Axis forces, Germany, Italy, Japan: episode 2/4 of the Winter 43 podcast, victory changes sides

In Munich, in the capital of Nazism, in Italy, in Japan or in the satellite countries, the defeats of winter 43 involve heavy changes in the behavior of the countries of the Axis.

Men are dying at the front, shortages are increasing and the bombings are terrorizing the populations. Historian Marie-Anne Matard Bonucci explains how people are frightened in Italy: “The bombardments are more and more massive, they begin to become very important in 42, will increase, and target the main cities. Faced with this situation, the population feels very vulnerable and very often people prefer to leave the towns rather than be present at the time of the bombardments because they feel they are not protected. And they blame this vulnerability on the fascist government”.

On another front, historian Johannes Hürter recounts the psychological effect the Battle of Stalingrad had on the German population: “The defeat at Stalingrad was a shock. For the first time in the war, an entire German army, amounting to 200,000 soldiers, was surrounded by the enemy. It was already a shock that a large German army was in such distress. And the defeat was, of course, even more shocking, it left no one indifferent. Psychologically, the defeat at Stalingrad was much greater than the actual military significance, which was important, but was only a step on the road to defeat”.

For the first time, the prospect of losing the war invades people’s minds. While Hitler and Goebbels intensified their propaganda in favor of “total war”, Mussolini, for his part, lost more and more ground…

A documentary by Kristel Le Pollotec and Thomas Dutter.

With :

Marie-Anne Matard Bonucci historian, specialist in fascism

Catherine Horel historian, specialist in contemporary Central Europe

Barbara Lambauer historian of World War II in Europe

Hildegard KronawitterMuseum of the White Rose in Munich

Michael Luckenhistorian, professor at INALCO

Johannes Hurterhistorian, Munich Institute for Contemporary History

Comedians :

Diary of Joseph Goebbels : Samuel Glaume

Journal- Count Ciano : Antoine Lachand

Tract of the White Rose – Sophie and Hans Scholl

Anne Steffens lends its voice to the translations of German historians.

Connections :

• Speech by Joseph Goebbels at the Sports Palace in Berlin, February 18, 1943.

• The Axis Powers in World War II: Article from the Multimedia Encyclopedia of the Holocaust.

• Jean-Louis Panicacci: The generalized occupation (November 11, 1942-July 25, 1943) in The Italian Occupation: South-East France, June 1940-September 1943, ed. Rennes University Press, 2010.

• David Rodogno: The new fascist order in the Mediterranean, 1940-1943: ideological presuppositions, visions and inclinations, in Revue d’histoire moderne & contemporaine, vol. 55-3, No. 3, 2008.

• Grégory Mougel: From urban representations to the destruction of cities. The strategic bombings of Germany (1940-1945) in The city in turmoil: Urban societies put to the test, ed. Presses Universitaires de Rennes, 2014.