War economy

• Hitler wanted to avoid the economic problems faced after WW1.

  He issued a series of war decrees in December 1939 which outlined vast programmes for all aspects of war production.

  German military expenditure doubled between 1939 and 1941, however Britain trebled its expenditure in the same period.

  Food rationing was introduced from the very start of the war, and by 1941, 55% of the workforce was involved in war-related projects, and 61% in 1944 - this did lead to less consumer goods.
• Limits of economic mobilisation:

  • armament production remained low
  • inefficiency and poor coordination
  • confusion between short-term needs and long-term Nazi plans
• Total War 1942-45:

  • By the end of 1941, Germany was at war with Britain, the USSR and the USA
  • Speer became minister of armaments in Feb 1942 (marked a real turning point)
  • Central Planning Board established in April 1942, which gave industrialists a considerable degree of freedom
• Speer's economic rationalisation - successes:

  • ammunition production increased by 97% in 6 months
  • tank production rose by 25% in 6 months
  • total arms production by 59% in 6 months
  • by the second half of 1944, German war production peaked - there had been more than a three-fold increase since early 1942
• Speer's economic rationalisation - limits:

  • Germany probably had the capacity to produce even more and could have achieved a level of output close to that of the USSR and the USA
  • He wasn't able to counter the power of the party Gauleiters at a local level and the SS remained unto themselves