Nazi economic policies

Question 1

Why would people vote or join a political party?

Answer 1

-they picked one they believed would increase their wealth, power and prestige (widespread respect)

Question 2

What was one of the most important reasons why the Nazi Party gained popularity in the late 1920s?

Answer 2

-due to the economic struggles going on in Germany at the time like hyperinflation and the Wall Street Crash->people became desperate

Question 3

What serious issues did the Nazis realise they had to tackle to keep mass support?

Answer 3

-unemployment->had risen to over 6 million by 1932
-inflation and hyperinflation->Germany had faced devastating hyperinflation in 1923
-self sufficiency (autarky)->Germany relied on overseas trade for vital raw materials and food supplies->part of the reason Germany had lost WW1 was because it hadn’t been able to maintain these supplies->Hitler hoped to make Germany self sufficient

Question 4

When were the Nazis relatively unpopular?

Answer 4

-between 1923-1928

Question 5

How was Hitler viewed after the Wall Street Crash?

Answer 5

-was now seen in a new light after being considered a fool when predicting economic disaster->Hitler was seen as a hope to solve the depression

Question 6

Who did the SA arrest on Hitler’s demand on 2nd May 1933?

Answer 6

-Germany’s trade union leaders

Question 7

Who formed the DAF? When?

Answer 7

-Robert Ley
-1933

Question 8

What was the only union organisation allowed in the Third Reich?

Answer 8

-DAF

Question 9

What was the impact of a pay freeze being introduced? When was it introduced?

Answer 9

-a pay freeze was introduced in 19333 and was enforced by the Labour Front->wages were now decided by the Labour Front and compulsory deductions made for income tax and for its Strength Through Joy Programme

Question 10

What were the Labour Front issued work-books?

Answer 10

-the Labour Front issued work-books that recorded the worker’s employment record and no one could be employed without one

Question 11

What did the government ban the introduction of?

Answer 11

-the government banned the introduction of some labour-saving machinery

Question 12

Who did employers have to get permission from before reducing their labour force?

Answer 12

-employers had to get government permission before reducing their labour force

Question 13

Who did the government give work contracts to?

Answer 13

-the Nazi government gave work contracts to those companies that relied on manual labour rather than machines->true to the government’s massive autobahn (motorway) programme

Question 14

What was the impact of the Nazis concentrating on rearmament?

Answer 14

-the Nazis concentrated on rearming->thousands of Germans worked in factories producing weapons

Question 15

What helped reduce the numbers of unemployment?

Answer 15

-conscription into the German armed forces

Question 16

Why did Hitler encourage the mass production of radios?

Answer 16

-in this case he was not only concerned with reducing unemployment but saw them as a means of supplying a steady stream of Nazi propaganda to the German people

Question 17

How was youth unemployment dealt with in the formation of what service?

Answer 17

-youth unemployment was dealt with by the formation of the Voluntary Labour Service (VLS) and the Voluntary Youth Service (VYS)->they planted forests, repaired river banks and helped reclaim wasteland

Question 18

What jobs were women dismissed from and how much money were married women paid to stay at home?

Answer 18

-women in certain professions such as doctor and civil servants were dismissed while other married women were paid a sum of 1,000 marks to stay at home

Question 19

When did Hitler announce the German Labour Service, what was it and what was a result of it?

Answer 19

-in the summer of 1935 Hitler announced the introduction of Labour Service (RAD)->all men aged between 19-25 had to work for the government for 6 months->later women were also included and they did work like teaching and domestic service

Question 20

What was the Strength though Joy programmes aims?

Answer 20

-encourage workers to work as hard as they could for Germany and the Nazis

Question 21

What did the Strength through Joy programme do?

Answer 21

-offer cheap holidays and a car->good ways to win support
-cruises were common and affordable for many but the Nazi Party officials took it up
-in 1938 an estimate 180,000 people went on cruises to places such as Madeira and the Norwegian Fjords->others were given free holidays in Germany
-build sports facilities, paid for theatre visits and financially supported travelling cabaret groups

Question 22

What was a benefit of the Strength through Joy programme?

Answer 22

-although the German worker paid for these benefits though compulsory deductions the image of people being given holidays and subsidised entertainment was of great propaganda value to the Nazi government

Question 23

What did Hitler want every family in Germany to own? What did he do?

Answer 23

-a car because he loved them
-he designed the affordable Volkswagen

Question 24

What scheme did the Nazis design to do with the Volkswagen to help accelerate WW2?

Answer 24

-workers would get a car through a hire purchase scheme->they paid 5 marks a week into an account->theoretically the person would receive the car once paid for but that didn’t happen->the millions of marks invested into this scheme were re-directed into the rapidly expanding weapons factories->accelerated WW2->no one complained as it could lead to trouble with the Gestapo

Question 25

How much did the Beetle car cost? Who was it designed by?

Answer 25

-35 weeks wages for the average worker
-designed by Ferdinand Porsche

Question 26

What was the KdF? What did they do?

Answer 26

-Kraft Durch Freude
-an organisation which took care of workers leisure time

Question 27

How did the DAF leader (Ley) and the KdF work out leisure time for workers?

Answer 27

Ley and the KdF worked out that each worker had 3.740 hours pee year free for pursuing leisure activities

Question 28

Who would provide the leisure activities?

Answer 28

the state

Question 29

Were the leisure activities provided by the state recorded?

Answer 29

-the activities provided by the state were carefully and systematically recorded for the Berlin area

Question 30

How were the Nazis successful in tackling unemployment, inflation and creating self sufficiency?

Answer 30

-unemployment had fallen from 6 million in 1933 to 300,000 by 1939
-industrial production in 1939 was above the figure for Weimar Germany before the 1929 Wall Street Crash

Question 31

How were the Nazis unsuccessful in tackling unemployment, inflation and creating self sufficiency?

Answer 31

-by 1939 Germany had still imported 33% of it’s required raw materials
-government income had been 10 billion Reichsmarks in 1928 but in 1939 it was 15 billion Reichsmarks->government spending had increased by 18 billion in 1939
-from 1933 to 1939 the Nazi government always spent more than it earnt so that by 1939 government debt stood at over 40 billion Reichsmarks
-annual food consumption in 1937 had fallen for wheat, bread, meat, bacon, milk, eggs, fish, vegetables, sugar, tropical fruit and beer compared to the 1927 figures->the only increase was rye bread, cheese and potatoes
-real earnings in 1938 were all but the same as the 1928 figure (real earnings are wages adjusted to allow for inflation)

Question 32

What strategies did the Nazis use to drag Germany out of the worldwide recession and increase GNP?

Answer 32

-small business investment

-focus on agricultural production

-place tariffs on imported goods

-low interest rates to encourage investment

-re-scheduled local authority debts

-mefo bills->hid government spending

-state took control of interest rates and kept them at a low limit to reduce debt

Question 33

Were the strategies to drag Germany out of the worldwide recession and increase GNP effective?

Answer 33

-wages rose slightly but were still lower in 1938 than they had been in 1928

-working hours went up to 49 hours per week in 1939

-by 1936 GNP was up 40% and industrial production up 60%

-saved money and improved the economy

Question 34

What strategies did the Nazis use to solve unemployment?

Answer 34

-reduced to 1.5 million in 1938 but RAD, Jews and women were hidden from the figures (banned from government work

-DAF (German Labour Front) incorporated a working conditions subsection and called the Beauty of Labour (SdA)->improved working environments

-RAD (Reich Labour Service)->young men (18-25) sent to work on ‘war’ projects->hid unemployment
-banned labour saving machinery->farmers

Question 35

Were the strategies to solve unemployment effective?

Answer 35

-unemployment figures didn’t include women or Jews

-unemployment was reduced from 6.1 million in 1933 to 1.5 million in 1939

-banned trade unions and replaced with the DAF->membership increased to 22 million by 1939->workers were firmly under Nazi control which helped them manage strikes and harshly remove the right of workers to protest

-improving conditions meant more people could work

-RAD->not included in unemployment figures

Question 36

What strategies did the Nazis use to make Germany an autarky (self sufficient country)?

Answer 36

-Goring increased the production of raw materials

-Goring regulated imports and exports

-Schacht’s New Plan->reduce imports

-however more raw materials were being imported

Question 37

Were the strategies to make Germany an autarky (self sufficient country) effective?

Answer 37

-led to Germany being more self sufficient

-not relying on other countries->autarky

-autarky and saving money and not giving money to other countries which would make them stronger

-led to money shortages

Question 38

What strategies did the Nazis use to transform the economy to focus on rearmament and war?

Answer 38

-RAD->young men (18-25) sent to work on ‘war’ projects

-Goring regulated imports and exports in favour of rearmament at the expense of agriculture

-industrial production had increased by 60%

Question 39

Were the strategies to transform the economy to focus on rearmament and war effective?

Answer 39

-helped the progress of rearmament

-saved money so they could continue rearmament

-helped speed up rearmament and preparation for war but targets weren’t met and foreign supplies were relied upon by the outbreak of war in 1939->not ready for total war

Question 40

In my/your opinion were Hitler’s economic policies from 1933-1939 successful? Why?

Answer 40

I think that Hitler’s economic policies from 1933-1939 were successful. This is because they helped improve Germany’s economy. However, solving unemployment wasn’t as successful because women and Jews were removed from unemployment numbers so it could be argued that there could’ve been no change to unemployment