Life for workers in Nazi Germany

• The Great Depression


  A prolonged economic downturn, beginning after the Wall Street Crash, that affected the whole world.
• Trade deficit


  Where the cost of a country's imports exceeds the value of its experts.
• In 1933, how many unemployed Germans were there?

  6 million
• What did Hitler promise in his aim for full employment?

  "Within 4 years, unemployment must be decisively overcome" .
• How many Germans were listed as unemployed by 1939?

  300,000
• Targeted groups

  Professional women and Jewish people were sacked and their jobs were given to the unemployed. Neither group was then counted as unemployed.
• What is conscription?

  Forced recruitment into the army
• Conscription


  From 1935 onwards, young men between the ages of 18 and 25 were conscripted into the army for two years. The army increased from 0.4 million in 1935 to 1.4 million in 1939.
• Rearmament


  Rearmament was responsible for the bulk of economic growth between 1933 and 1938.#

  
  

  Millions of jobs were created in factories producing new weapons. It started almost as soon as Hitler came to power but was only announced publicly in 1935. 46 billion marks were spent on it.
• What was rearmament?

  Building up the German armed forces
• Public works

  The June 1933 Reinhard Programme aimed to build autobahns, waterways and railways. A second Programme (September 1933) gave tax incentives for construction projects in rural areas and for house-building in towns.

  
  

  1/5 of government spending on public works was on the autobahns and 15 were build using 15,000 workers.
• The National Labour Service (RAD)

  Established in 1934, the RAD built schools, hospitals and motorways. Six-month membership for all men aged 18-25 became compulsory in 1935. This was extended to women in 1939. Members were removed from the unemployment register.

  
  

  While no wages were paid, workers received food and a small amount of money to send back to their families in return for providing very cheap labour for state infrastructure programmes. These included:

  - Building schools, hospitals, motorways and the 1936 Olympic Stadium in Berlin

  - Digging ditches on farms

  - Planting new forests
• Who created The National Labour Service (RAD)

  Hitler's first Economics Minister - Dr Hjalmar Schacht.
• What did RAD conscripts have to do?

  - wear military-style uniforms

  - live in army-style barracks

  - drill with spades and train like soldiers

  - work a 76 hour week
• How was RAD beneficial to the Nazis?

  Because it provided them with cheap labour, reduced the numbers on the unemployment register, led to a network of motorways which could be used for the mobilisation of the army during the war and kept young people occupied.
• What was Autarky?

  A closed economy. Hitler's ideology that wanted Germany to cease trade with the outside world and rely entirely on its own resources.
• What did the Nazis' attempt to make Germany self-sufficient in food and materials lead to Hitler ordering of Germany's scientists?

  It led to Hitler ordering Germany's scientists to find artificial substitutes for food and materials they brought in from abroad. For example:

  - wool and cotton were made from pulped wood

  - coffee from acorns

  - petrol from coal

  - make-up from flour
• What are artificial substances called?

  Ersatz products
• How did the Nazis' attempt to make Germany self-sufficient in food and materials decrease unemployment?


  The ersatz products were made in factories and so this created many new jobs for unemployed people.
• Why did Hitler believe that economic recovery was crucial?

  1. The Great Depression had created hardship and political instability; he needed to create prosperity to stay in power.

  2. He wanted to go to war; that meant constructing a strong war economy.
• What did economic collapse help Hitler to do?

  It helped him to gain power and people expected great change under Nazi rule.
• Who became Minister of Economics in 1934?

  Hjalmar Schacht
• How did Hjalmar Schacht 's New Plan oversee the revitalisation of the economy?

  - Introducing massive cuts to welfare spending

  - Imposing limits on imports

  - Making trade agreements with other countries

  - Targeting government spending on key industries.
• Why did Schacht resign in 1937?

  Hitler wanted Schacht to increase military spending however Schacht was unwilling to do this and therefore resigned.
• What was Schacht's 1934 New Plan introduced to deal with?

  It was introduced to deal with a trade deficit.
• What were the methods used in Schacht's 1934 New Plan to deal with a trade deficit?

  - Made cuts to welfare spending

  - Placed a limit on imports

  - Created trade agreements with other countries

  - Increased government spending on key industries
• What did Schacht's trade agreements with individual countries result in?

  It resulted in Germany importing most of its raw materials from South-Eastern Europe and from friendly South American states. This ensured Germany wasn't dependent on countries that might become hostile in a future war.
• What did Schacht believe that a rapid build-up of Germany's armed forces would do to the economy?

  He believed that it would reverse the economic improvements Germany had seen under his guidance.
• What did Schacht later claim about his resignation at the Nuremberg War Crime Trials?

  That he resigned when he realised that Hitler was trying to set up the economy so that Germany could go to war. The reality, however, seems to be that Schacht disagreed with the speed of the build-up to war.
• What did Dr Hjalmar Schacht become in March 1933?

  President of the Reichsbank.
• Why did Schacht's appointment as President of the Reichsbank calm many people's fears about the radical nature of the Nazi Party?

  He previously brought Germany out of the hyperinflation crisis in 1923 and so was a respected economist.
• What fraction of government spending on public works was on the autobahns?

  1/5
• How many workers were used to build 15 autobahns?

  15,000
• When was the Reinhardt Programme introduced?

  June 1933
• What was the Reinhardt Programme named after?

  The Nazi Secretary of State for Finance
• Who was the commissioner of the Four-Year Plan?

  Hermann Goering
• What was Hermann Goring chosen to create?

  An economy that was "ready for war"
• What year did Goring introduce the Four-Year Plan?

  1936
• What was the Four-Year Plan partly inspired by?

  The USSR's Five-Year Plans in the 1930s
• What did the Four Year Plan aim to do?

  Make Germany an autarky and ready for war by 1940.