part 3: economic changes

Question 1

who was the old economics minister?

Answer 1

Schacht

Question 2

why did the old minister get demoted?

Answer 2

in 1935 he told Hitler that rearmament by 1939 wasn’t possible

Question 3

who was the new minister?

Answer 3

herman goering

Question 4

when was goering appointed?

Answer 4

1936

Question 5

what other two things was goering already president/head of?

Answer 5

president of the reichstag, head of the luftwaffe

Question 6

why did people doubt goering’s ability?

Answer 6

he had no background in economics

Question 7

what did Herman Goering want for the economy, and why? how did he aim to accomplish this?

Answer 7

• wanted germany to be completely self-sufficient so there wouldn’t be shortages in the next war
• introduced a 4 year plan
• focus on argiculture
• hitler knew that more territory would need to be taken to become completely self-sufficient

Question 8

what was the german labour front?

Answer 8

an alternative to trade unions after they were banned however workers still couldn’t strike, followed wishes of employers

Question 9

what was strength through joy and what did it aim to do (Kdf)?

Answer 9

• aimed to organise workers leisure time
• rewards for their work
• included holidays and theatre
• each activity involved ideological content delivered by nazis to indoctrinate the workers

Question 10

how many people went on short excursions through Kdf in 1937?

Answer 10

7 million

Question 11

give 3 examples of public work schemes

Answer 11

• autobahns
• hospitals
• houses

Question 12

how did the nazis change statistics?

Answer 12

no women or jews were included in official statistics

Question 13

how many germans were still unemployed by 1933?

Answer 13

5 million

Question 14

why did hitler need to reduce unemployment?

Answer 14

• unemployed workers more likely to vote communism
• believed it would increase genuine support for nazis and germany
• wanted autarky

Question 15

other word for self-sufficiency

Answer 15

autarky

Question 16

give 3 ways the nazis reduced unemployment?

Answer 16

• RAD
• building autobahns
• rearmament

Question 17

when was the RAD set up?

Answer 17

1933

Question 18

what did the RAD do?

Answer 18

provided work for the unemployed

Question 19

what work did the RAD focus on?

Answer 19

‘public works’ such as repairing roads and building hospitals

Question 20

why did the nazis make these RAD projects visible?

Answer 20

to symbolise the start of a new germany

Question 21

what happened to the RAD in 1935?

Answer 21

it was made compulsory when all unemployed men had to work for 6 months at a time

Question 22

what was similar to the RAD and why?

Answer 22

the army as they had a uniform and there was a strict discipline

Question 23

how many miles of new motorways did the nazis plan?

Answer 23

7000 miles

Question 24

when did the autobahn building start, by who and why?

Answer 24

1933, by hitler as a publicity stunt

Question 25

how many men were employed for building autobahns in 1935?

Answer 25

125,000

Question 25

how much of the motorways had been completed in 1938?

Answer 25

3500km

Question 26

what was the benefit of the autobahns?

Answer 26

transport links, meant that goods could now be traded all around germany

Question 27

who was in charge of rearmament?

Answer 27

goering

Question 28

what happened in 1935 to do with rearmament?

Answer 28

hitler introduced compulsory military conscription, publicly announced rearmament

Question 29

how did rearmament help to solve unemployment?

Answer 29

armed forces needed more equipment so more workers were needed in factories to make the goods

Question 30

army rise in men from 1918 to 1939

Answer 30

100,000 to 900,000

Question 31

aircraft industry employment rise from 1933 to 1935

Answer 31

4,000 to 72,0000

Question 32

describe rationing

Answer 32

- introduced on 27th august 1939 - autarky and rearmament meant consumer goods were already expensive due to low supply - diets become more monotonous with a lot of bread and potatoes - meat shortages due to lack of imports from america - germans feared a repeat of the shortages experienced by ww1 - food entitlements depended upon importance of individuals to the war effort - 1939-40 winter was exceptionally cold with shortages of coal

Question 33

describe area bombing

Answer 33

- in 1942 british switched to a policy of area bombing, targeting large industrial cities with incendiary bombs - didn't distinguish between military and civilian targets - on 30th may 1942 first british 'thousand bomber raid' launched against cologne - over next 3 years, 61 german cities with a total population of 25 million were attacked - 3.6 million homes destroyed, 7.5 million people made homeless, 300-400,000 killed, 800,000 wounded - nazi propaganda tended to downplay impact and number of deaths, kept morale up

Question 34

describe refugees

Answer 34

- at outbreak, many germans from western regions fled further east - but many returned soon after - british area bombing campaign that targeted the ruhr region created thousands of refugees - during advance of soviet army during 1944 and 45, many fled westwards to avoid brutal russian soliders

Question 35

describe employment

Answer 35

- 13.7 million men served in army creating a huge labour shortage on the home front - so women entered workforce in large numbers - nazis used forced labour by transporting hundreds of thousands of civilians and war prisoners from eastern europe to germany to keep war effort going - at the end of the war, eight million enslaved labours became refugees inside germany

Question 36

who weren't account for in employment statistics?

Answer 36

- 1.4 million men in the army - jews who were sacked - women who were encouraged to give up jobs to men

Question 37

impact of economic policies on german people pre-war

Answer 37

- big business wages rose by 50% - 20% small businesses closed - agricultural prices increased by 20%