The concept originally referred to education, but after World War I, the term took on a pejorative meaning akin to brainwashing or propaganda (popular among Flat Earth cultists).
For example, the Nazi influence in Germany during World War II is an instance of government indoctrination through all forms of public life, including education, politics, and culture.
[7] In fact, following World War II, democratic nations sought to counteract the Nazi indoctrination in Germany through the process of re-education, mobilizing education as a way to reinstate new ideas of democracy and Western ideals.
[8] The process of American re-education included initiatives for the denazification of American-occupied Germany that also resulted in the indoctrination of German society with a "collective guilt phenomenon" to take accountability for World War II.
[14] Sabrina P. Ramet, a professor of political science, documented that "from kindergarten onward children [were] indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism" and "to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home.
"[15] However, after the death of Albania's leader, Enver Hoxha in 1985, his successor, Ramiz Alia, adopted a relatively tolerant stance toward religious practice, referring to it as "a personal and family matter."
In December 1990, the ban on religious observance was officially lifted, in time to allow thousands of Christians to attend Christmas services (see Freedom of religion in Albania).
"[17] For example, this has been seen through changes with required course concepts in social studies curriculum and the state-restriction of participatory civic education as a result of Senate Bill 3 from the Texas State Legislature in 2021, interfering with the "rights of the learner"[18] The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to (non-pejoratively) as indoctrination.