War Economy

Question 1

The economy’s poor organisation between 1939-1942

Answer 1

• chaotic
• poor bureaucratic organisation
• inefficient
• In contrast, due to Germany’s shortages, duplication and waste Britain spent much less but produced much more
• The German army had non-standardised weapons, meaning different parts of the force required different supplies
• this increased costs and reduced the economy
• labour wasn’t used efficiently, which meant that factories weren’t running optimally
• the Nazis were also slow to exploit women in war-related work

Question 2

Operation Barbarossa

Answer 2

• invasion of the Soviet Union
• 1941
• turning point for the German economy
• there were high casualties, which led to more men being drafted
• the campaign exhausted significant amounts of ammunition and equipment which would need to be replaced

Question 3

Wartime economy - civilians - 1939-42

Answer 3

• initially, Hitler was focused on maintaining civilian morale
• he wanted production of food and consumer goods to be kept at the same level
• however, after not long rationing was introduced

Question 4

Improved economic efficiency - 1942-45

Answer 4

• standardisation of ammo was increased by Speer, as well as rationalised transport production
• he also coordinated the supply of resources to where the need was greatest for the war
• he also changed shift rotations to 3 per day, increased use of concentration camps and foreign labour, and sent more women to war-related work in industries

Question 5

dealing with corruption

Answer 5

• Corrupt arms manufacturers were punished, e.g. if they made false claims for raw materials
• this demonstrates the increased efficient and organisation of the economy under Speer

Question 6

problems for Speer

Answer 6

• conscription of skilled labour disrupted ammo and equipment production
• once protected workers were now being conscripted
• allied bombings targeting German productive capacity also disrupted it

Question 7

Speer’s economic wartime achievements - 1942-45

Answer 7

by 1943

• ammunition output increased by 97%
• arms increased by 60%
• tanks increased by 25%

by 1944
- ammo and tanks output was 6 times greater

Question 8

forced and foreign labour

Answer 8

• POWs were used by Germany for labour, as well as forced labour from occupied territories
• work camps were set up for foreign labour by the Generalplan-Ost
• around 6.5 million Polish, Jewish and Soviet POWs provided forced labour by 1943

Question 9

Occupied territory workers

Answer 9

• French, Belgian and Dutch workers were drafted by Germany
• there were around 7.8 million foreign workers in Germany in 1944
• 1/5th of farm work was done by foreign labourers
• foreign workers weren’t treaty well, and it varied dependent on where they were from
• Poles, Russians and Jews typically suffered more than
  western Europeans

Question 10

living conditions for forced labourers

Answer 10

• productivity was low due to disease, harsh punishments and malnutrition
• 1000s died, but German factory output rose

Question 11

Allied Bombings - effect on morale

Answer 11

between 1939 and 1943, cities were the main targets of the bombings
- the allies did this as they believed that if civilian morale broke, the regime couldn’t survive

Question 12

area and incendiary bombings

Answer 12

• from 1942, allied bombings began to increase
• they became ‘area bombings’
• large industrial cities were bombed with incendiaries

Question 13

German response to the allied bombings

Answer 13

• a task force was set up by Speer to repaired the bombed factories
• until mid-1944, German economic output was rising
• allied bombings became more focused on economic targets by this time
• e.g. railways, bridges, factories, dams

Question 14

Impact of allied bombings

Answer 14

• between July of 1944 ad January 1945, 13536 people were killed every month
• 1.5 million people were without homes in Berlin alone by March 1944