Did the economy satisfy germany's war needs 1933-1945?

Question 1

What are Tim Mason’s assesment of Germany;s economic problems in 1939?

Answer 1

1. excessive pace of rearament combined with a massive programme of prestige public building construction strained the economy
2. there was growing shortages of raw materials, food and consumer goods, foreign exchange and skilled labour

Question 2

What is Tim Mason’s argument for why Hitler went to war?

Answer 2

• the german economy was under great strain from the pressures of rearament
• the regime felt insufficiently secure to be able to demmand the sacrifices necessary from the civilian population- they could not continue rearming and preparing the economy for war without going to war
• Hitl

Question 3

To what extent did Speer create an economic miracle in wartime germany?

Answer 3

1. there was an upsurge of productivity between
2. Speer’s reorgnaisation and rationalisation decided to strip back on the type of products produced so specific types of tanks were produced in mass
3. employment of female workers
4. speer was an unpoltical bureaucrat who was able think pragmaticly and technically
5. himmler had the right idea with Blitzkrieg as soon as germany became involved in a total war economy they were doomed to failure

however

1. there is an argument that speer reaped the goods of earlier plans for the economy
2. speer was dedicated nazi who managed to white wash his reputation

Question 4

What evidence is there to demonstrate to what extent there was a successful wartime economy?

Answer 4

1. 1942-45 the production of amunition went up by 6 times and they developped sophisticated war winning weapons such as the Tiger Tank
2. the ministry of weaponry controlled the industry of rearmament

Question 5

To what extent was Speer ideologically commited to nazism?

Answer 5

• joined the nazi party in 1931 suggesting he was convinced
• he must have know about Auschwitz
• he employed a lot of slave labour which required one to be intimately involved with himmler and nazis in power
  *

Question 6

How did Schaacht enable rearmament

Answer 6

• The Treay of Versailles severe restrictions on Germany’s armed forces were ignored as airfields were rebuilt and barracks constructed
• a cover-up of the scale of German rearmament was organised by Schaacht by keeping military spending off the government’s published accounts 1933-35 by paying arms manufacturers with mefo bills

Question 7

What were mefo bills?

Answer 7

• secret government credit notes which manufacturers could then cash at the national bank

Question 8

Evidence expenditure on preparations for war was spiralling out of control: how much had spending on the army increased?

Answer 8

1938 9,137 million reichsmarks were spent on the army

compared to 478 million in 1933

Question 9

Evidence expenditure on preparations for the war were spiralling out of control: how much had spending on the Navy increased ?

Answer 9

1933 192 million reichsmarks

compared to 1938 1,632 million

Question 10

Evidence expenditure on preparation for war was spiralling out of control: How much did rearmament cost rise?

Answer 10

1933 7.8%

21.0% 1938

Question 11

Evidence expenditure on preparation for war spiralling out of control: How much had the defecit increased?

Answer 11

1933 796 million reichsmaks

9.5 billion 1938

Question 12

Why did Hitler sack Schacht on 20 January 1939?

Answer 12

7 January 1939 Schacht wrote a letter to hitler warning that overstretching public expenditure was rapidly leading to inflation and was destroying every attempt to put the budget in order

hitler’s response was to sack him and the entire board of directors

Question 13

How was Schacht’s worst fear realised on 15 June 1939?

Answer 13

a new law removed all limits on the printing of money

Question 14

When was Schacht appointed as president of the reichsbank?

Answer 14

march 1933

Question 15

When was Schacht made economic minister?

Answer 15

1934

Question 16

Why were the people exhorted to make contributions to savings schemes?

Answer 16

savings were directed into government bonds, loan certificates and tax credits, so that the vast bulk of them became available for spending on arms

Question 17

Overview: Measured by its own aims why had the Nazi regime only succeeded partially at most by the summer of 1939?