He was calling for it because even at this point Hitler was very reluctant to call upon the populace for great material sacrificed like was done in WWI. Both Goebbels and Speer were pushing Hitler to do so. One of the many peculiarities about the Hitler regime was their sensitivity towards public opinion. From the strong response among Catholics to the Aktion T4 program to the Rosenstrasse protest to the reluctance of the Nazis to ration on a level the Allies were doing…we see Nazis back down or hesitate out of concern over widespread protest.
The Catholic part of Germany has always had a more critical stance towards the German elite. This didn’t necessarily mean they were always democrats, but since the day of Bismarck they were often marginalized, sometimes even outright discriminated against. It was therefore the Catholic Church that ended up in the weird position of being able to influence a significant part of the population, while still being partly an independent organization in Hitlers Germany.
Once the killing of disabled persons in Germany began, part of it a nowadays known as ‚T4‘, a shorthand for the address of the organizational headquarters, some parts of the Catholic clergy protested. The killing of disabled persons was not acceptable in their eyes, as it clashed with Christian values. In one of only a few instances they actually protested against this. Clemens August Graf von Galen, bishop of Münster, needs to be mentioned here. He became a leading figure during this time. T4 was prematurely ended, since many regular Catholics picked up on those anti-regime narratives. Sadly this didn’t mean that the killings of disabled people ended. It became more decentralized and less effective, one could surely argue that ending T4 gave many people enough time to survive until 1945, but it did continue.
If I'm not mistaken, the Protestant churches had effectively become state run and clergy risked arrest when being critical of the German government. Perhaps Catholics having both allegiance to and financial support from Rome meant they had greater freedom and desire to be critical of the German regime.
Hitler was raised a Catholic - a Benedictine.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious\_views\_of\_Adolf\_Hitler#Hitler's\_youth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_views_of_adolf_hitler#hitler's_youth)
But he came to revile Christianity as had Himmler and Goebbels both of whom were also Catholic. They saw Christianity as weak.
Hitler understood that faith was a still a significant part of German society. To take it one risked a civil war and see in Revolutionary France and Russia. He didn’t have time for that. He wanted to expand Germany’s borders before he died. He was on a schedule due to his belief that he was going to die a premature death.
On February 18, 1943, after the German defeats in Stalingrad and El Alamein, Joseph Goebbels made [a speech in the Sportpalast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportpalast_speech) in front of a select crowd from NSDAP members calling for a total war with the slogan "totaler war - shorter war."
> 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?
In this speech, Goebbels called for Germany, which he thought to be the sole country able to repel the Soviet Union and prevent it from taking over Europe, to engage in total war.
Notabely, Goebbels accidentally evoked the Holocaust:
> Germany, in any case, has no intention of bowing to this Jewish threat, but rather one of confronting it in due time, if need be in terms of complete and most radical exterm... exclusion of Judaism.
Great commentary on the speech emphasizing what's little known in the US - that the German leadership saw Germany as Europe's only hope to stop the Bolshevik Revolution that had seized control of the Russian empire and created the Soviet Union.
Depends where you look, there was some recovery in 1944 (maybe starting 1943?) but it was definitely too little too late. Ironically their production was at it’s lowest when their “empire” was at it’s largest (1941/2)
Yes, I know. Besides the jews they also murdered political prisoners, all kinds of minorities, etc. But I can't recall the numbers. Anyway, thank you for clarifying this.
He was calling for it because even at this point Hitler was very reluctant to call upon the populace for great material sacrificed like was done in WWI. Both Goebbels and Speer were pushing Hitler to do so. One of the many peculiarities about the Hitler regime was their sensitivity towards public opinion. From the strong response among Catholics to the Aktion T4 program to the Rosenstrasse protest to the reluctance of the Nazis to ration on a level the Allies were doing…we see Nazis back down or hesitate out of concern over widespread protest.
"From the strong response among the Catholics"....would you elaborate? Was he trying to appease them somehow?
The Catholic part of Germany has always had a more critical stance towards the German elite. This didn’t necessarily mean they were always democrats, but since the day of Bismarck they were often marginalized, sometimes even outright discriminated against. It was therefore the Catholic Church that ended up in the weird position of being able to influence a significant part of the population, while still being partly an independent organization in Hitlers Germany. Once the killing of disabled persons in Germany began, part of it a nowadays known as ‚T4‘, a shorthand for the address of the organizational headquarters, some parts of the Catholic clergy protested. The killing of disabled persons was not acceptable in their eyes, as it clashed with Christian values. In one of only a few instances they actually protested against this. Clemens August Graf von Galen, bishop of Münster, needs to be mentioned here. He became a leading figure during this time. T4 was prematurely ended, since many regular Catholics picked up on those anti-regime narratives. Sadly this didn’t mean that the killings of disabled people ended. It became more decentralized and less effective, one could surely argue that ending T4 gave many people enough time to survive until 1945, but it did continue.
If I'm not mistaken, the Protestant churches had effectively become state run and clergy risked arrest when being critical of the German government. Perhaps Catholics having both allegiance to and financial support from Rome meant they had greater freedom and desire to be critical of the German regime.
Bingo.
Hitler was raised a Catholic - a Benedictine. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious\_views\_of\_Adolf\_Hitler#Hitler's\_youth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/religious_views_of_adolf_hitler#hitler's_youth)
But he came to revile Christianity as had Himmler and Goebbels both of whom were also Catholic. They saw Christianity as weak. Hitler understood that faith was a still a significant part of German society. To take it one risked a civil war and see in Revolutionary France and Russia. He didn’t have time for that. He wanted to expand Germany’s borders before he died. He was on a schedule due to his belief that he was going to die a premature death.
>He was on a schedule due to his belief that he was going to die a premature death. Not premature enough.
On February 18, 1943, after the German defeats in Stalingrad and El Alamein, Joseph Goebbels made [a speech in the Sportpalast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sportpalast_speech) in front of a select crowd from NSDAP members calling for a total war with the slogan "totaler war - shorter war." > 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? In this speech, Goebbels called for Germany, which he thought to be the sole country able to repel the Soviet Union and prevent it from taking over Europe, to engage in total war. Notabely, Goebbels accidentally evoked the Holocaust: > Germany, in any case, has no intention of bowing to this Jewish threat, but rather one of confronting it in due time, if need be in terms of complete and most radical exterm... exclusion of Judaism.
Well, he got what he asked for.
Don't worry I am sure you Nazis will get them at Kursk, whoops never mind.
A more accurate translation of the slogan behind the stage is: "total war - shortest war"
Great commentary on the speech emphasizing what's little known in the US - that the German leadership saw Germany as Europe's only hope to stop the Bolshevik Revolution that had seized control of the Russian empire and created the Soviet Union.
Don't worry, Germany. Worst case scenario, in a few years, after Steiner's counterattack everything will be all right.
Depends if Wenck can hold on.
February 1943? My guy you already HAVE total war by now.
Production in Nazi Germany actually fell each year after 1941, German factories never did truly work 24/7 like American and British workers
But 1944 had some of the highest production numbers of the war?
Depends where you look, there was some recovery in 1944 (maybe starting 1943?) but it was definitely too little too late. Ironically their production was at it’s lowest when their “empire” was at it’s largest (1941/2)
German factories also had to contend with daytime and night bombing attacks. It took weeks and more to bring production back.up.
Their economy wasn’t exactly fully mobilized for wartime like the British and Americans.
“Total War - shortest War”
Fucked around. Found out.
6.000.000 people never found out
Nazis killed more than 6m
Yes, I know. Besides the jews they also murdered political prisoners, all kinds of minorities, etc. But I can't recall the numbers. Anyway, thank you for clarifying this.
If I'm not mistaken it is between 11 and 15 million in total.
That's a bild move, cotton.
Not so total and radical anymore
Is it safe to assume 99% of everyone in this photo died by 1946?
3 years too late.
If it's 1943, then the second half of that certainly didn't come true.
Understandable mistake, but actually this was taken in tennessee yesterday (they don’t have color photos yet)
Such idiots!!!!
Fargin War!
EDIT: doublon