Nazi Germany: Economy and Lives of the Workers Flashcards
(26 cards)
How many people were unemployed when Hitler came to power
Six million
How would Hitler build up Germany’s Armed Forces again
Rearming and enlarging the army, navy and air force
How did Hitler plan to make Germany economically self-sufficient during wars
Autarky.
What were the three main goals of Nazis economically
Autarky
Rearming
Reduce unemployment
How did the Nazis plan to achieve autarky
Limit imports
Trade agreements with other countries
Set targets to increase production of oil, rubber and steel
Ordered German Scienteists to develop synthetic and artificl substitutes to reduce need for imports
What was the New Plan
Established 1934
aimed to get Germany out of economic depression
Prioritised government resources for industry and cut welfare spending. by 1936 economy was recovering
Who created the Autarky policy
Hermann Goring (replaced Dr Hjalmar Schacht as First Minister of the economy in 1936)
Who created the New Plan
Dr Hjalmar Schacht
Who created the four year plan
Herman Goring
What was the four year plan
A plan focused on rearming and building up the German military
What was the Guns vs Butter argument
Disagreement between Hitler and Schacht. Hitler wanted to focus on rearmament and building up the military, Schacht wanted to continue on economic recovery.
Led to Schacht being replaced by Herman Goring
What measures did Goring introduce in order to achieve the Four Year Plan
Establishment of the Reich Food Estate
Tighter controls on imports
Production of ersatz (synthetic substitutes for materials in short supply)
Forced labour by inmates in concentration camps
Building huge industrial complexes
How did Hitler create jobs for the six million unemployed in 1933
Expand public work schemes of the Weimar Republic
National Labour Service (RAD)
Conscription
rearmament
Removal of people from jobs (Jews)
What was the RAD (national labour service)
Unemployed men between ages of 18 and 25 built government-funded motorways, hospitals, schools and other buildings.
Men spent six months in camps, wore uniforms and received small amount of pay to send back to families.
Became compulsory for men in 1935
How did conscription reduce unemployment?
from 1935 onwards, young men between ages of 18 and 25 conscripted into army for two years
How did rearmament reduce unemployment?
Millions of jobs created in factories produced weapons.
Ersatz industry (synthetic materials e.g. rubber and diesel so less imports) created jobs
How did removal of people from jobs reduce unemployment?
Many groups of people (Jews and professional women) excluded from work
this left vacancies for others
These groups taken off unemployment register
what were the successes of the economic plans by 1939
Schacht’s New Plan helped the German economy recover from the Great Depression within two years.
By 1939, there was virtually no official unemployment in Germany.
It had a modern motorway network and new public buildings.
It had rearmed its military.
what were the failures of the economic plans by 1939
Autarky was not successful; Germany was still importing 20% of its food and 33% percent of its raw materials.
The economy was not ready for a long war in 1939.
Ersatz were more expensive and inferior to the products they replaced.
Germany had rearmed in breadth but not in depth; it had a great variety of armaments but limited numbers of each type.
There was a huge national debt.
There was a serious shortage of agricultural workers because of the drift of poverty-stricken peasants to the towns.
What was the German Labour Front (DAF)
Nazi Organisation Replaced trade unions
run by Dr Robert Ley
Sided with employers instead of employees
What did the German Labour Front (DAF) do to workers?
Workers can’t strike, bargain for wages or leave jobs without permission
max working hours increased from 60 to 72
How could you change your job through the German Labour Front (DAF)
Government organised labour exchanges
What did the Nazis do to change the lives of workers? (DAF section on the worksheet)
provided universal healthcare
Doubled paid holidays from 3-6 a year
Real wages rose by 20 percent
cost of many goods and rent fell
First government to begin scanning for breast cancer
What was the Strength through Joy scheme (KdF)
Set up in November 1933
Aimed to make workers support Hitler by offering rewards and to keep them occupied outside workplace with organised leisure activities
Run by Dr Ley
