The Nazi Economy (Jobs and Money)

1. Schacht and the New Plan
   1. Minister for the Economy 1933-1937
      1. He was fired for speaking out against Hitler's plan to rearm Germany quickly
   2. Success? Yes: Increased production by 50% Germany had a small trade surplus by 1935 NO: They still needed to trade with other countries
   3. Wants to: Reduce unemployment
   4. Wants to: Make Germany Self-sufficient
      1. This is called AUTARKY
      2. Want to be sure they can't be defeated in war
2. Goring and the Four Year Plan
   1. Minister for the Economy 1936-1940
   2. Aim: to Prepare Germany for war
      1. Build up the Army
      2. Wanted to be self sufficient in Rubber, Oil and Steel
         1. Still rely on imports - tried to make coffee from acorns - it doesn't taste nice!
         2. By 1939 they realised that it wasn't working - Invaded Poland to try and gain more resources
      3. Develops a huge engineering works (The Hermann Goring Works)
         1. Mining and Metal works
      4. The focus on building weapons meant they didn't produce enough food
         1. Led to food rationing e.g. Butter

Annotations:

• When Hitler came to power in 1933 Unemployment was 6million. If Hitler was to maintain his popularity he was going to have to do something about this

1. Job Creation Schemes
   1. Huge programme of 'public works'
      1. Built motorways (autobahns)
         1. created jobs
         2. Improved transport of goods - makes trade easier
      2. 1936 Berlin Olympics
   2. Subsidised private businesses
      1. Volkswagen (People's Car)
      2. Especially construction
2. National Labour Services (RAD)
   1. Unmarried men between 18 and 25 forced to work
      1. Jobs were mostly manual labour (working with your hands)
         1. People didn't like it - not paid much - rubbish jobs - Only 10 days holiday a year
         2. Building costal walls, draining marshes, building autobahns, tree planting
   2. made a huge difference to the unemployment figures, also convinced people to marry
3. Rearmament
   1. Created lots of jobs in munitions factories
      1. Built tanks, ships, aircraft - spent billions
   2. Coal, chemical production doubled, iron and steel production trebled
   3. increased the army by 800,000 men
4. Invisible unemployment - How did the Nazi's cheat?
   1. Women
      1. Sacked from jobs - tempted by marriage loans to stay at home
   2. Jews
      1. Forced out of jobs especially doctors, lawyers etc.
   3. Opponents
      1. Sent to Concentration camps
   4. Unmarried men
      1. Had to join the National Labour Service

1. Replaced trade unions
   1. Instead of just protecting the workers - it had representatives of employers and workers
2. Strength through Joy (KdF)
   1. A way of keeping the workers happy - if they worked well they got rewards e.g tickets for the theatre even cruises
      1. But... The best rewards were only ever given to leading Nazis
   2. The Volkswagen Scheme
      1. Volkswagen was produced to increase car ownership
         1. They were cheap, workers could pay 5 Marks per week to pay off the car
            1. However no one actually got a car using this scheme - the money went on the war effort
3. The Beauty of Labour (SdA)
   1. Designed to keep people happy in their jobs
      1. reduced noise of machines
      2. Built canteens, swimming pools etc.
         1. All improvements had to be made by the workers and done in their own free time