Albert Speer was, arguably, the most complicated personality in the prominent Nazi officials. He began his career after joining the Nazi party as an architect; and his friendship with Hitler propelled his promotion to Reich Minister for Armaments and War Production. When Germany lost the war, Speer was one of the few Nazi officials to evade the death sentence. There are two historical viewpoints as to the role of Speer. The first is that Speer was merely a technocrat, with no political views- and this view is created by Speer in his post-war writings, as well as historian Joachim Fest. The second viewpoint, which is more widely believed than the first, is that Speer was a clever man who manipulated the Nazi party, the Nuremburg War Crimes prosecutors and also the world through his books after…
Albert Speer’s rise to prominence began through his early work for the Nazi Party, followed by becoming the first architect of the Reich and his contributions to the Germania project where the Nazi power was consolidated. Speer reached his full potential through his appointment as Armaments minister.…
Many historians such as Alan Bullock praise Speer's performance at the Nuremburg Trials and were convinced that Speer had told the truth. They label Speer an 'apolitical technocrat', 'more concerned with the job he had to do than the power it brought him.'(1) American journalist William Shirer reported on his trial at Nuremburg and came to view him favourably (2), whilst British academic Hugh Trevor-Roper interviewed Speer, and in his book The Last Days of Hitler, describes Speer as the 'penitent Nazi'.(3)…
Speer’s technical and administrative skills and enthusiasm were what made him Hitler’s ideal choice. Hitler had originally paid very little attention to the detains of organising production and had ordered a reduction in weapon production after the fall of France in 1940. Speer assumed responsibility for a vast enterprise and in solving three key issues that would effectively decide the war effort – how to eliminate the gross inefficiencies of war production, how to increase armaments and munitions production despite the increasing bombing of German factories and other production targets. Speer believed in total mobilisation of the workforce to avoid military…
The early life and career of Albert Speer was shaped by his familial upbringing, his connection to his mentor Professor Heinrich Tessenow and, in later years, his affiliation with the Nazi Party. Born into a wealthy family in March 1905, Albert Speer was the second of three sons. His father, Albert, was a prosperous architect who provided a privileged life for his three sons and wife. Albert's mother, Luise, was also successful in her own right. His parents provided all manner of material conveniences to their sons however with their high…
In my essay I will assess how significant Albert Speer was to the running of the Nazi war machine and the Nazi regime. I will look at how such an intelligent, well-intentioned, principled person like Speer could become such an integral part in the Nazi party, so captivated by Hitler’s charisma and influence that he could ignore all the atrocities, the concentration camps, the slaughter of the fuehrer’s wars and devote all the country’s resources to keeping the regime in power. Albert Speer was appointed as minister for Armaments and munitions in February 1942. Speer played an invaluable role in the Nazi War Machine during the next three years of the Second World War. His effectiveness as minister for armaments and munitions led to phenomenal increases in the production of armaments, and ultimately prolonging the war for another one to two years which greatly impacted on the functioning of the War Machine. Speer’s major accomplishments as minister for armaments and munitions were the standardization of weapons and specialization of factories. Implementing a Total War policy in Germany. The mobilization of the workforce in relation to the armament production.…
James Keenan uses Albert Speer as a modern example of the sin that God detests: consciously avoiding to love others. In contrast to Hitler, who was at the time seen as an altogether vessel of hate and discrimination, Speer didn't embody those belief systems. Instead, Speer was a simple but famed German architect who was only "interested in his architectural work, his career, and his family" (Keenan 54). Seeing that Speer wasn't driven by the same prejudice that Hitler carried, doesn't that make Speer technically more innocent than Hitler? In a way, yes. However, with that innocence comes the expectation not neglect an opportunity to assist those who need help. This wasn't the case with Speer, who helped to bolster Hitler's influence in Europe…
Speer’s first architectural commission from the Nazi Party was from Geobells and it was to renovate the Gauhaus. Shortly after this, he was given the task of organising the backdrop for the May Day rally in Berlin in 1933 (day/month??). Hitler was very pleased with the effect.…
Albert Speer’s Role in the Nazi Regime primarily was centred on a couple of areas, his work as the General Building Inspector (GBI), the chief architect of the Reich and his role as Armaments Minister. Speer’s ascendancy within the Nazi hierarchy has been described by Henry King as ‘vertical and ladder like, Speer was an intelligent, affluent and well educated man and there is no doubt that he made a remarkable progression through the ranks of the Nazi Party. In less than ten years Albert Speer no longer was the humble architect but became the master of the German economy and production in Germany.…
<br>Speer's well structured and thought out defence shaped historical interpretation for years to come. At Nuremberg he presented himself as a pure technician and not involved in the politics or ideology of the party. He also claimed collective responsibility for crimes against Jews but also his ignorance of the Nazi intentions. As he stated at a later time: "I just stood aside and said to myself that as long as I did not personally participate it had nothing to do with me. My toleration for the anti Semitic campaign made me responsible for it." This admission of guilt won a fair amount of sympathy from the court. The reasons he gave for being with the Nazi party was that he was taken by Hitler's personality and also realised that if he was to achieve his dream as an architect he will have to sell his soul to the party. This image of Speer was to be accepted for a while by most historians and was given little attention. This was probably because Speer was a little less spectacular' than Hitler's other henchmen. There were however some suspicions. John Galbraith, a member of the US team that debriefed Speer before the Nuremberg trial, said in Life magazine 1945 that Speer's claims contained "elements of fantasy". He also believed that Speer's confession was a part of his "well developed strategy of self…
There are a number of factors that can be held accountable for the changing views on Albert Speer and his involvement in the Nazi regime. It was the combination of shifting contexts, values and insights, linked to Speer’s own personal story, which ultimately generated shifting understandings of Speer’s contribution to the Nazi regime. However, it is important to acknowledge that there were in fact, always different perspectives, whereby historians and social researchers have debated over the extent to Speer’s ‘innocence’. Initially most historians analysed WW2 in a broad sense. It was only in the later years that micro analysis of the war took place. This ultimately contributed to Speer’s reputation as the ‘Good Nazi’, being unhinged over time. Furthermore, the enigmatic nature of Speer’s role in the Nazi regime has contributed greatly to the varying views of many eminent historians.…
It is questionable whether Speer was at the Posen Meeting in 1943 as the concentration camp was mentioned at the meeting. Speer claimed to have left by then although sources suggest that this was the turning point in his faults to convict him at the Nuremburg trials for knowledge of the concentration camps and the Jewish people. Speer had said in an interview that he had “tolerated” Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies suggesting he did not know about the persecution of the Jewish people. He may not have been supporting this view but his choice to ignore it is viewed as his greatest fault and this adds to why he is counted as an important figure to German history having survived the death penalty for all his convictions at the Nuremburg trials were he pleaded innocent to two counts of murder and persecution and knowledge of the concentration camps that the Jews were involved in. Speer instead received 20 years prison sentence at the Spandau prison. This shows historians as well as others that Albert Speer’s purpose was to get to the top of the pile in the Nazi regime, to get on top of Hitler, although his virtues came along with major faults to stumble his passage. As for his Nuremburg trial convictions historian Ullrich said that “If the judges at Nuremburg had known…
The Nuremburg Trial outcome is our vital evidence that Albert Speer was a man who was corrupted by the events at the time. He is the epitome of the saying “events shape people more than people shape events” as he merely rode the wave of Nazism. As German historian Joachim Fest stated, “He [Hitler] drew Speer to him like no one else, he singles him out and made him great” (Fest, The Face of Third Reich, pg 340). In any other situation it is inconceivable that an architect could have come to hold the title of Minister of Armaments and War Production. The event of Nazi Germany transformed an architect, whose destiny seemingly lay in continuing the family business, to a man answerable only to the ‘Fuhrer’. Albert Speer did not shape Nazi Germany: Nazi Germany shaped Speer.…
Despite Albert Speer’s claims, as Minister of Armaments, it is inevitable that Albert Speer was aware of the use and abuse of forced labour and the appalling conditions of inmates at concentration camps and I find it hard to believe anything contrary. As Gitta Sereny suggests, Speer knew a lot more than what he led on, he knew what he was inevitably going to find out. Although Speer states in, Inside the Third Reich, “I did not investigate, I did not want to know”, this position of knowledge places him with direct personal responsibility for the use and abuse of forced labourers.…
Albert Speer was an intelligent, affluent and well-educated man, in many ways he was an atypical Nazi. Albert Speer claimed to be apolitical as a young man; however he himself like many 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 within the Nazi Party.…