Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Goebbels and 'Total War': The Sports Palace Speech of 1943

Goebbels and 'Total War': The Sports Palace Speech of 1943

Sharpe, Lesley
Noakes, Jeremy
Longerich, Peter

Hardcover

General Political ScienceHolocaustWorld War II

ISBN10: 0198923775
ISBN13: 9780198923770
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Feb 12 2026
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.67
Height: 0.82 Width: 5.84 Depth: 8.79
Language: English
The Sports Palace speech was the climax of a campaign for 'total war'; the prime example of Nazi 'mass suggestion', a barrage of propaganda, seduction, and manipulation.

On the 18th of February 1943 Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels made a speech in the Berlin Sports Palace that is regarded as one of the most chilling, and at the same time most effective, rhetorical performances of the twentieth century.

In this definitive English translation, renowned historian Peter Longerich delves into the historical buildup to Goebbels's most notorious speech, the speech itself, and its lasting effect. Goebbels and 'Total War' singles out the Sports Palace speech to demystify the legend of Nazi propaganda by exposing the reality of the rally as a highly staged and prerecorded event, with a preselected audience and rehearsed reactions made to look spontaneous. For Goebbels, this spectacle was not only his chance to raise support for 'total war' in the German public but also the ultimate test to prove himself to his 'Führer'. Longerich traces Goebbels's path to 'total war' from his questionable demagogue skills and his tenuous relationship with Hitler, to the nation's losing battle at the front, and finally to total defeat.

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