Policies to Reduce Unemployment

• When the Nazis came to power in 1933, unemployment stood at around 5 million, dropping slightly from 6 million in 1932
• Around 25% of workers did not have a job in 1933
• If Hitler was unable to help the unemployed, they might stop supporting the Nazis and switch their allegiance to the socialists or communist parties
• The Nazis ran on the slogan "work and bread" and many had voted for them on that basis
• Unemployment was seen as a waste of resources by the Nazis, which could be put to work building the Nazi society
• Righteous Arbiter (RAD)

  Provide paid work for the unemployed, initially voluntary but became compulsory for all young men aged 18 to 25 in 1935, served six months in the program, sent to provide manpower for public projects like road building, agriculture, and community projects
• The RAD was very unpopular due to factors like disliked uniforms, living in camps, military drill, low pay, and poor working conditions
• Building of the Autobahns


  Nazis planned to construct 7,000 kilometers of dual carriageway roads all over Germany to improve transport of goods and people, started in 1933 with Hitler digging the first spadeful, 125,000 men employed by 1935, half the goal reached by 1938
• The Nazis increased spending on public projects from 18 billion marks in 1933 to 38 billion in 1939
• Creation of the Autobahns

  Improved transport around Germany, thereby improving sales and trade of goods both domestically and internationally, creating more jobs
• The Treaty of Versailles had limited the German army to just 100,000 men
• Hitler hated the Treaty of Versailles as soon as he was in power
• Sport around Germany

  Improving sales and the trade of goods both in Germany and outside
• The Treaty of Versailles limited the German army to just 100,000 men
• Hitler hated the Treaty of Versailles
• Hitler ignored the Treaty of Versailles and began to build up the army
• Military conscription was introduced


  1935
• By 1939, there were 1,360,000 men in the German army
• The increase in the German army helped to reduce unemployment
• By 1939, the Nazis' spending on military arms had increased to 26 billion marks
• In 1935, 72,000 people had found jobs in the rearmament project
• Groups recruited by the Nazis

  • Navy
  • Luftwaffe (German air force)
  • Domestic security services such as the SS, SA, and Gestapo
• Employment in the security services was not always considered real jobs
• The Nazis manipulated figures to reduce unemployment by not counting certain groups like women, Jews, part-time workers, and prisoners
• Unemployment in Germany fell by over 4 million in the 1930s
• By 1938, the Nazis claimed only half a million were unemployed
• Unemployment worldwide was beginning to reduce slowly as the effects of the depression waned
• Many jobs in Germany were not considered real jobs by many, relying heavily on government subsidies
• There were huge numbers of people discounted from the unemployment figures
• There is a question of whether the Nazis truly reduced unemployment or just manipulated the figures
• This is all the information about the Nazis' policies towards unemployment
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