4 - War Preparation Flashcards
When were the years of germanys perparation??
4 year plan since 36”
3rd Sept 1939 Decree for conversion of German economy.
1942 - Total Mobalisation
What was the reason for the delay??
Too much specialisation
Lack of expectation of allies fighting
Goerings Inexpirience.
Explain allies reaction??
Belief based on Anschluss and Sudetenland
Economic planning for war with Soviet Union - June 1941
Luftwaffe due - 1942
Navy - 1944/45
Early stages of Four Year Plan had not accommodated for early war
Explain Military specialisation??
Too much specialisation within military made streamlining difficult
Armaments production:
21% September 1939
55% January 1941
Increased production, but not in line with demand
Standardisation of weapons impossible
Explain Goering??
In charge of Four Year Plan
Focused on building his own economic empire
Failings masked in 1939-40: Early military successes - france + poland
Replaced by Albert Speer (Armaments Minister 1942)
Speer: Goering’s “era of incompetence, arrogance and egotism”
What does speer say??
“Economic Miracle”
What is the economic miracle - changes to production??
Changes to production - Standerdisation
Mass production techniques
Factory workers working 24/7
What is the economic miracle - Production Miracle??
41 - 43” - Aircraft production +200%
Tank Production +250%
Messerschmitt Bf 109 - made in 3 not 7 factories
What is the key idea??
Nazi ideology undermines economic policy/actions/success
How was Foreign Labour??
June 1940 - Spring 1942: workforce recruited from Occupied West
Invasion of USSR increased P.O.W numbers
October 1941 - Soviets used as ‘slave labour’
December 1941 - 4 million ‘employed’
1942 - 1945 - 2.8 million workers transported to Germany from East
1944 estimates 7 million in Germany -
7 million in occupied countries
What were the conditions like??
Foreign - Low wages, Poor living conditions +50% normal wage
Guest - Normal wages, Normal living conditions + Western Europeans
POWs - Slave labour, Starvation rations, No pay
