Radio was one of the great forces behind social and political mobilization in the twentieth century. Joseph Goebbels, one of Adolf Hitler's earliest and most enthusiastic supporters, understood the potential power of this media. When Hitler rose to power in 1933, he appointed Goebbels as his minister of propaganda; in this role, the latter displayed his talents, particularly where radio broadcasts were concerned. Under Goebbels's leadership the Nazis subsidized the production and distribution of millions of cheap radios in order to strengthen their grip on the population. Goebbels's first radios were deliberately designed with a limited range so that they would not pick up foreign transmissions. At the beginning of World War II over 70 percent of all German households owned a radio, the highest percentage in the world.

The extent to which Nazi radio broadcasts played a clear role in preparing and then swaying German public opinion...