Economic Changes Flashcards
what were the Nazis mainly trying to improve/change
- reducing unemployment
- improving life for German citizens
who were new jobs Nazis created for
mostly men
what were unemployed men employed to do
work on public construction projects
examples of public construction projects for unemployed men
- public buildings
- creating farmlands
- 1936 Olympic stadium
- 7,000lm autobahns
what was an autobahn
motorways
what was RAD
National Labour Service
what did RAD do
made it compulsory for men18-25 to work on public schemes for 6 months
why did many people dislike RAD
they felt exploited because they got low wages for long hours
what was DAF
German Labour Front
who had to join DAF
all workers
what did DAF do
- kept workers loyal to Nazis
- disguised lack of improvement to the standard of living
what was the Strength Through Joy Scheme
workers got rewards for hard work, such as a holiday or theatre visit
what was the Beauty of Labour scheme
a plan to improve working conditions
how did employment change under Hitler’s policies
fell from 5 million in 1933 to 0.3 million in 1939
who did Hitler not include in unemployment stats
- women forced out of jobs
- Jewws
- men conscripted into National Labour Service
‘invisible unemployment’
when was the Four Year Plan created?
1936 by Hermann Goering
what was the Four Year Plan for
to prepare Germany for war
two main aims of the Four Year Plan
1) Rearmament
2) self-sufficiency
rearmament
building up the supply of military weapons
self-sufficiency
not needing external support, such as imports
why did Hitler plan to begin rearmament
he wanted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and make Germany strong again
what was the plan for rearmament
to build up armed forces to be fully equipped with weapons and vechiles
who did rearmament benefit
big manufacturing businesses
what was rearmament responsible for
most economic 1933-1939
what was self sufficiency also known as
autarky
why was autarky less successful
Goering didn’t want Germany to accept imports so Nazis tried to control the number of imported goods but this increased as people became wealthier
what were subsides
money from the state
how were farmers included on the ‘path to self sufficiency’
to increase food production they were given subsides and labour from RAD
how much food were Germany importing by the end of WW? what did this show
- 20%
- showed the path to self sufficiency wasn’t going well
what did scientists create to increase raw materials
ersatz substitutes
where ersatz subs successul?
no, by ww2 germany imported 1/3 raw materials
how many germans worked in war industry by ww2
1/4, this increased to 3/4 by 1941
when did food/clothe rationing begin?
1939, before war even began
who benefited from Nazi economic policy
- german businesses
- farmers
how did large businesses benefit from Nazi economic policy
got investments and opportunities during rearmament
why could businesses exploit workers
Nazis had banned Trade Unions
what did the average weekly wage increase by
by 25% from 1932-1939
what did work creation schemes improve
- transport
- services
- homes
why did some farmers get higher income
increased food prices and subsides
why did workers not feel the increase in wages
food cost increased
what happened to working hours from 1936
they increased
what would happen to a worker if they complained of working conditions
they’d be blacklisted and struggle to find employment
what did the Four Year plan lead to
food shortages
what did world war two have a huge impact on
German economy from 1939-42
when was rationing set up
1939, before war has even started
when did shortages become more noticeable? why was this
after 1941 when the army was struggling in the Soviet Union
what did German armies do as they conquered new countries
sent loot back to Germany
what did collecting loot lead to
using the black market for luxury goods
what was the black market
a way of illegal trade
how many clothes did German people send to soldiers
- 1.5 million fur coats
- 67 million woolen garments
when was Albert Speer made armaments minister
1942
what was happening by 1941
- the Four Year Plan failure was clear
- army was suffering w lack of weapons/equipment
when was ‘Total War’ happening by
by 1943
what was total war
- all businesses were dedicated to war effort, or they were shut down
- workers were transferred to war work
what were shut down as a result of total war
- leisure establishments
- services such as the post
- but cinemas remained open to show propaganda films for morale
when was Operation Barbarossa
March 1942-May 1945
what was Operation Barbarossa
Great Britain and US bombed major German cities
example of city affected by Operation Barbarossa
Dresden, 70% of it was destroyed
what was the aim of Operation Barbarossa
to cause maximum civilian casualties
how many civilians were affected bc of Operation Barbarossa
- 500,000 killed
- 750,000 wounded
how man homes were affected bc of Operation Barbarossa
- 1 million homes destroyed
- 7 million people left homeless
what did the bomb raids of Operation Barbarossa target
targeted supply lines and factories
- this affected war efforts bc it stopped rearmaments reaching the front line
what was rationing like after Operation Barbarossa
- from 1942-45 it had to increase
- the increase in shortages reduced rationing
- clothing rations completely stopped
- by 1995 it was completely null
- black market was used to survive
when did the labour shortage become noticeable
1943
who were sent to work in Germany
workers in European occupied countries
who were forced to work in concentration camps
prisoners of war
age groups of people who had to work by January 1943
- men: 16-65
- women: 17-45
how man women were called to work after Operation Barbarossa
3 million, only 1 million came
how did Hitler Youth help with war
they helped with farms and by 1945 they helped on the homefront
why did number of refugees increase
- Operation Barbarossa
- many people moved from Dresden or Berlin to other parts of Germany
where did many refugees come from in fear of the Red Army?
- Poland
- July 1944
what happened when the Russians invaded Germany
- January 1945
- millions fled to western cities
