Nazi war economy Flashcards
which organisations were involved in organising the war economy?
Ministry of War
Ministry of Economics led by Funk
Office of 4 year plans led by Goring
Ministry of munitions led by Todt (later replaced by Speer)
why was there more spending on the air force compared to the rest of the armed forces?
Goring who was in charge of the Office for the 4 year plans was also the head of the Air Force
of course he was going to invest in his air force!
impact of having armed forces involvement in the economy?
all these divisions and organisations were competing with each other for resources and funding
what was the order for increased simplicity in armaments production?
Hitler got fed up with the mess in handling the war economy
the war in Russia was going VERY bad so he had to switch up
- order on rationing
- updating factories
- making sure armed forces demand was low
- increasing quality of weapons
why was Todt replaced in 1942?
he died in a plane crash
who replaced Todt?
Albert Speer
what did Hitler’s decree set up in April 1942 do?
set up the Central Planning Board
what did the Central Planning Board do?
- helped distribute raw materials
- setting up new factories
- organise transportation
it had a variety of committees:
- made up of engineers
- each had responsibilities over a specific armament (tank, gun etc)
what did the committees achieve?
- they shut many smaller factories which were making the same thing as larger ones
- machinery was standardised so that there was only one model of each part
- factories were adapted for MASS PRODUCTION
why did Hitler focus on U-boat and long range armament production in mid 1940?
he had planned an invasion of Britain
why did Hitler shifting focus to Russia in June 1941 hurt factories?
they had to quickly switch from producing planes and u boats back to tanks and armoured vehicles
how had war production been badly affected by the allied advance after 1944?
- allied bombing wiped out factories, mines, towns and transport links
- loss of land meant loss of raw materials
- damage to electricity, gas and water supplies
- sabotage by foreign workers
what developed due to the lack of food caused by the allied advancement?
a black market
what did Nazi war economy rely on the most?
relied on plundering
it needed to seize assets from invaded lands to be able to keep up with demand
by 1941 how much of the workforce were involved in arms production?
55%
when were women aged 17-45 obliged to work?
January 1943
how many women were actually recruited?
400,000
mainly because of Hitlers insistence on women staying at home
impact of not having full female mobilisation
the German war economy lagged behind Britain and the USSR were women were fully mobilised
how many foreign workers by the end of 1942?
who kept them in control?
6.4 million foreign workers
recognised as slave labour
kept in check by the home army
how much lower was the productivity of the foreign workers in camps?
60% lower compared to German workers
limited the level of productivity in German arms manufacturing
did ersatz work?
NO
they did not compensate for the lack of raw materials Germany had during the war
what was declared by Goebbels in Feb 1943?
totallen krieg
total war
stats on improvement in output after totallen krieg speech
- Panzer tank production improved with 50% cut in assembly times
- output per worker making munitions improved by 60%
- weapons production increased by 130%
what was Goebbels appointed in 1944?
Reich Pleripotentiary for Total War mobilisation
