Nazi war economy

Question 1

which organisations were involved in organising the war economy?

Answer 1

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)

Question 2

why was there more spending on the air force compared to the rest of the armed forces?

Answer 2

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!

Question 3

impact of having armed forces involvement in the economy?

Answer 3

all these divisions and organisations were competing with each other for resources and funding

Question 4

what was the order for increased simplicity in armaments production?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

why was Todt replaced in 1942?

Answer 5

he died in a plane crash

Question 6

who replaced Todt?

Answer 6

Albert Speer

Question 7

what did Hitler’s decree set up in April 1942 do?

Answer 7

set up the Central Planning Board

Question 8

what did the Central Planning Board do?

Answer 8

• 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)

Question 9

what did the committees achieve?

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

why did Hitler focus on U-boat and long range armament production in mid 1940?

Answer 10

he had planned an invasion of Britain

Question 11

why did Hitler shifting focus to Russia in June 1941 hurt factories?

Answer 11

they had to quickly switch from producing planes and u boats back to tanks and armoured vehicles

Question 12

how had war production been badly affected by the allied advance after 1944?

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

what developed due to the lack of food caused by the allied advancement?

Answer 13

a black market

Question 14

what did Nazi war economy rely on the most?

Answer 14

relied on plundering

it needed to seize assets from invaded lands to be able to keep up with demand

Question 15

by 1941 how much of the workforce were involved in arms production?

Answer 15

55%

Question 16

when were women aged 17-45 obliged to work?

Answer 16

January 1943

Question 17

how many women were actually recruited?

Answer 17

400,000

mainly because of Hitlers insistence on women staying at home

Question 18

impact of not having full female mobilisation

Answer 18

the German war economy lagged behind Britain and the USSR were women were fully mobilised

Question 19

how many foreign workers by the end of 1942?

who kept them in control?

Answer 19

6.4 million foreign workers
recognised as slave labour

kept in check by the home army

Question 20

how much lower was the productivity of the foreign workers in camps?

Answer 20

60% lower compared to German workers

limited the level of productivity in German arms manufacturing

Question 21

did ersatz work?

Answer 21

NO
they did not compensate for the lack of raw materials Germany had during the war

Question 22

what was declared by Goebbels in Feb 1943?

Answer 22

totallen krieg

total war

Question 23

stats on improvement in output after totallen krieg speech

Answer 23

• Panzer tank production improved with 50% cut in assembly times
• output per worker making munitions improved by 60%
• weapons production increased by 130%

Question 24

what was Goebbels appointed in 1944?

Answer 24

Reich Pleripotentiary for Total War mobilisation

Question 25

once the allies were closing in what policy did Hitler adopt?

Answer 25

scorched earth policy

German industry and infrastructure was to be burned down to make life difficult for the allies

very defeatist attitude

Question 26

was the scorched earth policy carried out?

Answer 26

it was opposed by Speer

meant that German economy and industry was not full annihilated which gave hope for recovery post-war

Question 27

did Speer look to involve the armed forces in the economy?

Answer 27

NO
he ensured the economy was out of their hands

Question 28

what ways did Speer increase production?

Answer 28

Central Planning Board
employment of women
use of forced labour
preventing skilled labour from joining the army

Question 29

under Speer how much had ammunition production increased?

Answer 29

97%

Question 30

under Speer how much had tank production increased?

Answer 30

25%

Question 31

how many more aircraft were the British making compared to the Germans?

Answer 31

twice as many

Question 32

what limited the economic reform which Speer could make?

Answer 32

• power of the Gauleiters
• SS acquisition in the conquered lands

Question 33

how much of an impact did allied bombing have on the war economy

Answer 33

blanket bombing of whole German cities both destroyed German industry as well as the morale of the German people

workers didnt want to work so production fell

Question 34

which industries were targeted by allied bombing?

Answer 34

oil
chemicals
aircraft production

Question 35

what had bombing led oil production to drop to by 1944?

Answer 35

5%