The same principle was followed by Germany in weakening and undermining the governments of countries which it had chosen for its victims. While it was Hitler's policy to concentrate on only one objective at a time, German agents were busy throughout the world in ferreting out the natural political, social, and economic cleavages in various countries and in broadening them in order to create internal confusion and uncertainty. Foreign political leaders of Fascist or authoritarian persuasion were encouraged and often liberally subsidized from Nazi funds. Control was covertly obtained over influential newspapers and periodicals and their editorial policies shaped in such a way as to further Nazi ends. In the countries Germany sought to overpower, all the highly developed organs of Nazi propaganda were utilized to confuse and divide public opinion, to discredit national leaders and institutions, and to induce an unjustified feeling of confidence in the false assertions of Nazi leaders disclaiming any aggressive intentions. One of the most important features introduced by the Nazis into German foreign policy was the appreciation of the value of Germans living abroad and their organization as implements of the Reich for the attainment of objectives in the field of foreign policy. This idea was applied by the Nazis to all the large colonies of Germans which are scattered throughout the world. The potential usefulness of these colonies was early recognized by the men in Hitler's immediate entourage, several of whom were so-called _Auslandsdeutsche_ who had spent many years of their life abroad and were familiar with foreign conditions and with the position and influence of German groups in foreign countries. Of particular importance in this group were Rudolf Hess, the Führer's Deputy, who was primarily responsible for elaborating the policy which utilized the services of Germans abroad, and Ernst Wilhelm Bohle, the leader of the Foreign Organization, who was responsible for winning over these Germans to Naziism and for their organization in groups which would serve the purposes of the Third Reich. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 94: Feder, _op. cit._, p. 18.] [Footnote 95: Gauweiler, _op. cit._, pp. 149-151.] [Footnote 96: _Mein Kampf_, pp. 727-728.] [Footnote 97: _Ibid._, pp. 735-736.] [Footnote 98: Scurla, _op. cit._, p. 21.] [Footnote 99: _Ibid._, pp. 21-22.] [Footnote 100: _Ibid._, p. 23.] [Footnote 101: _Der Parteitag der Freiheit_ (official record of the 1935 party congress at Nuremberg: Munich, 1935), p. 27.] [Footnote 102: _Mein Kampf_, p. 743.] [Footnote 103: _Ibid._, pp. 754-755.] [Footnote 104: _Ibid._, pp. 437-438.] [Footnote 105: Rosenberg, _Wesen, Grundsätze und Ziele der NSDAP_, p. 48.] [Footnote 106: _London Times_, Sept. 26, 1939, p. 9.] [Footnote 107: _Ibid._] [Footnote 108: _Ibid._] [Footnote 109: _My New Order_, p. 592.] [Footnote 110: _Ibid._, pp. 669-671.] [Footnote 111: _Ibid._, p. 687.]