeared in published material.

German Media

Goebbels had a very sophisticated media industry to work with. It rivaled Hollywood in Europe.

Over-lapping Respnsibilities

Hitler did not allow Goebbels to totally control propaganda. This was just one small aspect of his overall approach to governing. He believed in ministries with overlapping responsibilities, forcing his senior leaders to come to him to settle inter-jurisdictional disputes, keeping him at the center of affairs. In this case, several ministries had important propaganda ministries outside of Goebbel's control. Important NAZI leaders like Reich Marshal Hermann Göring and ideologue Alfred Rosenberg created their own propaganda offices. Goebbels wielded enormous influence. Film, radio, theater, and the press largely fell under Goebbels’s jurisdiction (though he shared power over the press with the head of the Reich Press Chamber, Max Amann, the NAZI newspaper magnate, and after 1937 with Otto Dietrich, head of the Reich Press Office).

Perview

Goebbels came to wield enormous influence within the Reich even with his lack of complete control. While there were other prpaganda ofices, it was Goebbels who controlled movies, radio, and theater. Only with the press did he share power with the head of the Reich Press Chamber in the Chancellry--Max Amann. Later Otto Dietrich, head of the Reich Press Office (1937). Goebbels also controlled the Party’s propaganda apparatus which reached throughout the Reich down to the local NAZI organizations.

Organization

Goebbels organized his ministry into seven departments. Division I: Administration and legal Division II: Mass rallies; public health; youth; race Division III: Broadcasting Division IV: National and foreign press Division V: Films and film censorship Division VI: Art, music, and theatre Division VII: Protection against counter-propaganda, both foreign and domestic

Foreign Images

We see the Prpaganda Ministry working with foreign images. Some were selected to conform with NAZI ideology. Others seem to have had no ideological content. We have found some images with captions. We think this represents images that were actually used, but we do not know in what publications. We suspect that the images were made available and it was up to the editors of the various publications to select what was to be used. But here we do not have details. -Others were selected for public interest or entertainment just as was the case in most other countries. There seem to have been contractual relations with other magazines to use there material. We do not have much information on this. Atlantic magaine seems to have been involved. I am not sure if there were exchanges agreements. Some of the most NAZI images appearing in the American publications came from American photograohers in publications likr Life.

Sources








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Created: 3:09 AM 3/30/2019
Last updated: 3:10 AM 3/30/2019