Customer Reviews

The Third Reich: Politics and Propaganda

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The author analyzes Third Reich public opinion, politics, and propaganda to challenge some widely-held beliefs about the role and effectiveness of propaganda in reinforcing consensus the among the German people.
Viewing propaganda in the light of the total takeover of the media, the omnipresent atmosphere of terror, and the progressive madness of Nazi ideology, Welch inter alia finds that the support of the Nazis and the war was more apparent than real, and that Goebbels' campaigns became less effective as the war wore on.
Very readable; essential for students of the Third Reich, and the role of propaganda in the totalitarian state.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

Welch, in a work that has been revised several times, has produced one of the best works on Nazi propaganda, its effectiveness, and how it was utilized. I felt the best aspect of the book was at the beginning as Welch described how propaganda was utilized by Joseph Goebbels and the Nazis in the late 1920s and early 1930s as they sought to gain power. Once they did gain control of the government, Welch has some really interesting chapters on Nazi propaganda in art, literature, and especially newspapers and the movies. I found these chapters to be fascinating and very well written. Welch also does a really good job of explaining how other historians have explained Nazi propaganda and its effectiveness and how his findings contrast. The only negative about the book is I felt it lost steam a bit when describing the war years, with the possible exception of Welch's discussion of Goebbels' attempts at mobilizing the German citizenry behind a "total war." All in all, I think this is probably one of the best works on Nazi propaganda and is required reading for anyone interested in Nazi Germany. I should note that the book is very well written and is quite readable.