The appeal of the Nazis

In the 1920s, the Nazis tried to be all things to all people. The 25-Point Programme had policies that were:

• Socialist - eg farmers should be given their land; pensions should improve; and public industries such as electricity and water should be owned by the state.
• Nationalist - all German-speaking people should be united in one country; the Treaty of Versailles should be abolished; and there should be special laws for foreigners.
• Racist - Jews should not be German citizens and immigration should be stopped.
• Fascist - a strong central government and control of the newspapers.

The Nazis did not appeal to:

• working men who voted Communist
• intellectuals such as students and university professors

They were popular with:

• nationalists and racists
• farmers
• lower middle-class people such as plumbers and shopkeepers who were worried about the chaos Germany was in
• rich people worried by the threat from Communism

Nazi Propaganda

Hitler put Josef Goebbels in charge of Nazi propaganda. Methods of campaigning that the Nazis used in the 1920s included radio, mass rallies, newspapers (eg 'Der Sturmer'), Hitler's speeches, and posters.

The Nazis used crude slogans to introduce these ideas and to make them appeal to the ordinary people of Germany.