Albert Speer's Personality

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Outline three key features of the historical context of the studied personality, making some links to the life of the personality The rise of the Nazi Party and the personal charisma of Adolf Hitler was a key feature of the historical context of Albert Speer. Hitler had a certain appeal of German people, including his ability to transcend social divisions existing inside Germany. After the Treaty of Versailles was signed, in 1923 Germany’s middle class lost faith in the Republic and as Germany descended into depression, Hitler led Germany to believe he could save them. The unemployed, workers and businessmen believed Hitler would end the depression and restore economic prosperity, as well as control the unions and keep Communists out of…show more content…
Speer’s significance can be perceived through his involvement in the Germania project, the prolongation of WWII due to his organisational efforts as Armaments Minister, and his rejection of the scorched earth policy. Hitler appointed Speer Chief Architect of the Nazi Party in 1932, where he played the highly influential role in redesigning of Berlin. Hitler’s aim in reconstructing Berlin into ‘Germania’ was to restore German pride following the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles and evidently Speer’s monumental designs, which were presented to the public on Jan 28th, 1938, had a great impact on the restoration of German confidence in German society. The re-establishment of Berlin entailed the destruction of 50, 000 inner-city apartments, many of which Jewish tenants had leased. The subsequent relocation of Jews conjoined with Anti-Semitic policies of the time, evoking ‘The Law Concerning the Rental Situation of Jews’ which was created by Speer’s office in Berlin. Fundamentally, Speer is shown to be complicit in anti-Semitic activities that have detrimentally impacted on the Jewish, rather than being justly anti-Semitic. Gitta Sereny supports…show more content…
Speer’s creation of ‘Zentral Planung’ to reorganise the armaments industry, aimed to coordinate army, navy and air force armament production. Speer also urged for wartime efficiency which had profound impacts on the war as results presented an approximate 400% increase in armaments production, despite the Allied bombings. Furthermore, Speer’s deployment of slave labourers from occupied territories and concentration camps such as Dora for the manufacturing of VI and V2 rockets allowed Germany to further prolong the war, which however violated the Geneva Convention and lead to mass loss of life. Over 19,000 POWs were working in German armament factories by 1994, filling the ever-growing labour shortages, ultimately leading to greater efficiency or war
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