Sportpalast speech

Sportpalast speech
Nazi rally on 18 February 1943 at the Berlin Sportpalast. The sign says "Totaler Krieg – Kürzester Krieg" (Total War – Shortest War).

The Sportpalast or total war speech (German: Sportpalastrede, Sports-Palace speech) was a speech delivered by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels at the Berlin Sportpalast to a large but carefully selected audience on 18 February 1943 calling for a total war, as the tide of World War II had turned against Nazi Germany and its Axis allies.

It is considered the most famous of Joseph Goebbels' speeches.[1] The speech was an early admission by the Nazi leadership that Germany faced serious dangers. Goebbels exhorted the German people to continue the war even though it would be long and difficult because he asserted Germany's survival and the survival of Western Civilization was at stake.

Contents

Background

Compared to the previous year, 1943 started with Germany suffering major military problems on all fronts. On 2 February the Battle of Stalingrad ended with the surrender of Field Marshal Paulus and the German 6th Army to the Soviets. At the Casablanca Conference, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill demanded Germany's unconditional surrender, and the Soviets, spurred by their victory, were beginning to retake territory, including Kursk (8 February), Rostov (14 February), and Kharkiv (16 February). In North Africa, the Afrika Korps under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was beginning to face setbacks, when German supply ships sailing to Tripoli were sunk by the Allies on 19 January. The Western Desert Campaign had ended with British victory and the Axis were in Tunisia between two Allied forces—one advancing from Algeria and one from Libya. The fortunes of Germany's Axis allies were turning as well. Italy's military collapse had made the war in Africa a largely German operation, and in the Pacific, the Americans had just completed their months-long reconquest of Guadalcanal after the victories at Midway and the Coral Sea.

Adolf Hitler responded with the first measures that would lead to the all-out mobilization of Germany. On 2 February, 100,000 restaurants and clubs were closed throughout the country so that the civilian population could contribute more to the war. Millions of Germans listened to Goebbels on the radio as he delivered this speech about the "misfortune of the past weeks" and an "unvarnished picture of the situation." The audience reacted fanatically, causing an even bigger impact; they were selected by Goebbels to perform appropriately, showing one of his many skills as propaganda minister.[1] Goebbels also wanted, by amassing such popular enthusiasm, to convince Hitler to give him greater powers in running the war economy.[1]

Details

Goebbels cited three theses in the speech:[2]

  1. If the Wehrmacht was not in a position to break the danger from the Eastern front, then the German Reich would fall to Bolshevism, and all of Europe shortly afterwards;[2]
  2. The Wehrmacht, the German people, and the Axis Powers alone had the strength to save Europe from this threat;[2]
  3. Danger was at hand. Germany had to act quickly and decisively, or it would be too late.[2]

Goebbels concluded that "Two thousand years of Western history are in danger," and blamed Germany's failures on the Jews. While Goebbels referred to Soviet mobilization nationwide as "devilish," he explained that "We cannot overcome the Bolshevist danger unless we use equivalent, though not identical, methods [in a] total war." He then justified the austerity measures enacted, explaining them as temporary measures.

Historically, the speech is important in that it marks the first admission by the Party leadership that they were facing problems, and launched the mobilization campaign that, arguably, prolonged the war, under the slogan: "And storm, break loose!" (Und Sturm, brich los!). Goebbels claimed that no German was thinking of any compromise and instead that "the entire nation is only thinking about a hard war".

Goebbels attempted to counter reports in the Allied press that German civilians had lost faith in victory by asking the audience a number of questions at the end, such as:

Do you believe with the Führer and us in the final total victory of the German people? Are you and the German people willing to work, if the Führer orders, 10, 12 and if necessary 14 hours a day and to give everything for victory? Do you want total war? If necessary, do you want a war more total and radical than anything that we can even imagine today? [1]

Setting and audience

The setting of the speech in the Sportpalast placed the audience behind and under a big banner with the all-capitals German words "TOTALER KRIEG — KÜRZESTER KRIEG" (total war — briefest war) along with Nazi banners and Nazi swastikas.

Although Goebbels claimed that the audience included people from "all classes and occupations" (including "soldiers, doctors, scientists, artists, engineers and architects, teachers, white collars") it was evident to outsiders that the propagandist had carefully selected his listeners. [1] After the speech, Goebbels said to Albert Speer that it was the best-trained audience one could find in Germany. [1]

Quotes

Original German English Translation
Ich frage euch: Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg? Wollt ihr ihn, wenn nötig, totaler und radikaler, als wir ihn uns heute überhaupt erst vorstellen können? "I ask you: Do you want total war? If necessary, do you want a war more total and radical than anything that we can even yet imagine?"
[…] […]
Nun, Volk, steh auf und Sturm brich los! "Now, folk, rise up, and storm break loose!"

The last line originated in the poem Männer und Buben (Men and Boys) by Carl Theodor Körner during the Napoleonic Wars. Körner's words had been quoted by Adolf Hitler in his 1920 speech "What We Want" delivered at Munich's Hofbräuhaus, but also by Goebbels himself in older speeches, including his 6 July 1932 campaign speech before the Nazis took power in Germany.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g calvin.edu German propaganda archive
  2. ^ a b c d Michael Balfour, Propaganda in War 1939-1945: Organisation, Policies and Publics in Britain and Germany, p322 ISBN 0-7100-0193-2

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Berlin Sportpalast — The Berliner Sportpalast (built 1910, demolished 1973) was a multi purpose winter sport venue and meeting hall in the Schöneberg section of Berlin. Depending on the type of event and seating configuration, the Sportpalast could hold up to 14,000… …   Wikipedia

  • Battle of Stalingrad — Coordinates: 48°42′N 44°31′E / 48.7°N 44.517°E / 48.7; 44.517 …   Wikipedia

  • Total war — For other uses, see Total war (disambiguation). Warfare Military history Eras Prehistoric Ancient …   Wikipedia

  • Confessing Church — For the unrelated movement amongst North American evangelicals with a similar name, see Confessing Movement. The Confessing Church (also translated Confessional Church) (German: Bekennende Kirche) was a Protestant schismatic church in Nazi… …   Wikipedia

  • Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda — The Propaganda Ministry building (1936) The Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (German: Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda or Propagandaministerium) was Nazi Germany s ministry that enforced …   Wikipedia

  • Eastern Front (World War II) — Great Patriotic War redirects here. For a discussion of the term itself, see Great Patriotic War (term). Not to be confused with Patriotic War of 1812. Eastern Front Part of World War II …   Wikipedia

  • Germanic Neopaganism — Ásatrú redirects here. For other uses, see Ásatrú (disambiguation). A Heathen altar for household worship in Gothenburg, Sweden. The painted tablet on the back depicts Sunna, the two larger wooden idols Odin (left) and Frey (right), in front of… …   Wikipedia

  • February 18 — Events*3102 BC Epoch (origin) of the Kali Yuga. *1229 The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor signs a ten year truce with al Kamil, regaining Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem with neither military engagements nor support from the… …   Wikipedia

  • White Rose — This article is about the German resistance movement. For other uses, see White Rose (disambiguation). Also see Weiße Rose (opera) and Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage Monument to the Weiße Rose in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University of… …   Wikipedia

  • List of World War II topics (S) — # S 1 Uranium Committee # S 50 # S mine # S Phone # S. A. Ayer # S. J. Warmington # S.L.A. Marshall # S.S. Doomtrooper # S.S. Pink Star # S?awomir Maciej Bittner # S?kichi Takagi # S?saku Suzuki # Søren Kam # Søren Petersen # S1 Scout Car # SA… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”