Hitlers Economic Policies 12E,F,G,H

Connor Y and Annoj T

Major Areas of the Economy Agriculture

The government primarily aided large agricultural enterprises and farms because of their usefulness for Germanys development compared to peasants o The Nazis strived to achieve economic autarky, where they would be self-sufficient should Great Britain impose any blockades on them in the future The Nazis maintained food prices at moderate levels to avoid unnecessary increases in wages and inflation The Reich Entailed Farm Law (1933) was an attempt to please low-class farmers and peasants o It prevented them from selling or mortgaging their land but made it difficult for them to get new loans o As a result, the law received mixed reactions Military machinery had priority over agricultural machinery Low food prices and the REFL resulted in labour shortage

Industry and Transport

Like in agriculture, the Nazis favoured big business over the Mittelstand o 300,000 small businesses went bankrupt from 1933-45

The state decided what large firms should produce o Similar to Russias command economy

Autobahns (highways) were created as a symbol of Germanys new-found might

Foreign Trade and Finance

Hitler focused less on external trade and more on domestic production and self-sufficiency The Great Depressions aftermath and protectionism made exporting difficult The Nazis increased taxes and obtained foreign loans for government finances (i.e military, autobahns)

Nazisms effects upon others

Nazism Big Businesses

Industrialists benefitted from rearmament policies In 1937, the government threatened to charge industrialists with sabotage if they didnt conform to policies which promoted self-sufficiency Hiden: Profits went above all to the industries that were prepared to collaborate actively with the regime. IG Farben is a good example of a company that made itself a slave of Nazism for profits

Firms managed by Jews were supported until 1938, after which Jews were forced to sell their businesses to Aryans In short, large businesses were state controlled but not state owned

Nazism Mittelstand

The Law to Protect Retail Trade (1933) placed special taxes on large stores and banned new department stores
o

Following the early years of the Nazi regime, the needs of the Mittelstand were largely ignored despite their unwavering loyalty for the Nazis during Weimars reign

Nazism Workers

Unemployment plummeted from 1933-40 Wages stopped increasing after 1936 in order to further expand the military Free trade unions were suppressed A variety of labour organizations such as the German Labour Front and Strength through Joy were created to improve standards of living and existed as propaganda to keep workers motivated The creation of the Volkswagen resulted in a craze similar to Magnitogorsk from the USSR Workers were mainly pleased with life since they tended to compare their lives with the way it used to be during the Great Depression

Historiography

Overy: - Hitler favoured financing militarization over increasing the citizenrys living standards - The Third Reich only seemed so prosperous because it immediately followed the Great Depression and Weimars instability

Noakes: - Increases in standards of living along with governments domination over the media allowed Germany to successfully push its people to work towards rearmament