Economic Policies under the Nazis Flashcards
(17 cards)
Who was Schacht?
- President of the Reichsbank
- from Aug 1934 - economics minister
- key figure in Nazi economic policy
What was the Battle for Work?
- Nazis first priority was to reduce unemployment
- this project labelled “the battle for work”
- large sums of money were spent on building roads (autobahns) & public buildings
- increased industrial production was stimulated through loans and tax relief to private companies
What was the New Plan of 1934?
- Foreign trade increased as the economy began to revive leading to imports growing faster than exports
- Schacht placed controls on imports and access to foreign currency
- initiated a series of trade agreements with foreign countries
What was the Reich Labour Service 1935?
- Unemployed young men were compelled to do six months labour in farming or construction
- later that same year, military conscription was reintroduced for young men
What were Mefo Bills?
- government paid for its military equipment using credit notes, Mefo bills
- these bills could be exchanged for cash at the Reichsbank thereby ensuring that private companies had confidence they would get their money back
- companies were also given an incentive to defer asking for payment
- offered 4% per annum interest on bills if they kept them for the full five year term
How did Mefo Bills help?
- to finance rearmament the Nazis needed to borrow money but also avoid inflation
- Mefo bills allowed the government to start the rearmament programme in 1935 without the government having the funds to finance it
- also meant the rearmament programme could be kept secret since the expenditure did not appear in the government’s accounts
What was the Four Year Plan?
- priorities of this plan were rearmament and economic autarky
- this was to be achieved by:
1) creating a managed economy
2) setting production targets for private companies
3) establishing new state owned industrial plants
4) increasing production of key commodities such as iron, steel and chemicals
5) encouraging research and investment in the production of substitute products such as artificial rubber
What was Economic Autarky?
- autarky = self sufficiency
- four year plan aimed to achieve autarky in food production and vital raw materials in order to prepare the German economy for war
- propaganda campaigns persuaded people to buy only German goods, eat only German food and use only German raw materials
What was the extent of economic recovery?
- official unemployment figures show a dramatic reduction in the number of unemployed by 1934 and a continuing fall after that
- this was the basis of the claim that the “battle for work” had been won due to Nazi economic policies
What were living standards for workers like?
- pay increased due to the longer hours being worked
- but worker’s wages faced increased deductions due to the compulsory contributions they had to make to the Germany Labour Front
What was the autobahn?
Motorways that provided work tens of thousands of people?
How many kilometres of autobahn were built?
7000km
What was ‘invisible unemployment’?
A method used by the Nazis that meant they didn’t count certain groups in the unemployment figures e.g. - Jews
- those in concentration camps
- women dismissed from or had left their jobs
How many people were unemployed in 1933?
6 million
How many people were unemployed by 1939?
Officially 0.5 million (although this didn’t account for the ‘invisible unemployment’)
What sorts of projects did the National Labour Service work on?
Massive public works programmes including:
- 7000km of autobahn (used 80,000 men)
- 1936 Olympic Stadium
What was introduced in 1935 that helped reduce unemployment?
Conscription
