2) How far did the Nazis control the economy in the years 1933-45? Flashcards
what did the Nazis come into power promising? what issues did they not have to face?
they came into power promising economic recovery and wanted to achieve it as soon as possible
-they did not have to face the issues of reparations; in 1932, Bruning had said Germany could not pay and, at a conference in Lausanne, the Allies agreed that the Depression made reparation payments impossible
Despite the Nazis not having to pay reparations, which payments still needed to be made by a Weimer government official kept by the Nazis?
Hjalmar Schacht (kept as a president of the Reichsbank) still had to pay the government debt of foreign borrowing and fell behind on this. In 1934, Germany failed to pay its US debts and trade with the USA collapsed.
-this did not matter as much to the Nazis as it had to the previous governments - the Nazis were not intending to rely on foreign trade.
-Schacht drew up a ‘new plan’, making trade treatise with other countries, such as Hungary and Yugoslavia, which involved exchanging goods rather than paying for imports
what was the aim of the first ‘Four-Year Plan’ announced by the Nazis?
the first Four-Year Plan was announced on 1 January 1933, and its aim was to achieve autarky as soon as possible. Their most important targets were unemployment and agriculture
how did the Nazis have such an effect on unemployment statistics?
-firstly, the Depression had hit its lowest point and turned around. Businesses were employing people again.
-second, the Nazis manipulated the statistics. The definition of ‘workforce’ changed dramatically as Jewish people were no longer allowed to work in the civil service or in other occupations. this took them out of the workforce statistics. Women were discouraged from working and married women who left work, or were sacked, did not count in the workforce statistics either.
-third, the Nazis created work and encouraged businesses to do the same, especially temporary work for the long-term unemployed. RAD schemes for unemployed men and women provided manual work, often for less pay than unemployment pay, with very basic food and accommodation in labour camps that were either tents or barracks. Their road building schemes, tied to increased car consumption and truck manufacturing, created work and improved communications, which helped to move goods and raw materials more efficiently.
in his first weeks in office what did the minister of agriculture, Alfred Hugenburg, do?
agriculture was important to the Nazi desire for autarky, so agricultural reforms were part of the first Four Year Plan
-in his first few weeks in office, Alfred Hugenburg, increased import tariffs on agricultural produce, making German produce cheaper; he banned banks repossessing farms from farmers in debt, to keep them farming; and he made margarine manufacturers put butter from German farmers in their margarine
when did Alfred Hugenburg retire and what did his replacement, Richard Darre, set up?
-Alfred Hugenburg resigned in May 1933, and it was his replacement who set up the Reich Food Estate (RNS) to regulate food production and distribution of farm produce, as well as setting prices and farm wages
-the RNS could fine up to 100,000 for not conforming
-it also set up Reich agencies to control the importing of farm produce.
-work creation schemes sent people, especially young women, to work on farms as well as on building projects. Government control of food and prices was not welcomed by everyone.
despite Government control of food and prices, introduced by Richard Darre, not being welcomed, what were the effects of this measure?
in 1928, German farmers provided 68 percent of all farm produce in the country; by 1934, this was 80 percent
What were business reactions to the first Four-Year Plan and the increased control?
-some big businesses, such as the iron and steel industry and I.G. Farben, supported the Nazis.
-others, for example, those depending on exports, were less happy
-some business suffered due to measures that helped small businesses. For example, department stores made 80percent less in 1934 than they had in 1929 because of the 1933 Law for the Protection of Retail Trade, which stopped the building of new stores and banned the expansion of existing ones.
-Nazi propaganda discouraged the use of department stores because small businesses had supported Hitler, while most owners of big stores had not.
what was the issue for Nazis when deciding what to do with workers and unions?
-unions had been a problem for big business in Weimar Republic; there were wage disputes, disputes over working hours, strikes and lockouts. Such actions meant the loss of millions of working days.
-many of these businesses, including I.G. Farben, had backed Hitler and were expecting him to act decisively to cut the unions down to size.
-on the other hand, many workers had voted for the Nazis, too, and had hopes that the Nazis would provide not only work, but good working conditions and wages. The Nazis did not contradict them, even making May 1st a traditional Socialist worker’s festival, an official holiday in 1933
-on 6 May, they announced that there was now only one union - the DAF. Joining the DAF was ‘voluntary’, but it became increasingly difficult for non-members to get work
what did the DAF union make possible for big businesses to do?
it made it possible for big businesses to exploit workers more - they could set their own working conditions
-the Reich Trustees of Labour were a last resort and usually sided with the employers.
-the DAF became a powerful force, as part of the rewards system of controlling the people
What did Schacht’s changing of trade policy do and what happened by 1935? As a result, what happened in Germany?
-Schacht’s shifting of Germany’s trade to south east Europe and his use of exchanging goods meant that trade initially improved.
-by 1935, however, many countries were demanding cash, not an exchange of goods, for their goods. E.g. Bulgaria began to demand cash not goods for their oil.
-Germany was still not completely self sufficient, and rearming and work creation meant that it still needed to import raw materials. Worse still, it also needed to import food - there were growing shortages of fats and meat
-as a result, there was a crisis. Schacht who wanted to keep borrowing as low as possible, had to choose between food and raw-material imports. This was a significant crisis. Increasing exports went against Nazi policy
-the alternative was to cut consumption, without introducing unpopular rationing, and press for higher production. this was the basis for the new Four Year Plan of 1936
what did the second Four-Year Plan focus on?
-it had a tight focus on autarky and preparing for war
-Hermann Goering was in charge of the plan and had control of all business and agricultural production
-the raw materials Germany could not produce were replaced, as far as possible, with German manufactured synthetic alternatives. E.g. rubber was replaced by the synthetic ‘Buna’. This sometimes meant building new factories.
-consequently, results were not as rapid as was hoped and, because the processes were new, there were technical difficulties at first. It took six tonnes of coal, needed for many industries and to heat homes, to produce 1 tonne of synthetic fuel.
-the synthetic fuel, however, was essential to military transport, so it was prioritised
did Hitler believe it was vital for the Nazi state to have the support of all the people?
yes he did, and it was clear that if rationing was introduced, for instance, to try to control food consumption, the state would become very unpopular.
-too many people remembered the rationing of the war, the starvation diets many were on for years and the shortages during the Weimer years.
-the Nazi election promise had been ‘Work and Bread’ and they felt the need to provide both in order to remain popular.
-so the choice between spending on guns or spending on butter was a hard one.
-the Nazis tried to re-educate the people to consume less, especially less meat and fat, with propaganda aimed at changing their eating habits and at getting them to consume less to be patriotic
what was the situation of the economy like by 1939?
-by 1939, the Nazis had tight control of the economy. Farming and industry did not always meet the Four-Year plan targets set by the command economy, but some targets were unrealistic. E.g. by 1938-39, Germany was still importing 17percent of its agricultural needs
