Joseph Goebbels

I

Introduction

Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945), German propagandist and politician, one of the central figures in the history of the Third Reich.

II

Early Career

Goebbels was born on October 29, 1897, in Rheydt, in the Rhineland region of western Germany, the son of a bookkeeper. In early childhood Goebbels suffered disablement in one leg, as a result of which he was rejected for military service in World War I. He studied German literature, philosophy, and art history, partly financed by a scholarship from a Roman Catholic foundation, and gained his doctorate in 1921 under a Jewish professor, Max von Waldburg. Goebbels then failed in his attempts to carve a career as a journalist and playwright.

In August 1924 he became actively involved in the racist movement and, during 1925-1926 was a leading player in the Nazi Party in the Ruhr, adopting a strong social revolutionary (“National Bolshevik”) line. He joined with Gregor Strasser in establishing a working group of north and west German district party leaders (gauleiters) with the aim of challenging the Munich entourage of Adolf Hitler and of producing a new and more radical party programme. Blocked by Hitler at a meeting in Bamberg in February 1926, Goebbels succumbed to Hitler's flattery and to the reality of Hitler's dominance of the party and henceforth committed himself to the Führer. He was rewarded with his appointment as gauleiter of Berlin in November 1926. In the spring of 1930 he was appointed the party's national propaganda chief and organized the successful election campaigns of 1930-1932. On December 19, 1930, he married Magda Quandt, the former wife of a wealthy industrialist, who became a favourite of Hitler.

III

Ministerial Career

On March 13, 1933, Goebbels was appointed Reich minister for popular enlightenment and propaganda, which gave him effective control of the press, radio, and film. On September 22, 1933, he was appointed president of the new Reich Chamber of Culture with control over literature, the theatre, music, and the fine arts. After initially showing sympathy for some Expressionist art, Goebbels was soon obliged to toe Hitler's line and organized the purging of “decadent art” from German galleries. In 1939 he ordered the destruction of many of the paintings that had not been sold. On November 9, 1938, Goebbels took the initiative in launching, with Hitler's approval, the pogrom against the Jews (Kristallnacht). Goebbels continued to press Hitler for measures against the Jews, notably for the removal of Jews from his Gau (district), Berlin. In 1940 he established the prestige weekly Das Reich, for which he wrote a series of influential editorials.

IV

Total War

During the second half of World War II, as Germany's situation deteriorated, Goebbels's propaganda role became increasingly important. He continually pressed Hitler to introduce total war measures on the home front as, for example, in his notorious ”total war” speech of February 18, 1943, following the defeat at Stalingrad. On August 24, 1944, Hitler appointed him “Reich plenipotentiary for total war measures”, although by then Germany's resources were already fully stretched. Previously, on July 20, 1944, Goebbels had played a significant part in the defeat of the attempted coup (see July Plot) against Hitler by persuading the officer sent to arrest him that Hitler was alive and that he should use his troops against the military plotters instead. In his final testament on April 28, 1945, Hitler named Goebbels as his successor as Reich chancellor. However, Goebbels committed suicide on May 1, 1945, having first poisoned his wife and six children.