This was an interesting, well written article, but I have a couple of quibbles. First of all, before the Nazi takeover most professors in academe were reactionaries, as were most college students in Germany at the time. They were basically waiting for somone like Hitler. That he arrived with some grand overarching philisophical theories about the way things worked suited the academic mindset very nicely, so most scholars were quite happy when the Nazis took over the universities and instituted their own program.

Secondly, the propaganda machine only was able to kick in once the Nazis were in power and had basically taken over the entire news media and entertainment industry in Germany, and had eliminated all competition by decree. Prior to that, the NSDAP was very much a bottom up operation. Local cadres, primarily composed of embittered WW I veterans, supported the national party, not the other way around. Local NSDAP cadres charged a small fee to attend lectures with trained speakers, and these events generally included beer, food, and music to get people into them. The money these events made went to the national party along with suggestions on how to increase attendance and recruit new party members in other localities. It’s called “grass roots organizing”. Most people with money and status prior to the Nazi takeover thought Hitler was a joke. He proved them wrong.