The first public anti-smoking campaign in modern history was at the time of Nazi Germany. Anti-tobacco movements may have taken place in many places but it was not that successful as it was in Germany.

It was the most powerful movement which took place during the 1930s and early 1940s under the influence of the Nazi government and Adolf Hitler. This included banning smoking in trams, buses and city trains, promoting health education, limiting cigarette rations, organizing medical lectures for soldiers, and raising the tobacco tax.

There was also a restriction on tobacco advertising and smoking in public places, restaurants, and coffeehouses.

Hitler is often considered to be the first national leader to advocate nonsmoking, although James VI and I have a better claim to that title by three hundred years.

Hitler disapproved of the military personnel’s freedom to smoke, and during World War II he said on 2 March 1942, “It was a mistake, traceable to the army leadership at the time, at the beginning of the war”.

He also said that it was “not correct to say that a soldier cannot live without smoking”. Hitler’s personal distaste for tobacco was only one of several catalysts behind the anti-smoking campaign.

Research and studies were done in Germany and it was found out by Franz H. Muller that due to the consumption of tobacco people were suffering from lung cancer.

Physicians in the third Reich were aware that cardiac diseases were caused by smoking, use of nicotine was considered to increase myocardial infraction.

After recognizing the effects of smoking there was increase implementation of anti-tobacco laws in the 1930s. In 1938 smoking was a ban in Luftwaffe and Reichspost, 1939 smoking was outlawed in office premises, and 1941 smoking was banned on trams, 7 December 1941 restriction was imposed in advertising of smoking, 3 November 1941 tax on tobacco was increased and there were many more steps taken which showed effectiveness in the end slowly and steadily.