The
Sportpalast or
total war speech was a speech delivered by
Propaganda MinisterThe Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was Nazi Germany's ministry that enforced Nazi Party ideology in Germany and regulated its culture and society. Founded on March 13, 1933, by Adolf Hitler's new National Socialist government, the Ministry was headed by Dr...
Joseph GoebbelsPaul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reichsminister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945...
at the
Berlin SportpalastThe Berliner Sportpalast 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 people and was for a time the biggest meeting hall in the German capital...
to a large but carefully-selected audience on 18 February 1943 calling for a
total warTotal war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity...
, as the tide of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was turning against
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
.
It is considered the most famous of Josef Goebbels' speeches. The speech was an early admission by the Nazi leadership that Germany faced serious dangers.
The
Sportpalast or
total war speech was a speech delivered by
Propaganda MinisterThe Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was Nazi Germany's ministry that enforced Nazi Party ideology in Germany and regulated its culture and society. Founded on March 13, 1933, by Adolf Hitler's new National Socialist government, the Ministry was headed by Dr...
Joseph GoebbelsPaul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reichsminister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945...
at the
Berlin SportpalastThe Berliner Sportpalast 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 people and was for a time the biggest meeting hall in the German capital...
to a large but carefully-selected audience on 18 February 1943 calling for a
total warTotal war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity...
, as the tide of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
was turning against
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany between 1933 and 1945, while it was led by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Worker's Party . The name Third Reich refers to the state as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages and the German...
.
It is considered the most famous of Josef Goebbels' speeches. 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.
Background
The Vichy French leader
François DarlanFrançois Darlan was a French naval officer. Darlan rose through the French Navy, ultimately becoming Admiral of the Fleet, and was a major figure of the Vichy France regime during World War II....
had been assassinated two months earlier, and on 2 February the
Battle of StalingradThe Battle of Stalingrad was a battle of World War II between Nazi Germany and its allies and the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 17 July 1942 and 2 February 1943....
ended with the surrender of
Field MarshalField Marshal is a military officer rank. Today, it is the highest rank in the armies in which it is used, one step above a general or colonel-general.-Usage and hierarchical position:...
PaulusFriedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1943, attaining the rank of Generalfeldmarschall during World War II. He is most known for commanding the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942...
and the
Sixth ArmyThe 6th Army was a designation for German field armies which saw action in World War I and World War II. The term "6th Army" is perhaps best known for its involvement in the Battle of Stalingrad.-World War I:...
to the Soviets. At the Casablanca Conference,
Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was a British politician known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War II. He served as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer...
demanded Germany's
unconditional surrenderUnconditional surrender is a surrender without conditions, in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party except for those provided by international law. Announcing that only unconditional surrender is acceptable puts psychological pressure on a weaker adversary...
, and the Soviets, spurred by their victory, were beginning to retake territory, including
KurskKursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. Kursk was a key turning point of the Russian-German war during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in World War II...
(8 February),
RostovRostov is one of the oldest towns in Russia and an important tourist centre of the so-called Golden Ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero in Yaroslavl Oblast, 202 km to the north east of Moscow. Population:...
(14 February), and
KharkivKharkiv , also spelled Kharkov is the second largest city in Ukraine.It was the first capital of Soviet Ukraine, now the administrative centre of the Kharkiv Oblast , as well as the administrative centre of the surrounding Kharkivskyi Raion within the oblast. The city is located in the northeast...
(16 February). In North Africa, the
Afrika KorpsThe German Afrika Korps was the German expeditionary force in Libya and Tunisia during the North African Campaign of World War II...
under Field Marshal
Erwin RommelErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , was perhaps the most famous German Field Marshal of World War II....
was beginning to face setbacks, when German supply ships sailing to
TripoliTripoli is the largest and capital city of Libya.Tripoli has a population of 1.69 million...
were sunk by the
AlliesThe Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . The involvement of the Allies in World War II was either natural and inevitable they were invaded or under the direct threat of invasion by the Axis or compelled by concerns that the Axis powers...
on 19 January. The
Western Desert CampaignThe Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War was the initial stage of the North African Campaign of The Second World War.-Background:From the start, the Western Desert Campaign was a continuous back-and-forth struggle...
had ended with British victory and the Axis were in Tunisia between two Allied forces - one from Algeria and one from Libya.
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
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
radioRadio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
as he delivered this speech about the "misfortune of the past weeks" and an "unvarnished picture of the situation." The audience reacted in a fanatical way, causing an even bigger impact; they were selected by Goebbels to perform befittingly, showing one of his many skills as propaganda minister. Goebbels also wanted, by amassing such popular enthusiasm, to convince Hitler to give him greater powers in running the war economy.
Details
Goebbels cited three theses in the speech:
- If the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
was not in a position to break the danger from the Eastern frontThe Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of war between the European Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia and Finland , and the Soviet Union which encompassed central and eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9...
, then the German Reich would fall to Bolshevism, and all of Europe shortly afterwards;
- The Wehrmacht, the German people
The German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
, and the Axis PowersThe Axis powers comprised the countries that were opposed to the Allies during World War II. The three major Axis powers—Germany, Italy, and Japan—were part of a military alliance on the signing of the Tripartite Pact in September 1940, which officially founded the Axis powers...
alone had the strength to save Europe from this threat;
- Danger was at hand. Germany had to act quickly and decisively, or it would be too late;
Goebbels concluded that "Two thousand years of Western history are in danger," and blamed Germany's failures on the
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
s. 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 leadershipThe National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party , was a political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945...
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?
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
swastikaThe swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form or its mirrored left-facing form. Archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates from the Neolithic period and was first found in the Indus Valley Civilization of the Indian...
s.
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.. After the speech, Goebbels said to Speer it was the best-trained audience one could find in Germany.
Quotes
| Original German |
English Translation |
|
"I ask you: Do you want total warTotal war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity...
? If necessary, do you want a war more total and radical than anything that we can even yet imagine?" |
| […] |
[…] |
|
"Now, people, rise up, and let the storm break loose!" |
- The last line originated in the poem Männer und Buben (Men and Boys) by Carl Theodor Körner
Carl Theodor Körner was a German poet and soldier. He was often called the “German Tyrtaeus.”-Background:...
during the Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
. Körner's words had been quoted by Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
in his 1920 speech "What We Want" delivered at Munich's HofbräuhausThe Staatliches Hofbräuhaus in München is a brewery in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, owned by the state government...
, but also by Goebbels himself in older speeches, including his 6 July 1932 campaign speech before the Nazis took the power in Germany. |
External links