Part Three, Topic one: Economic changes Flashcards
What did the Nazis do to reduce unemployment?
- Building of autobahns created jobs with benefits e.g. theatre tickets
- Jews were not counted in the unemployment statistics
- Conscription was brought back in for men ages 18 to 25 for 2 years service in 1935
- National labour compulsory to do for 6 months in 1935 with little pay (conditions were strict)
What plan was put in place to get Germany ready for war?
4 year plan in 1936
Hermann Goring put in charge
The economy was focused on rearmament rather than on consumer goods
How did the new Nazi economy affect different groups of people?
Factories and big businesses: Nazis destroyed trade unions which meant they could employ people for longer hours and pay them less without fear of worker strikes. Rearmament meant that businesses making war equipment also benefitted
Small Businesses: Over 300,000 small businesses went bankrupt because they could not compete with big businesses
Farmers: Benefited when debts were cancelled and food prices increased
Workers: Rearmament meant that workers in the armaments industries got paid well. But, other workers’ wages decreased and those seen as ‘work shy’ were sent to concentration camps
What was the impact of WW2 on Germany?
By 1944, there were 13 million men in the army resulting in labour shortages. Women and prisoners forced to work 60 hours a week with holidays banned
Food shortages = rationing (diet limited to bread, potatoes and vegetables). Rations were cut mid 1944 and Germany was running out of food.
By 1945, allies were advancing east so many Germans fled west away from Russian army. Cold, hunger and disease led to thousands of German refugees dying.
Allies bombed German cities, 350,000 people died from this. Cities such as cologne were badly damaged from this which made it hard to produce goods and transport them across Germany (bad impact on morale)
