Nazi Economy

Question 1

What were economic conditions like in Nazi Germany?

Answer 1

1. Mass unemployment, roughly 25% of workers which was 6 million in 1932
2. The depression had ruined business and trade

Question 2

What were the 4 ways Nazis reduced unemployment?

Answer 2

• RAD
• Conscription and rearmement
• Invisible Unemployment
• Public works

Question 3

What was the RAD?

Answer 3

• All young men between 18-25 had to join the RAD for 6 months
• Given jobs in public works
• Conditions were poor and military esque, with low pay and poor food

Question 4

How did Conscription and Rearmament reduce unemployment?

Answer 4

-1935 Conscription was introduced for 18-25 year old
-The army grew from around 150k to 1.4 million by 1939
-Spending on arms grew from 3.5 billion marks to 26 billion, which required thousands of workers
E.g. by 1935 over 72k workers were involved in aircraft construction

Question 5

What was invisible Unemployment?

Answer 5

• The Nazis cheated unemployment stats
• Women and Jews were forced out of jobs for men and not counted in Unemployment figures
• Prisoners and KKs reduced unemployment and weren’t counted
• Part time workers and peacetime soldiers were all counted

Question 6

How did Public works reduce unemployment?

Answer 6

• Autobahn project planned 7000 mi of road and by 1935 employed 125k people
• Spent 38 billion a year by 1938 on public works
• Created jobs

Question 7

Did the Nazis reduce unemployment?

Answer 7

Yes: Unemployment reduced from 4.8 million to 300k in 1939

No: Some historians think it was less successful than it seemed, due to manipulation of statistics