Nazi Economic Policies

• The German people turned to the Nazis because they promised to make the German economy strong again.
• The Nazis needed to focus on reducing unemployment and improving life for German citizens.
• Hitler reduced unemployment by creating new jobs for men.
• Men were employed to work on public construction projects.
• Public Construction projects included public buildings, creating farmlands, the 1936 Olympic Stadium and building 7,000 km of autobahns (motorways).
• The National Labour Service (RAD) made it compulsory for men aged 18-25 to work on public schemes for 6 months.
• Most men disliked RAD because they felt exploited (treated unfairly for others’ benefit).
• Wages were very low and they worked long hours.
• All workers had to join the German Labour Front.
• The Strength Through Joy scheme gave workers rewards if they worked hard.
• The Strength Through Joy rewards included going to the theatre or having a holiday.
• The Beauty of Labour scheme planned to improve working conditions.
• Hitler boasted that unemployment fell from 5 million in 1933 to 0.3 million in 1939.
• In this statistic, Hitler did not include the Jews and women forced out of their jobs, or the men conscripted (drawn) into the National Labour Service.
• There was a lot of ‘invisible unemployment’
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• Hjalmar Schact was the first minister of the economy for the Nazis between 1934 and 1937.
• Hitler wanted Germany to build up its military strength in a few years.
• Schacht did not believe that Germany could grow its military as quickly as Hitler wanted.
• Hermann Goering created the Four-Year Plan in 1936 to prepare Germany for war.
• The four-year-plan's two aims were rearmament (building up supply of military weapons) and self-sufficiency (needing no support).
• Rearmament was a key aim for Hitler because he wanted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and make Germany strong again.
• Rearmament helped big manufacturing businesses.
• Working hours increased from 1936 onwards.
• Goering wanted Germany to create everything in their own economy, not relying on any imports (bringing products in from other countries).
• Self-sufficiency (autarky) was less successful than rearmament.
• Large businesses could exploit (treat unfairly for others’ benefit) workers because the Nazis had got rid of trade unions.
• Work creation schemes improved transport, services and homes.
• Large businesses benefitted from investment and new opportunities in rearmament (building up supply of military weapons).
• To increase raw materials, scientists created 'ersatz' substitutes.
• When World War 2 began in 1939, a quarter of Germans worked in war industry (weapons, chemicals, agriculture).
• Food and clothing rationing started in 1939 and rations gradually fell during the war.
• Rearmament was responsible for most of Germany’s economic growth from 1933 to 1939.
• Self-sufficiency (autarky), Rearmament and Employment were the main focuses of German economic policy.
• While the Nazis emphasised that the average worker’s life improved, the workers probably didn’t see much difference in day to day life.
• Overall, large business owners and farmers benefitted the most from Nazi economic policy.
• If a worker complained about working conditions, they would be ‘blacklisted’, meaning they would struggle to find employment.
• To help increase food production, farmers were given subsidies (money from the state) and labour from the RAD.
• By World War Two, Germany was still importing 20% of its food.
• Unemployment was reduced from 5 million in 1933 to 0.3 million in 1939.
• The four-year plan led to food shortages.