Speer’s Rise in the Nazi Party
Albert Speer rose from a mere architect to be one of the most influential Nazi leaders of the Third Reich, and self-admittedly Hitler’s closest friend. As a young, struggling architect Speer joined the Nazi Party as a ‘Septemberling’, and subsequently began to design many of the displays and structures that succeeded in promoting the Fuhrer Myth. Within the NSDAP Speer progressed to the position of Minister for Armaments and War Production in 1942, a reward for his superior managerial skills, and effectively utilised in the Nazi war effort. However, Speer’s rise in the NSDAP was often degraded by the members of the ‘old guard’, who thought that he had not earned
…show more content…
Upon its success Speer was further commissioned in March 1933 to modernise the interior of the Ministry of Propaganda, headed by Joseph Goebbels. Although only small, these commissioned allowed Speer to impress the Nazi leaders, with both his architectural and managerial prowess.
Albert Speer’s organisation of the May Day Rally at Tempelhof airfield in 1933 was a major development in his rise within the Nazi Party, as his staging was a stunning success, pleasing Hitler. Speer encircled the field with a ring of search lights, projecting light thousands on meters into the sky in what became known as the ‘cathedral of ice’, a setting that was complimented by huge Nazi and German flags as a backdrop. Subsequently, Speer was appointed the position of Commissioner for the Artistic and Technical Presentation of the Party Rallies and Demonstrations, and fundamental in designing the backdrop of the August 1933 Nuremberg Rally. His golden spreadeagle design required the personal approval of the Fuhrer, which was Speer first, but brief meeting with Hitler. As Speer’s successes compounded, he was then commissioned to assist in the refurbishment of the Chancellor’s residence in Berlin, where he was virtually meeting with Hitler on a daily basis. The two men’s shared passion of architecture allowed Speer to establish a personal relationship with Hitler,
1. The first exhibit that I experienced was a film on Hitlers' rise to power. It showed how he played on the fears of the people by using propaganda to promote himself to becoming Chancellor of Germany. Ever though he lost the election, Hindenburg on January 30, 1933 appointed Hitler Chancellor.
Around the time, he was trying to gain support for the Nazi party the mood of Germany was not too particularly great. The depression's effects had hit Germany and its people hard with millions of people losing their jobs. Still fresh in the German people’s minds was the humiliating loss of WWI. Also, people did not like the Weimar Republic government because it agreed to the terms of The Treaty of Versailles. Due to this, the German people lacked confidence in the Weimar Republic. These conditions provided the chance for the rise of a new leader, Adolf Hitler, and his party, the National Socialist German Workers' Party, or the Nazi party. Due to Hitler’s extravagant speeches, he was able to attract many followers to the Nazi party. In the article, it states “Hitler was a powerful and spellbinding speaker who attracted a wide following of Germans desperate for change”, but this quote doesn’t even show how impactful the speeches really were. The article later states that “The party's rise to power was rapid... the Nazis were practically unknown, winning only 3 percent of the vote to the Reichstag (German parliament) in elections in 1924. In the 1932 elections, the Nazis won 33 percent of the votes, more than any other
However, as Wolfgang Ruge argues, “the Nazi party developed a propaganda apparatus whose activities far eclipsed all previous heights of the demagogy of German imperialism.” On this note, it is widely agreed by historians that the regime was highly successful in one of Friedreich's principles; control of the increasingly powerful mass media in German society as a mechanism for public control. Primarily coordinated through the work of propaganda minister Goebbels, Hitler was portrayed as a leader who was at the same time moderate and reasonable who put the national good before his own interest. Other themes highlighted images of strength and authority which appealed to the highly nationalist German population; epitomised by Hitler appearing out of the sky to lead the German people depicted in Riefenstahl's 1934 film Triumph of the Will, still widely considered the most influential propaganda film of all time. The radio, state produced to be inexpensive, become the regimes number one weapon as it allowed propaganda to not only infiltrate but permeate as many homes as possible.
(Speer, pg 89,1995) In 1934 he was rewarded with his first of many important commissions, the design of the huge parade grounds, searchlights, and banners of the spectacular Nuremberg Rally which was such an enormous success it was filmed by Leni Riefenstahl in Triumph of the Will. "I felt myself to be Hitler's architect. Political events did not concern me. My job was merely to provide impressive backdrops for such events."
“The staging itself reminded the audience of how fascists use such panoramas: […] Hitler at the Nazi Party Conference at Nuremberg in 1934 as reevoked in the monumental Triumph of the Will” (Crowl, 53). The huge red scrolls and banners with Richard’s badge of boar, the vast crowd waving red flags, all these imageries created by Richard Loncraine echo the past “glory” of Hitler when he convinced tamed German citizens with his mouth.
Hitler’s rise to power was the result of many factors, but Hitler’s ability to take advantage of Germany’s poor leadership and economical and political conditions was the most significant factor. His ability to manipulate the media and the German public whilst taking advantage of Germany’s poor leadership resulted in both the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler and the nazi party. During the early 1920s, Germany was struggling with economic instability and political uncertainty. Germany, after being defeated in the Great War, was forced to sign the unforgiving treaty of Versailles, which the Weimar Republic was held responsible for. This brought forward feelings of fear, anger and
The extent to which Albert Speer had a positive impact upon his time are both varied and constantly changing. From the German perspective, Speer had a positive impact upon the Regime, as exemplified through his work as Architect and Armaments Minister. The allied, international perspective in contrast is quite negative, as it has evolved over time. Despite initial praise, as seen in the repentant Nazi argument, the release of the Walters Chronic and other revelations saw shift towards the structuralist view for the allies, of which Speer had a profoundly negative impact upon society, in which it became to be known that he had full knowledge of the atrocities of the Nazi regime, and the contribution that his department was having upon this.
Although the Nazis were the largest political party in Germay, they did not win a majority of votes in the elections until 1933 (Kolb). Propaganda within Nazi Germany was therefore taken to a new and frequently perverse level and was a crucial part of Hitler’s plans (Welch). He claimed, "Propaganda tries to force a doctrine on the whole people...
A qualified architect, Speer’s rise to prominence commenced after he joined the Nazi party in 1931, a decision made after hearing an impressive speech by Hitler at a rally a few months earlier. Hitler’s aggressively
1) Germany before the Fuhrer. Germany’s defeat at the end of World War I left the nation socially, politically, and economically shattered. The reparation agreements inflicted upon Germany without its’ consent at the end of the war meant that the nation was in complete financial ruin. In the wake of Germany’s defeat, public decent climaxed on the 9th November 1918 during the revolution that took place on Berlin’s Postdamer Platz. This revolution transpired as a result of the public’s culminating discontent towards the imperial monarchy, and lasted up until August 1919, which saw the establishment of the Weimar Republic. In attempts to guide Germany out of economic
Even though Germany was left in a period of struggle and economic weakness after WW1, Adolf Hitler would take a stand by creating a party that would help refine the structure of the economy. This party, when abbreviated, was called Nazi, would also create harsh laws and unrelentless punishment. Due to the Nazi party’s quick growth, there was an immediate impact on lifestyle and politics for the people of Germany. The long term impact brought forth by the consequences or legacy of the Nazi party included a population decrease and an increase in deaths. To make both of these impacts, Hitler had to overcome many hard challenges.
Following the war he lived in war-torn Germany and attended many political gatherings. The turning point of Hitler's mesmerizing oratorical career occurred at a Nazi party meeting held on October 16, 1919. Hitler's emotional delivery of an impromptu speech captivated his audience. Through word of mouth, donations poured into the party's coffers, and subsequent mass meetings attracted hundreds of Germans eager to hear the young, forceful and hypnotic leader. With the assistance of party staff, Hitler drafted a party program consisting of twenty-five points. This platform was presented at a public meeting on February 24, 1920, with over 2,000 eager participants. After hecklers were forcibly removed by Hitler supporters armed with rubber truncheons and whips, Hitler electrified the audience with his masterful demagoguery.
In 1933 Adolf Hitler was chosen as Chancellor of Germany by president Paul von Hindenburg. With this, the Nazi party came to power. Originally called the National Socialist German Workers party (Nazi for short), the Nazi party emphasized how Laissez-faire capitalism, economic liberalism, and democracy failed in government. The National Socialists stressed the importance of the impeccability of the German race. Although they had very determined ideas, The Nazi party began as a relatively small group in 1918. But coming into the 1930’s this was not the case. The widespread use of propaganda and radio broadcasting were instrumental to the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party.
In the aftermath of World War I, Europe faced financial, economic, and physical devastation. Although figures are still exactly unknown, according to Encyclopedia Britannica (2011), it is believed that nearly 8.5 million soldiers died, while approximately 21 million were wounded. Vast areas of north-eastern Europe had been reduced to rubble and ruined. Furthermore, the infrastructure of the region was so severely damaged that such loss greatly hindered the area's ability to function normally. Consequently, someone needed to make amends for the fiscal instability in the region, and according to the United States, Great Britain, and France; Germany was the lone scapegoat. This angered the German citizens and through the use
To many World War II has been the most devastating war in human history. It