Speer was appointed as Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production in February 1942

One of the interesting facts about Albert Speer is that Speer was appointed as Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production in February 1942. Speer was elected to the Reichstag from electoral constituency 2 in 1941 (Berlin-West). Fritz Todt, Reich Minister of Armaments and Munitions, died in a plane crash on February 8, 1942, shortly after taking off from Hitler's eastern headquarters in Rastenburg. Speer had arrived the night before and had accepted Todt's offer to fly with him to Berlin. Speer canceled the flight many hours before takeoff because he had been up late the night before in a meeting with Hitler. Hitler replaced Todt with Speer. According to Martin Kitchen, a British historian, the choice was not surprising. Speer was a Hitler supporter, and his experience building prisoner of war camps and other military structures prepared him for the task. Speer took over not just as Reich Minister, but also as Inspector General of German Roadways, Inspector General of Water and Energy, and Head of the Nazi Party's Office of Technology. At the same time, Hitler nominated Speer to lead the Organisation Todt, a vast government-controlled construction firm.

Speer was in charge of supplying weapons to the army as Minister of Armaments. He decided to prioritize tank production with Hitler's full support, and he was granted unmatched power to achieve success. Hitler was heavily involved in the tank design, but he continually changed his mind about the specs. This caused the program to be delayed, and Speer was unable to correct the situation. As a result, despite tank construction being the highest priority, it received just a small portion of the armaments budget. As a result, the German Army suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Prokhorovka, a critical turning point on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Red Army.