Page "Joseph Goebbels" Paragraph 72

Goebbels struggled in 1943 and 1944 to rally the German people behind a regime that faced increasingly obvious military defeat.

The German people ’ s faith in Hitler was shaken by the disaster at Stalingrad, and never fully recovered.

During 1943, as the Soviet armies advanced towards the borders of the Reich, the western Allies developed the ability to launch devastating air raids on most German cities, including Berlin.

At the same time, there were increasingly critical shortages of food, raw materials, fuel and housing.

Goebbels and Speer were among the few Nazi leaders who were under no illusions about Germany ’ s dire situation.

Their solution was to seize control of the home front from the indecisive Hitler and the incompetent Göring.

This was the agenda of Goebbels ’ s " total war " speech of February 1943.

But they were thwarted by their inability to challenge Hitler, who could neither make decisions himself nor trust anyone else to do so.