The Nazi state sought to establish total control over its people through a comprehensive and ruthless approach involving the following key methods:

1. Totalitarian Control and Propaganda: The Nazis used propaganda extensively, controlling all cultural and informational media. They disseminated constant propaganda through rallies, films, newspapers, radio, and symbols to glorify their regime and create an aura of omnipotence. The propaganda machine was used to manipulate public opinion, glorify Nazi ideals, and portray certain groups like Jews as enemies of society.
2. Suppression of Opposition: All other political parties were banned, and the Nazi Party was the sole legal party. Opposition was destroyed either through outright terror or intense fear of repression. The regime branded opponents as enemies of the state or people, silencing dissent through intimidation, imprisonment, and elimination.
3. Police State and Terror Apparatus: The Nazis established a powerful security structure under Heinrich Himmler, including the SS (Schutzstaffel), the Gestapo (secret police), and other security forces that had almost unlimited powers to spy on, arrest, torture, and execute those considered threats. Concentration camps were used for political enemies and later for groups considered "undesirable."
4. Legal Control and Repression: The judicial system was subordinated to Nazi control, with laws passed that allowed the regime to govern without opposition. Courts, including the "People’s Court," used Nazi judges who ensured harsh punishments, including the death penalty, for a wide range of offenses against the regime's ideology.
5. Control of Society and Culture: The Nazis sought to align all aspects of society with Nazi ideology in a process called Gleichschaltung, which included censorship, banning books, controlling education to focus on racial biology and loyalty to the regime, and suppressing non-Nazi cultural and social activities. Women and minorities faced restrictions on their roles and rights.
6. Surveillance and Informers: The Nazis employed a network of informers and block wardens to monitor the population closely. People were encouraged to report anti-Nazi behavior, even within families or among friends, fostering an atmosphere of mistrust and fear.
7. Economic and Military Control: The state gained absolute authority over the economy, military, and key institutions, steering everything toward militarization and war preparation as a means of restoring Germany's power and honor.
8. Cult of Personality: A pervasive cult of personality surrounded Adolf Hitler, promoted by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry to inspire loyalty and devotion to the Führer as the savior of Germany.

These combined methods created a regime capable of total control over every aspect of life in Nazi Germany, using fear, indoctrination, and the machinery of the state to suppress opposition and manipulate the populace.