Transcript The Nazi Economy - Gathering the Voices

NAZI ECONOMIC POLICY
• What were the economic policies
of the Nazi Party?
• Were these policies successful?
WHY WERE THE NAZIS ABLE TO STAY
IN POWER, 1933-1939?
 When the Nazis gained power in 1933 the biggest
problem they faced was the economy.
 Germany had suf fered severely as a result of the
Great Depression.
 = main priority was to overcome the economic
problems.
 Some historians argue that when the Nazis came
to power in 1933 the economic situation was
actually already improving, others argue that the
German economy was improved as a direct result
of Nazi policies.
I was unemployed for many years. I’d have made a
pact with the devil to get work. Hitler came along
and got me work, so I followed him.
A German worker explained in 1985 why he
joined the Nazis in the 1930s
Work
HITLER’S PROMISE
Bread
Freedom
 When Hitler was appointed Chancellor nearly 6
million Germans were unemployed.
 By 1935 there were only two million.
 By 1939 there was a shortage of labour!
This transformation helps to explain not
only why Hitler was able to consolidate his
position in power, but also why he became
so popular.
NAZI AIMS
Reduce
unemployment.
Top priority =
expand the military
might of Germany +
prepare the country
for war.
KEY FEATURES OF THE NAZI ECONOMY 1933 -45
RECOVERY: Tackle the
depression and restore
Germany to full employment
Hitler viewed WAR AS
INEVITABLE = German
economy must become as
self-sufficient as possible
Improve conditions for
millions of Germans +
enable more resources to
be utilised to rebuild
Germany’s military might
Economy to expand vital war
materials, develop substitutes
for imports + train workforce
for skills useful in war
MAKE GERMANY READY FOR WAR
REARMAMENT: FOUR YEAR PLAN
 When he came to power Hitler’s plan
was to make Germany entirely selfsufficient.
 The plan was to make Germany ready
for war within four years.
 Priority was to be given to rearmament.
 Germany was to be as self-sufficient
as possible in food and industrial
production = autarky.
AUTARKY
 Autarky means economic self-sufficiency,
that is a country providing all its economic
needs within itself, and thus not being
dependent upon imports.
 = crucial for a country geared for war to
avoid the damage inflicted by an economic
blockade.
 Success?
 By 1939 Germany still depended on foreign
imports for 1/3 of its raw materials (iron
ore, oil and rubber).
REARMAMENT
 Conscription introduced in 1935.
 All men between 18-25 had to
spend two years in the army.
 New warships, tanks and guns
were made creating jobs.
 Cut 1 million off the
unemployment figures and
trained Germans to be ready for
war.
DEUTSCHE ARBEITSFRONT (DAF): THE
GERMAN LABOUR FRONT
 Set up in May 1933.
 Set up for workers after trade unions were banned.
 It was headed by Robert Ley.
 Was the largest organisation in the Third Reich.
 Membership increased rapidly (was hard not to join): from 5
million in 1933 to 22 million in 1939.
 DAF provided a range of facilities + was intended to restore
social peace, win workers over to Nazism and increase
production.
DAF
 The Labour Front gave an extra day’s holiday
to its members.
 Protected members from being sacked on
the spot.
 However, workers had no opportunity to
campaign for higher wages or better working
conditions.
 A worker could not leave a job without the
government’s permission.
 The Labour Front issued work books to all
employees. Without which a person could
not be employed. The book contained a
record of each worker’s behaviour,
timekeeping and absence rate.
The German Labour Front is the organisation
for all working people without reference to their
economic and social position. Within it workers
will stand side by side with employers, no
longer separated into groups and associations
which serve to maintain special economic or
social distinctions or interests… The high aim of
the Labour Front is to educate all Germans who
are at work to support the National Socialist
State and to indoctrinate them in the National
Socialist mentality.
KRAFT DURCH FREUDE (KDF): ‘STRENGTH
THROUGH JOY’
 Created in November 1933 to improve
workers’ leisure opportunities.
 Idea? If workers were happy and contented
they would work harder.
 KdF provided subsidised activities such as
holidays, hikes, sport, theatre and cinema
visits.
 Described by Ley as ‘the quickest means of
bringing National Socialism to the workers’.
 In 1938 over 10 million took KdF holidays,
most within Germany.
KdF members were offered
cheap holidays. Two cruise ships
were built to take them to places
like Madeira and the Canary
Islands. In 1938, over 180,000
people went on these cruises.
“I wish that the worker be granted a sufficient
holiday and that everything is done, in order to
let this holiday as well all other leisure time to
be truly recreational. I wish this, because I
want a determined people with strong nerves,
for truly great politics can only be achieved
with a people that keeps its nerves.”
KDF
 For those who could not get a place on a
cruise ship, there were walking holidays in
the mountains for 28 marks a week, or, in
winter, skiing holidays in Bavaria.
 The price included travel, board and
lodging, ski hire and skiing lessons from
an instructor.
 Holidays in Switzerland were of fered for 65
marks and tours of Italy for 115 marks.
 The KDF of fered af fordable but enjoyable
holidays = increase support the Nazi
regime.
KDF
 1934: 2.3m went on KDF holidays
 1938: 10m went on KDF holidays
 1939: 7,000 paid employees
135,000 voluntary workers
Had wardens in every factory
Announcement of a
"Kraft durch Freude"
("Strength through
Joy") variety show,
year unknown
VOLKSWAGEN
 In 1938 DAF organised the Volkswagen (People’s Car)
scheme.
 Workers were given the opportunity to pay 5 marks a week
into a fund which would eventually enable them to buy a car.
 Aim of scheme = reduce the danger of inflation by boosting
savings and cutting domestic expenditure.
 No worker actually received a car.
 In 1939 production was switched to military needs.
"Five marks a
week must you
put aside — If in
your own car you
want to ride!"
NAZI CONTROL OF EVERY THING
DAF is important as a good example of
Nazi control of all key areas = work +
leisure.
Independent workers’ organisations were
replaced by Nazi controlled ones.
REICHSARBEITSDIENST (RAD): REICH
LABOUR SERVICE
 RAD developed from a voluntary scheme under the Weimar
Republic.
 In 1935 a law made six months’ labour service compulsory for
all men aged between 19 and 25.
 In 1939 it was extended to women.
 RAD was intended to ‘educate German youth in the spirit of
National Socialism, to membership of the national community
and to acquire a true conception of work, above all respect for
manual labour.’
RAD
 Most members were employed
in agriculture or public works.
 It may have meant living in
barracks away from home, with
low pay.
• RAD built schools, hospitals,
motorways.
• Men were paid in pocket money
and food.
• Workers lived in camps rent
free.
Hitler begins
work on a new
motorway
In 1938 6,000 miles of new
motorway were under
construction
Tourist poster advertising the
new motorway system
Government increased
public spending and
investment
Government took action
to create jobs.
How did the Nazis
stimulate economic
recovery 1933-6?
Growth in jobs in
government
Hitler extended public
works schemes,
especially the building
of homes and
motorways
Such works, paid for by the
government, provided
orders for many private
companies who took on
more workers
Some groups
pressurised out of
employment e.g.
some married
women + Jews
Agricultural workers no
longer eligible for
unemployment relief = taken
off the figures
How did the Nazis
stimulate economic
recovery 1933-6?
From 1935 conscription
removed all 18-25 year olds
males off the register (required
to do two years military service)
Armed forces grew from
100,000 in 1933 to 1,400,00 in
1939
The Youth Service
(RAD) took the young
off the unemployment
register (400,000 in
1934)
Brϋning negotiated the
ending of reparations
payments
DID THESE STRATEGIES MAKE A
DIFFERENCE?
Unemployment went down to around
2.1million by mid 1935 + by July 1939 it was
as low as 0.038m.
Government expenditure increased by 70%
between 1933 and 1936.
Is there a problem here?
DID GERMANS’ STANDARD OF LIVING
IMPROVE BETWEEN 1933-1939?
There is some debate about this –
the evidence is mixed.
1. Unemployment. Definitely better - +6 million out of
work in 1932
only 38,000 in July 1939
Workers at the new
Volkswagen car plant
2. Wages. Money
wages definitely rise a bit – if the year
1913 is base 100, then
1933 = 140
1938 = 141
But..
Real wages (i.e. once we take account of inflation) did not do
well
1933 = 119
1939 = 112
3. Consumption – food.
Increase in consumption of RYE BREAD (20%)
CHEESE (11%)
Decrease in consumption of BEER (59%)
EGGS (41%)
MEAT (18%)
What does this suggest about the
German economy in the 1930s?
4. OTHER GOODS…..
 Radios – 70% of German
households have radios by
1939.
 Cars – New Volkswagen private
car promised. Designed by
Porsche and in production by
1938.
“All Germany hears
the Fϋhrer”