The Four Year Plan

Question 1

Overview: What three goals had Hitler achieved by 1936?

Answer 1

1. The Communists and Social Democrats had been crushed
2. German institutions had been Nazified
3. ‘The Battle for work’ had been won

Question 2

By 1936 what had Hitler’s turned his priority to?

Answer 2

waging war

Question 3

What was Goering’s main goal?

Answer 3

the cooperation of big business

Question 4

Give an example of a company that willingly cooperated with the Nazis?

Answer 4

I.G Farben

Question 5

How did I.G Farben cooperat with Nazis?

Answer 5

I.G Farben was given contracts to produce both synthetic fuel and synthetic rubber it later supplied the Nazi regime with Zyklon-B

Question 6

What was Zyklon B?

Answer 6

a poison gas to kill prisoners at Auschwitz and other extermination camps?

Question 7

What happened to companies that failed to co-operate with Goering?

Answer 7

they were by-passed and replaced by state-run industrial facilities

Question 8

Give an example of an instance where Goering bypassed a company that was not willing to cooperate?

Answer 8

1937 the ruhr iron and steel companies refused to invest in expensive new blast furnaces capable of using low–grade german iron ore

goering’s response was to build a state-owned steelworks called Hermann Goering’s works

Question 9

How many people did Hermann Goering’s Works employ by 1940?

Answer 9

600,000

Question 10

Hermann Goering Works had branches in what industries?

Answer 10

branched out from just steel marketing into other activites such as coal mining and armaments manufacture?

Question 11

Was self-sufficiency an aim of the Four Year Plan?

Answer 11

Hitler did not aim to make Germany self-sufficient in all respects, h e knew this was ot possible

he accepted that germany was incapable of feeding itself- which was a reason for why he claimed germany needed ‘lebensraum’

preparation for the war was prioritised over agriculture

Question 12

What examples are there of how preparations for war were prioritised over agriculture?

Answer 12

1. agricultural labourers were drafted into jobs in armaments factories
2. land was given over to the armed forces for barracks, camps and airfields

Question 13

In addition to the Nazis priority of war over agriculture, what is another reason for the failure of self-sufficiency?

Answer 13

many agricultural labourers left the land to seek better-paid-jobs in the cities

Question 14

What evidence is there of agricultural labourers leaving the land for better-paid-jobs in the cities?

Answer 14

around 1.4 million workers left the land between 1933 and 1939

Question 15

How did the nazis attempt to reorganise german agriculture?

Answer 15

1933 the Germans passed the reich entitled farm law

Question 16

What was the reich entailed farm law 1933?

Answer 16

This aimed to preserve medium sized farms by. Ensuring that they were. Passed onto a single heir. Thus the the children who were not heirs had no incentive to stay on the land

Question 17

What examples are there of the successes of the four year plan?

Answer 17

1. German steel production increased in the late 30s
2. The production of synthetic rubber successfully reached targets

Laid down in the four year plan

Question 18

What examples are there of the failures of the four year plan?

Answer 18

1. The contribution made to the increase of German steel production by home-produced iron ore was less than expected
2. in 1939 production of synthetic motor fuel was well bellow the planned level
3. the four year plan played havoc with Germany’s finances the government ran huge budget deficits in the late 30s. Germany lived beyond its means.

Question 19

What ambitious aim did Hitler express to achieve in the four year plan?

Answer 19

Autarky- economic self-sufficiency

Question 20

What aim did hitler express for the four year plan?

Answer 20

Autarky-economic self sufficiency

Question 21

What was the reasoning for hitlers emphasis on autarky in the four year plan?

Answer 21

Hitler was mindful of the impact of the British naval blockade on Germany in the First World War thus he maintained the important need to ensure that Germany could not be starved of vital resource by its enemies

Question 22

Why did Schaat resign in 1937?

Answer 22

Disagreements over the pace of change, wanted the pace of rearmament to be slowed, this was brushed aside and his influence waned

Question 23

Who replaced Schaat as economics minister?

Answer 23

Hermann Goering’s, the title he was given was plenipotentiary for the four year plan

had no expertise but was ambitious forceful and determined

Question 24

How did Hermann Goering’s try to bring about economic self sufficiency?

Answer 24

1. Attempts were made to encourage german farmers to grow more food
2. industries were required to to use raw materials available in Germany-even if imported raw materials were cheaper or of better quality
3. huge amount of investment in efforts to develop artificial substitutes for natural products-artificial replacement good ersatz
4. extensive programme of labour retraining to ensure Germany doesn’t run short of worker with essential skills

Question 25

What examples are there of Goering’s attempts at self-sufficiency?

Answer 25

1. German farmers given grants to bring new land under cultivation
2. low grade home produced iron ore was used in preference to higher quality imported ores
3. the biggest four year plan of all involved building plants to derive motor fuel from coal. Germany had plenty of coal but no oil of its own. There was also heavy investment in ersatz rubbers

Question 26

What evidence is there of the extent to which german military strength had grown since 1933?

Answer 26

1. By 1939 Germany had an army of nearly 4 million men
2. an airforce of 3000 warplanes

Question 27

What concerns did german army leaders have over the issue of whether Germany was ready for war?

Question 30

When did Goering launch the 4 year plan?

Answer 30

Nuremberg rally 1936