Adolf Hitler used propaganda to gain political power. Hitler believed the Germans were treated harshly by the terms of the Versailles Treaty. He told the German people that they shouldn’t accept such mistreatment. He believed there should be revenge for this mistreatment. Hitler also blamed the terms of the Versailles Treaty for the economic problems Germany faced.

Conditions were very desperate in Germany so the German people were willing to listen to his ideas. When he promised the German people that they would get jobs if he became the leader, they were more than willing to listen because of how poorly the economy was doing and how desperate their situation was. He also was able to play to German nationalism by claiming how badly the Allies mistreated the German people after World War I. He also was able to falsely blame the Jewish people for many of Germany’s problems. Hitler knew a desperate people would listen to any ideas that would improve their condition, even if those ideas were not true. Hitler was able to use the media to spread his message to the German people.

Hitler’s use of propaganda helped him gain political power.

Propaganda is a form of communication that seeks to shape the message being delivered to the public to suit the communicator’s interests. The message is normally prejudiced, made up of half truths or psychologically and emotionally loaded to provoke the masses to action.

Hitler employed propaganda to indoctrinate the masses through a variety of media. He used his book, Mein Kampf, to communicate his ideas about socialism, racism and antisemitism. After seizing power in 1933, Hitler further launched the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, an institution whose sole objective was to shape and manage the messages of the Nazi party. The institution used different art forms including music, theater and films among others to communicate the Nazi agenda. The idea to be communicated was that the Nazi government was only out to reinstate order by fighting the enemies of Germany. His ideas resonated well with the masses who were at the time suffering from poverty and ripple effects of the first World War. The people were suspicions of the Jews and other groups and their perceived role in the problems Germany was facing. Thus Hitler was viewed as a savior who was out to reclaim the country and its people.

Hitler's propaganda helped him to gain power by convincing people that he had good ideas about what was wrong with Germany and about how to correct those problems.  

Propaganda's main function is to convince people.  This is what Hitler's propaganda did.  It convinced enough Germans that Jews and communists and other such groups had caused Germany's problems.  It convinced enough of them that Hitler and the Nazis would be able to solve those problems.  Because Hitler and the Nazis had so much support, Hitler was appointed Chancellor (head of the German government) by President Hindenburg in 1933.