With reference to these sources and your own understanding of
the historical context, assess the value of these three sources
to a historian studying German morale in 1943
Source A –
Source A is a part of the speech given by Goebbels at the Berlin
Sportpalast and describes how the German people seem to have lost
faith in the regime after the defeat at Stalingrad and believe it would
be better to surrender the war (rejecting the idea of ‘total war’).
The speech was made in February 1943, just after the Germans’
crushing defeat at Stalingrad. It was made by Goebbels, who had
slowly started becoming the face of the regime in the later years of the
war since Hitler was becoming more distant. This therefore adds to the
value of the source since it was a speech coming from the face and
voice of the regime at the time and was also made at the time when
morale was beginning to decline. The fact that this speech was
broadcast live on radio to the German nation may also add to the value
of the source since it shows how people had lost morale since Goebbels
had to make this speech to try and sway people to stick with the
regime and boost their low morale.
There seems to be a tone of disgust and possible anger in the source
as Goebbels describes overhearing that German people wanted to
surrender and were “resisting the government’s total war measures”.
Goebbels comes across as shocked by this and proceeds to ask what
the German people want. This tone is very valuable for investigating
German morale since it clearly presents the disappointment felt by
Goebbels upon discovering that people aren’t as enthusiastic as he had
thought. Furthermore, there is an emphasis on how people should
remain faithful to Hitler, stating that they must follow him and what he
has commanded. This again proves to be useful since it shows that
Goebbels knows the morale has dropped and is instead trying to use
people’s loyalty to Hitler and the Nazis to his advantage so people will
continue to support the war effort and not give up.
In the source Goebbels describes how people have discovered the truth
of what is going on and questions the German peoples’ faith in Hitler
and the Nazi regime, asking questions and trying to convince people to
stick with them. He makes attempts to raise morale by emphasising
the greatness of the regime as well as trying to make people feel guilty
for giving up. There is in fact evidence that morale had massively
dropped around this time. Propaganda found it increasingly difficult to
disguise the reality of the situation from the winter of 1942-43 and the
surrender at Stalingrad that Goebbels mentions in the source was a
, damaging blow to the Germans. Furthermore, people were really
starting to struggle due to the rationings taking place which were
getting increasingly worse as time went on. Meat, for example was
rationed at a reasonable 500g until April 1942 but this then dropped.
This all adds to the value of the source since it is clear to see that the
morale of the German people had dropped and Goebbels and his
propaganda had failed to disguise the reality of the situation for any
longer. He had to tell the truth and then try to convince people to
remain faithful for the regime even when they were going through hard
times.
The source is overall valuable since it shows the desperation of the
Nazi party to keep people loyal to them after everything that had been
happening which had lowered people’s morale and made them want to
give up. The source discusses people’s loss of morale due to the defeat
at Stalingrad and how people wanted to surrender, rather than
accepting the total war measures. It is therefore valuable in showing
the morale in this time.
Source B –
Source B comes from a recording made in London by an anti-Nazi that
was broadcast to Germany in February 1943. It shows the disgust and
anger felt towards the Nazis, debating which of the things they’ve said
and done will be considered the worst by future generations.
The recording is from February 1943, just after Goebbels’ speech and
was recorded by an anti-Nazi novelist, Thomas Mann, who had fled
Germany in 1933. This adds to the value of the source since the person
who recorded this had experienced Nazi Germany and was now
watching Germany getting slowly defeated from afar. Moreover, the
recording was made in February 1943 and is a primary source,
meaning it must be of significant value due to it being from the time of
the morale decline and was recorded just a few days after Goebbels’
Total War Speech. The recording being broadcasted to Germany from
London likely means it was intended to demoralise them and make
them doubt Hitler and the regime. This adds to the value of the source
also.
There seems to be a tone of complete shock and anger but sarcasm
almost at the same time. Mann seems to really target the wrongdoings
of the Nazis and specifically puts emphasis on Goebbels’ speech,
almost laughing at the fact that he failed to mention how the defeat at
Stalingrad was the fault of Hitler himself whilst still describing all the
other “gruesome details”. It almost seems like Mann is laughing at
the historical context, assess the value of these three sources
to a historian studying German morale in 1943
Source A –
Source A is a part of the speech given by Goebbels at the Berlin
Sportpalast and describes how the German people seem to have lost
faith in the regime after the defeat at Stalingrad and believe it would
be better to surrender the war (rejecting the idea of ‘total war’).
The speech was made in February 1943, just after the Germans’
crushing defeat at Stalingrad. It was made by Goebbels, who had
slowly started becoming the face of the regime in the later years of the
war since Hitler was becoming more distant. This therefore adds to the
value of the source since it was a speech coming from the face and
voice of the regime at the time and was also made at the time when
morale was beginning to decline. The fact that this speech was
broadcast live on radio to the German nation may also add to the value
of the source since it shows how people had lost morale since Goebbels
had to make this speech to try and sway people to stick with the
regime and boost their low morale.
There seems to be a tone of disgust and possible anger in the source
as Goebbels describes overhearing that German people wanted to
surrender and were “resisting the government’s total war measures”.
Goebbels comes across as shocked by this and proceeds to ask what
the German people want. This tone is very valuable for investigating
German morale since it clearly presents the disappointment felt by
Goebbels upon discovering that people aren’t as enthusiastic as he had
thought. Furthermore, there is an emphasis on how people should
remain faithful to Hitler, stating that they must follow him and what he
has commanded. This again proves to be useful since it shows that
Goebbels knows the morale has dropped and is instead trying to use
people’s loyalty to Hitler and the Nazis to his advantage so people will
continue to support the war effort and not give up.
In the source Goebbels describes how people have discovered the truth
of what is going on and questions the German peoples’ faith in Hitler
and the Nazi regime, asking questions and trying to convince people to
stick with them. He makes attempts to raise morale by emphasising
the greatness of the regime as well as trying to make people feel guilty
for giving up. There is in fact evidence that morale had massively
dropped around this time. Propaganda found it increasingly difficult to
disguise the reality of the situation from the winter of 1942-43 and the
surrender at Stalingrad that Goebbels mentions in the source was a
, damaging blow to the Germans. Furthermore, people were really
starting to struggle due to the rationings taking place which were
getting increasingly worse as time went on. Meat, for example was
rationed at a reasonable 500g until April 1942 but this then dropped.
This all adds to the value of the source since it is clear to see that the
morale of the German people had dropped and Goebbels and his
propaganda had failed to disguise the reality of the situation for any
longer. He had to tell the truth and then try to convince people to
remain faithful for the regime even when they were going through hard
times.
The source is overall valuable since it shows the desperation of the
Nazi party to keep people loyal to them after everything that had been
happening which had lowered people’s morale and made them want to
give up. The source discusses people’s loss of morale due to the defeat
at Stalingrad and how people wanted to surrender, rather than
accepting the total war measures. It is therefore valuable in showing
the morale in this time.
Source B –
Source B comes from a recording made in London by an anti-Nazi that
was broadcast to Germany in February 1943. It shows the disgust and
anger felt towards the Nazis, debating which of the things they’ve said
and done will be considered the worst by future generations.
The recording is from February 1943, just after Goebbels’ speech and
was recorded by an anti-Nazi novelist, Thomas Mann, who had fled
Germany in 1933. This adds to the value of the source since the person
who recorded this had experienced Nazi Germany and was now
watching Germany getting slowly defeated from afar. Moreover, the
recording was made in February 1943 and is a primary source,
meaning it must be of significant value due to it being from the time of
the morale decline and was recorded just a few days after Goebbels’
Total War Speech. The recording being broadcasted to Germany from
London likely means it was intended to demoralise them and make
them doubt Hitler and the regime. This adds to the value of the source
also.
There seems to be a tone of complete shock and anger but sarcasm
almost at the same time. Mann seems to really target the wrongdoings
of the Nazis and specifically puts emphasis on Goebbels’ speech,
almost laughing at the fact that he failed to mention how the defeat at
Stalingrad was the fault of Hitler himself whilst still describing all the
other “gruesome details”. It almost seems like Mann is laughing at
