The Reich Plenipotentiary for the Total War Effort (Reichsbevollmächtigter für den totalen Kriegseinsatz) was a position created by Adolf Hitler, the Führer ("leader") of Nazi Germany, on 23 July 1944 for Joseph Goebbels, who was also at the time the regime's Propaganda Minister. The purpose of the new office was to rally the German people behind an effort to achieve "total war", in which all civilian resources and all aspects of civilian infrastructure are subordinated to the needs of the military and the war effort. The idea to create the new office, and to appoint Goebbels to it, had come from Goebbels himself. Hitler had acceded to it because of the rapid deterioration of the German military position in the war in the East against the Soviet Union; he had finally been convinced that only a total war effort could counter what Hitler felt was the constant undermining of his military strategies by his generals.
As Plenipotentiary, Goebbels was empowered to issue directives to all civilians and all parts of the civilian sector, as well as to the heads of even the highest agencies of the Reich, although in practical terms, his power was restricted by the complexities of the Nazi power structure. Goebbels and his staff endeavored to bring about a "structural transformation in the entire state apparatus."
Background
Goebbels had been pushing for a total war effort for some time. He was convinced that everyone, from the Nazi elite to Germany's privileged classes, must be prepared to sacrifice for the war effort and was supportive of measures that restricted hunting, the prohibition of the use of alcohol at Nazi functions, and the scarcity measures of one-course meals that Hitler had in mind. As early as 4 January 1943, he told his ministerial conference that "we are confronted in the east with a brutal opponent who can only be defeated by the most brutal methods. In order to achieve this, the total commitment of all our resources and reserves is necessary," and he attempted to get Hitler to agree to a complete mobilization of the civilian population, for instance using women for work, and closing shops and cafes he considered to be luxuries. Hitler agreed, but little progress was made to put these measures into effect, besides the appointment of a "Committee of Three" to be in charge of the total war effort, which included Martin Bormann, the head of the Nazi Party Chancellery and Hitler's personal secretary, Hans Lammers, the head of the Reich Chancellery, and Wehrmacht General Wilhelm Keitel. Keitel, in particular, was aware of the military manpower shortage, and had complained in December 1941 that unnecessary personnel should be eliminated from the Reich government bureaucracy, from private corporations and even from within the non-fighting portion of the Wehrmacht itself, but attempts to achieve this had only managed to generate more red tape.
As Propaganda Minister, Goebbels understood that pressure could be brought to bear to push these initiatives along by way of a major propaganda campaign. On 18 February 1943, he made a nationally broadcast speech from the Berlin Sportpalast before a hand-picked audience of 14,000 Nazi die-hards, in which he extolled the necessity of a Spartan way of life in order to achieve total war. Throughout the speech the crews filming the event panned in and out on prominent people for added dramatic effect. Goebbels roused his audience with rhetorical questions; he was interrupted more than 200 times by shouts, slogans and wildly enthusiastic applause:
Are you and the German people determined, if the Leader orders it, to work ten, twelve, and, if necessary, fourteen and sixteen hours a day and to give your utmost for victory? [Loud shouts of 'Yes!' and lengthy applause] ... I ask you: Do you want total war? [Loud cries of 'Yes!' Loud applause] Do you want it, if necessary, more total and more radical than we can even imagine it today? [Loud cries of 'Yes!' Applause]