Nazi pre-war Economy

Question 1

what happened to paying reparations?

Answer 1

after the depression, the allies understood that it was impossible for reparations to be paid back so in 1932 they scrapped them

Question 2

why did Germany break off trade with the US?

Answer 2

Germany couldnt pay off its US debts

Question 3

what was Hjalmer Schact’s ‘new plan’?

Answer 3

• trade with other countries such as Hungary and Yugoslavia
• exchanging goods instead of paying for imports

Question 4

When was the first four year plan announced?

Answer 4

1 January 1933

Question 5

what were the 3 targets of the first for year plan?

Answer 5

• creating employment
• managing agriculture
• managing business and workers

Question 6

why was there a increase in workforce under the Nazis?

Answer 6

1. industry had just recovered from the great depression and began employing people again
2. workforce no longer included Jewish people which meant they were not included in unemployment statistics
3. Nazis created many work schemes for the unemployed

Question 7

what were Nazi work schemes called?

Answer 7

Reichsarbeitsdienst schemes for unemployed men and women

Question 8

what work schemes did the Nazis give?

Answer 8

• road building
• truck and car manafacture
• the autobahns (84,000 workers)

Question 9

what benefits did the unemployed get by joining Nazi work schemes?

Answer 9

• provided manual work
• accomodation in basic labour camps
• better pay than unemployment social pay

Question 10

how many unemployed in 1933?

Answer 10

30% of workforce

Question 11

how many unemployed in 1936?

Answer 11

7.4% of workforce

Question 12

who was the minister for agriculture in 1933?

Answer 12

Alfred Hugenberg

Question 13

what did Hugenberg do for the economy?

Answer 13

• increased import tarrifs led to cheaper German produce
• banned banks from repossesing farms form debted farmers

Question 14

who replaced Hugenberg in 1933?

Answer 14

Richard Darre

Question 15

what was the RNS?

Answer 15

the Reichsnarhstand

it regulated food production and distribution and farmers wages

Question 16

what did the Nazi govt do to increase agriculture?

Answer 16

• work creation schemes (more farmers)
• goverenment control over food prices
• fining those who did not conform 100,000 RM

Question 17

by 1934 what % of farm produce was German?

Answer 17

80

Question 18

which big business supported the Nazis?

Answer 18

I.G Farben

Question 19

what was the law for the protection of retail trade?

Answer 19

stopped the building of new stores and stopped the expansion of existing ones

Question 20

did the Nazis support big or small business?

Answer 20

SMALL

Question 21

what was the only union in Nazi Germany?

Answer 21

the DAF

German Labour Front

Question 22

what were the benefits of being part of the DAF?

Answer 22

you had better chances of getting work

Question 23

when was the second four year plan announced?

Answer 23

1936

Question 24

why was the first four year plan ended early?

Answer 24

change in economic priorities
high foreign debts due to the cost of raw materials for rearmament

Question 25

who led the second four year plan?

Answer 25

Hermann Goring

Question 26

what was the main aim of the second four year plan?

Answer 26

TO REARM

Question 27

how did Germany deal with raw materials it could not produce?

Answer 27

they were replaced by alternatives such as:

synthetic Buna rubber

Question 28

what was the ‘command economy’?

Answer 28

an economy geared towards rearmament and with a lot of govt intervention controlling the priorities of the economy

Question 29

what was the guns or butter argument?

Answer 29

the Nazis had to deal with deciding whether to focus on investing in social improvements or to focus on the military

senior Nazis like Goring and Geobbels made it clear that

Question 30

what did Goebbels say in a speech about the guns vs butter argument?

Answer 30

one cannot shoot with butter but with guns

Question 31

what was an example of party vs state conflict in the economy?

Answer 31

the Office of the Four-year plan > the Ministry of Economics

this battle led to Schactht resigning after feeling his ministry was useless

Question 32

what eating habits did the Nazis change?

Answer 32

eat fish instead of meat

eat jam with bread instead of sausage

Question 33

why was the Nazi economy not ready for war?

Answer 33

it’s command economy failed by focussing too much on the BREAD and not full on the GUNS