Transcript Nazi_Economy_ACH

Nazi Economic Policies
Exam Specifications
Key issue:
To what extent did Germans benefit from Nazi rule in the
1930s?
Economic policy: increased employment through public works programmes,
rearmament and conscription; self-sufficiency
Social policy: standards of living; promises to the German people; effects of Nazi
policy on the lives of women; effects on culture
Racial persecution: the Jews and other alien groups, e.g. gypsies.
What does this image have to do
with the Nazi regime?
Hitler and the economy
- The Volkswagen car was
introduced by the Nazis
as a cheap luxury for
German workers.
- The idea was that
workers could pay weekly
sums in order to hire out
the vehicle.
- When they had paid
enough it would be theirs.
Germany 1933
 By January 1933,
unemployment had reached
6,000,000.
 No one would loan Germany
the Weimar Government
couldn’t do anything to help
the unemployed.
 Hitler was elected on a
promise to give the German
people ‘Bread & Jobs.’
Hitler’s economic aims.
1)
2)
3)
4)
Autarky/Self Sufficiency
Strengthen Germany’s military.
Get people into jobs.
Modernise.
Self-sufficiency
• In Hitler’s mind, Germany
lost world war one
because they had run out
of imported goods.
• If another war was
coming, he needed to
ensure that Germany was
producing everything she
needed without needing
to import from other
countries.
• It was called “Autarky”.
The Four Year Plan
• To achieve this, Hitler
introduced a Four Year
Plan that he hoped would
get the job done.
• Germany improved the
production of natural
materials such as coal
and oil, and of artificial
products such as rubber
and textiles.
• However, Germany never
became self-sufficient
and still imported 1/3 of
her goods when war
broke out in 1939.
Labour
•
•
•
The state-run trade union, The
German
Labour
Front
(Deutsche Arbeitsfront - DAF),
was
the
largest
Nazi
organization with a membership
of 22 million by 1939.
It was responsible for setting
wages and working hours,
organizing training, dealing with
strikes and absenteeism and
supervising working conditions.
Kraft durch Freunde (KdF,
Strength through Joy) provided
opportunities for loyal workers
to go on cheap holidays,
participate in cultural visits or
access sporting facilities.
Strength through Joy movement
• However, Hitler wanted
happy workers so he
organised his
Volkswagen scheme.
• He also sorted out cheap
holidays for workers to
take once a year.
• Actually, though, few
workers saved enough
money for a car so it was
generally unsuccessful.
How did Hitler put Germany back to work?
Impact of Hitler’s Policies on
Unemployment
7000000
6000000
5000000
4000000
3000000
2000000
1000000
0
Series1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1939
3,773,000
2,974,000
2,520,000
1,853,000
1,052,000
302,000
Series2 6,014,000
Government Finances
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1928/9 1932/3 1933/4 1934/5 1935/6 1936/7 1937/8 1938/9
Revenue
Expenditure
National Debt
Reichsarbeitsdienst – (RAD)
State Labour Service
This was a body created to
reduce unemployment by
working on public works
programmes, such as the
autobahns. It was similar
to the programmes in other
countries (EG New Deal)
Public Works
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reichsautobahnen
Year
km
total
1935
108
108
1936
979
1087
1937
923
2010
1938
1036 3046
1939
255
3301
1940
436
3737
1941
90
3827
1942
34
3861
1943
35
3896
Total:
3896
Public Works
Source: G. Layton, Democracy and Dictatorship in Germany (2009)
Winners and Losers
• Difficult to assess
• Job creation
• Low Real Wages for Industrial Workers w/ some new
compensations (Eigensinn-Alf Lüdtke)
• Minor gains for small businessmen and farmers
• Heavy Industry!!
Marketplace
• Table 1: What were the main aims of Nazi
economic policy
• Table 2: Who was Schacht and what was
the ‘New Plan’?
• Table 3: Who was Goering and what was
the ‘Four-Year Plan’?
• Table 4: Evaluate the sources on p.128-9
• Table 5: What were the successes and
failures of Nazi economic policy?
Workers were better off
Workers were worse off