The Nazi Period Of Albert Speer

Because of the same burning interest for architecture Speer became one of Hitler's best friends. The men were able to reach this closeness, as Spear didn't have a thirst for power or political intentions like many of the other party members. It was during the design and building of the barrack camps for the men of the autobahn, that Speer and Hitler developed an increasing intimacy as they spent lunches and dinners together in their tightly knit circle of important men. ' A close relationship had become established between us, and I counted on profiting, humanly and artistically, from it."

After Germany lost World War I, it was in a national state of humiliation. Their economy was in the drain, and they had their hands full paying for the reparations from the war. Then a man named Adolf Hitler rose to the position of Chancellor and realized his potential to inspire people to follow. Hitler promised the people of Germany a new age; an age of prosperity with the country back as a superpower in Europe. Hitler had a vision, and this vision was that not only the country be dominant in a political sense, but that his ‘perfect race’, the ‘Aryans,’ would be dominant in a cultural sense. His steps to achieving his goal came in the form of the Holocaust. The most well known victims of the Holocaust were of course, the Jews.

With incompetent leadership and an unhappy nation, the German people began to realize that their country was in a vulnerable situation and began to look for stable alternatives to democracy. Hitler’s

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.

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

He grew up in an upper middle class home in Mannheim, Germany. When it came time for speer to chose a major, he originally wanted to become a mathematician but was coerced out of this career by his father who told him if you chose this occupation you will “lead a life without money without a position and without a future” so instead speer decides to follow in the footsteps of his father and his grandfather to become an architect. At the age of 17 Speer falls in love and is decides to marry after he graduates university. Shortly after that he becomes Heinrich Tessenow assistant and in 1927 he passes his architectural license and gets married to Margarete Weber. As the book progresses into the second chapter is depicts Speer’s first encounter with what he describes as Hitler's hypnotic personality and in 1931 Speer joins the party, however even though Speer formally joined the Nazi party he never read and Mein Kampf and never became anti semitic. Speer also makes a point to say in the book that if he had known of Hitler’s intentions upon his arrival in the party he would have left, but now fully accepts responsibility for the horrible acts he committed as a member of the Nazi party. The third chapter is mainly focused around Hitlers for assignment for Speer. At first Speer impresses Hitler with his design for the Nuremberg Party Rally, so in response to that Hitler assigns Speer to help Hitler's Main architect at the time Paul Troost to rebuild the Chancellery. Hitler was very impressed with his work and intern invites Speer to dinner with him and members of his inner circle and this foreshadows that Speer is going to become a pivotal part of Hitler's war machine. The fourth chapter entitled “My Catalyst” is the beginning of Hitler's and Speers friendship, HItler assigns Speer with another important task. Hitler has asked Speer to redesign his personal Berlin office. Shortly after Speer

How Albert Speer is to be remembered by history is a source of much debate, one which even today, nearly thirty four years after his death at the time of writing, has historian’s views at polar opposites. Some historians have concluded that Albert Speer was a high ranking member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party’s inner circle who managed to manipulate his way into securing an acclaimed role as one of the twentieth centuries most successful architects, despite the practice of utilising slave labour to promote the Nazi war effort. Such manipulation, in the eyes of some historians is that Speer became someone who managed to create a clever rouse over the prosecutors during the Nuremberg trials, which eventually spared himself from

Albert Speer was an intelligent, affluent, well-educated man; in many ways he was an atypical Nazi. Albert Speer claimed to be uninterested in politics from a young age, however he himself like others were converted to the Nazi Party after attending a rally and hearing Adolf Hitler speak. The following essay will outline Albert Speer’s rise to prominence and whether or not he was a product of his time.

Albert Speer is famously, or infamously, known as Adolf Hitler’s closest friend, even though he didn’t support most of Hitler’s activities. He was the main architect of the Nazi Party, but he had a minute idea of what his ‘friend’ was doing. When asked about his relationship with the Fuehrer after the war, Speer responded with the quote above.

Through the close examination of Speer as an individual within the Nazi state, it is important to distinguish his architectural career into two distinct sections; pre-GBI and GBI. Through analysing Speer’s actions through these respective lenses, historians are equipped to make an informed historical judgement on Speer and his specific roles within the confines of the Nazi political hierarchy. Speer, through his early architectural role in the party, from 1931 to 1937, was able to demonstrate his aptitude for architecture and design. It is important to note that during the years 1931 to 1933, Hitler was not as influential as he became during his appointed time as Reich chancellor, as such, Speer’s role within the party at this point remains

When looking into the history of Germany and determining what led to the startling rise in Nazism in Germany and its detrimental effects on the social outcasts in Europe, it can be easy to deduce that the Nazi regime was one where Hitler walked in with his officials and took office by force. The truth is that, while the Nazi party is responsible for the atrocities that occurred before and during WWII, they would have not gotten far if it hadn’t been for the cooperation of the German people themselves. Life in the Third Reich provides proof through voting, youth programs and village life that the Nazi party rose into power with German support.

The Great Depression was a key factor as to why the Nazi’s came to power. The economic crisis highlighted the weakness of the Weimar republic and it caused the public to turn to extreme parties. However, in comparison to other factors it is arguably not the most important reason. The other factors such as the weaknesses of the Weimar Republic, the Nazi appeal and the role the elite played in bringing Hitler to power have to be taken into account. It is also important to reflect on the concern that Germany had frail fundamental struggles within itself due the effects of the War. It can be argued that the Depression wouldn’t have had an overwhelming effect on Germany’s economy and Government if they hadn’t suffered as much as they did due to the War. The demoralizing effect led people to desperate positions and in return they chose to support the views of extremist parties, I.e. the Nazis. The Nazi’s and Hitler had presented solutions to their problems and this appealed to the public as they lost belief in the government.

After World War One, France and the rest of the Allies held full control over Germany, having lead a decisive victory against them. They take everything from them, and force them into extreme debt. Germany’s economy collapsed, and it become an extremely bad place to live. After living in this extreme poverty for years, the German people wanted change. They chose

Germany’s political and economic circumstances ignited Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party to rise to power, causing the conditions to worsen for “undesirables.”

Living in the crumbled remains of Germany, or the Weimar Republic, in the 1920’s was a dismal existence. Hyperinflation was rampant and the national debt skyrocketed as a result of the punishing features of the Treaty of Versailles. During the depression, however, a mysterious Austrian emerged from the depths of the German penal system and gave the desperate German people a glimpse of hope in very dark times. He called for a return to “Fatherland” principles where greater Germany was seen as the center of their universe with zealous pride. Under Hitler’s leadership, Nazi Germany rapidly grew and expanded, continually approaching the goal of world domination and the “Thousand-Year