2 - nazi economic policies Flashcards
Establishment of Nazi Dictatorship & Its Domestic Policies: Feb 1933 - 1939
unemployment figures in Germany in 1932
6 million
Hjalmar Schacht
- president of the Reichsbank (1933-39)
- minister of economics (1934-37)
deficit financing
government spending more than its income
Schacht’s New Plan (1934)
- govt control over all trade, tariffs, capital & currency exchange
- govt decided which imports were allowed (priority = heavy industry)
- bilateral trade treaties signed (particularly with south-east Europe)
- Reichsmarks used by other countries to buy German goods
- Mefo bills introduced
- introduced public works (eg. public building, motorways, reforestation)
- public investment (leading to deficit financing)
- setting interest rates at a low level
- assistance to farmers & smaller businesses
results of Schacht’s economic policies
+ govt expenditure rose by 70% (1933-36)
+ unemployment fell (1.6mill in 1936)
- balance of trade deficit occurred (imported more raw materials & failed to increase exports)
- Germany = short of money
When was Schacht’s New Plan introduced?
September 1934
mefo bills
government credit note offering 4% interest
negatives of Schacht’s New Plan
- only hid the balance of payment problem (getting worse by 1936)
- wanted to reduce arms expenditure and increase production of industrial goods to sell (‘guns or butter’)
Göring’s Four Year Plan (1936)
- increase agricultural production
- increase production of raw materials
- develop ersatz products
- control labour force to prevent inflation
- regulate imports & exports in favour of rearmament (at the expense of agriculture)
When was Göring’s Four Year Plan introduced?
1936
ersatz products
replacement/substitute products, eg. sawdust bread
Göring’s aims
increase rearmament & autarky, so that Germany was self-sufficient in food & industrial production
autarky
self-sufficiency
When did Schacht resign as economics minister?
1937
Who replaced Schacht as economics minister?
Walther Funk (although Göring held power)
results of Göring’s economic policies
+ production increased in some industries (eg. aluminium)
- didn’t reach targets for rubber or oil
- failed to meet levels required by armed forced
- when war broke out, still relying on foreign supplies for 1/3 of raw materials
How much of Germany’s raw materials came from foreign supplies by the time war broke out?
1/3
unemployment figures in Germany in 1936
1.6 million
When was conscription introduced?
May 1935
position of workers during the Nazi rule
- unemployment fell (due to public works & conscription)
- independent unions banned & replaced by DAF
- lost the right to negotiate wages & conditions of work
- real wages only surpassed 1929 levels in 1938
- working hours = 43 (1933) -> 47 (1939)
- consumer industry workers struggled
German Labour Front / DAF
- supervised conditions
- dealt harshly with unrest
- replaced independent trade unions
‘Strength Through Joy’ movement
offered welfare benefits to loyal workers, eg. sports facilities, cultural visits, holidays, Volkswagen cars
‘Beauty of Labour’ movement
improved working conditions
