The Impact of War: 1939-45

• When did food rationing begin and what did this cause?

  Began in August 1939 before the war. Resulted in panic buying before the regulations took place
• What were the types of rationing that occured?

  • Manual labourers received more than those in sedentary occupations
  • Jews received smaller rations
  • Special allocations for pregnant women, nursing mothers and the sick
• What was the rationing system like for the first two years of war?

  Worked efficiently as the regime could exploit the food supplies from conquered nations and grain supply from USSR (through Nazi-Soviet Pact)
• However what was a side effect of rationing between 1939-41?

  There were shortages of coal, soap and washing powder which did cause some discontent from time to time
• How were furniture and clothing sales effected?

  Furniture sales reduced to 40% and clothing sales reduced to 25%
• What occurred in June 1941 which also effected rationing?

  Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of USSR
• How did the invasion of the USSR affect rationing?

  • 500g of meat per person per week was cut to 400g before it was cut again
  • Rationing extended to fruit and vegetables
  • There was increasing demand for winter aid for soldiers due to the coldness of USSR
• How did rationing affect German people by the end of the war?

  Many Germans were suffering from malnutrition
• What was the average calorie intake of Germans by 1945?

  From around 950 - 1150 calories per day
• What illnesses did this malnutrition cause German people to face?

  • Typhus
  • Whooping cough
  • Diphtheria
• When was the first major air raid and who was it carried out by?

  Carried out by the British RAF at the end of March 1942 on Lubeck
• How many bombings did the Allied aircraft carry out over Germany?

  1,442,280 in total. Often using 1000 aircraft at a time
• How much German cities were attacked between March to July 1943?

  43 cities
• How many times was Hamburg bombed between 25th July to 3rd August and what did this result in?

  Bombed 7 times. Bombing between 27th-28th July resulted in 40,000 deaths
• How many tons of bombs were dropped by the Allies?

  2,700,000 tons of bombs
• How many estimated civilian deaths were caused?

  Estimated 400,000
• How many Germans were left disabled or severely injured?

  500,000
• How many homes were destroyed?

  3.6 million which is 20% of total homes in Germany
• What did the bombing however not effect?

  The moral of German people as their wills were not broken as production maintained until the end of 1944
• How did the May 1943 Dambuster raid effect production in Germany?

  As a result, steel production fell by 200,000
• What occurred between July 1943 to March 1944?

  Aircraft production stagnated - production fell from 873 in July 1943 to 663 in December 1943
• What had Speers' Ministry calculated about the economy by the end of January 1945?

  The economy had produced 25% fewer tanks than planned, 31% fewer aircraft, 42% fewer lorries all because of the bombing raids from the Allies
• What had Speers' Ministry calculated about the economy by the end of January 1945?

  The economy had produced 25% fewer tanks than planned, 31% fewer aircraft, 42% fewer lorries all because of the bombing raids from the Allies
• What had Germany been preparing for since the introduction of the Four Year Plan in 1936?


  The mobilisation of the German economy
• What did Hitler introduce on 3rd September 1939?


  The Decree for the Conversion of the Whole German economy into a war footing
• When was full mobilisation reached in Germany?


  Not until 1942
• What did the German armed forces suffer with between 1939-41?

  Shortages of weapons and equipment
• What happened to the German forces in 1941 and how did this effect supply?

  German forces became stretched due to the war in the Mediterranean and the start of Operation Barbarossa - supply problems began to hinder war effort
• How did the war beginning in 1939 hinder production?

  Hitler had incorrectly anticipated that Britain and France would accept the German invasion of Poland and believed war would of started in 1941 with Operation Barbarossa
• How did this affect production?

  The Luftwaffe expansion was to be completed by 1942 and the Navy expansion completed by 1944-45
• What did the outbreak of war in 1939 cause?

  The disruption of the Four Year Plan
• What occurred between September 1939 - January 1941 in armament production?

  Increased production from 21% to 55%, however afterwards supply of weapons grew very slowly
• How did military actions complicate production?

  The military designed and ordered many different versions of the same weapons, making standardisation impossible to achieve
• What caused tension with the Four Year Plan?


  Goering lacked technical and economic knowledge and had poor relations with the leaders of the army, large companies and banks
• How was Goering's failings hidden in 1939-40?

  They were hidden by the successes of the German forces
• What occurred in 1941 with Goering?

  His failings and poor management were becoming more apparent, leading him to become replaced by Albert Speer in 1941
• How did Speer impact submarine production?

  • Appointed a car manufacturer to look over production
  • Production of each vessel was reduced from 42 weeks to 16
• How did Speer impact Air force production?

  • Found 334 factories making firefighting equipment, reduced to 64
  • Saved 360,000 man hours per month
  • Production of Me109 fighter increased from 180 to 1000 per month
  • Number of Me109 factories reduced from 7 to 3
• How did Speer impact Army production?

  • Armoured vehicle types were reduced from 18 to 7 in January 1943
  • Single anti-tank weapons replaced the existing 12
  • Found 151 different lorries produced, in 1492 replaced to 23
• However how did the German Air Force compared to the Allies by 1944?

  • Germany nearly had 40,000
  • This was less than a 1/5 of Britain's, Soviet's and USA