Bruning was the complete opposite from Hiter and the Nazi’s approach at the time who were not afraid to show their strength. Hitler traveling around the country via plane on the election and engaging with people across Germany was far more modern and helped create a bond between Hitler and voters as many people felt that they could relate to him. Bruning was simple not this, and in December 1931 Labour minister Steigerwald wrote to him and said the government’s press policies had to be “fundamentally reformed to combat the demagogues such as Hitler and the communists.” – Republicans, Radicals, and the battle of images. While Hitler was the face of the Nazi...
Bruning was the complete opposite from Hiter and the Nazi’s approach at the time who were not afraid to show their strength. Hitler traveling around the country via plane on the election and engaging with people across Germany was far more modern and helped create a bond between Hitler and voters as many people felt that they could relate to him. Bruning was simple not this, and in December 1931 Labour minister Steigerwald wrote to him and said the government’s press policies had to be “fundamentally reformed to combat the demagogues such as Hitler and the communists.” – Republicans, Radicals, and the battle of images. While Hitler was the face of the Nazi party Bruning shied away from such publicity. This attitude was shown in his response to a suggestion to use free advertising space for publicizing government policies in which he said: “How can you expect me to make propaganda for myself?” This can be credited to the Nazi’s strong propaganda campaign however as Bruning rarely showed strength publicly and preferred to show it by passing laws. Hitler, however, put on large shows of strength which gained the interest of people otherwise uninterested in politics. However, there were some oppositions. Leftist parties such as Social Democrat Party had members who wished to fight against Hitler’s propaganda programme such as Marie Elizabeth Luders of the Reichstag who, in 1931, stated to her party members “Our methods of political attack are no longer appropriate. We have enough enemies, amoungst them some very clever people. We must be a match for them.” However such views often gained support at first but truly never amounted to anything as most politicians thought it below them to spend time forming a propaganda war against Hitler instead of trying to fix the depression. This would be a large mistake as their inaction and doubts against the power of Nazi propaganda would be their downfall. Communists also proved a large political threat however the Sipo, the Nazi security police, often crushed or frightened their supporters into submission.
