Nazi economics Flashcards
(21 cards)
Give two reason how the Nazis manipulated employment statistics?
They excluded Jews and women from the workforce
How many Germans were unemployed in 1930 vs 1936?
3,000 vs 1,600
What was the Reich Labour Service?
Scheme for unemployed men and women, providing manual labour, often for less pay than unemployment pay, with very basic food and accomodation in labour camps that were either tents or barracks.
What was the purpose of the Autobahn building scheme?
To improve goods transportation around the country - with a specific aim for war goods.
Why was agriculture so important for the Naziz?
Autarky
Who was the minister for economics?
Alfred Hugenburg
What was Hugenburg’s first policy?
Increased import tariffs on agricultural produce, making German produce cheaper.
He also banned banks from repossessing farms from farmers in debt, to keep them farming.
What did Agricultural minister, Richard Darré set up in September 1933?
The Reich Food Estate
What was the Reich Food Estate?
Regulated food production and distribution of farm produce as well as setting prices and farm wages.
What percentage of all German farm produce was produced on German farms 1928 vs 1934?
68% vs 80%
It had immediate success despite some farmers being unhappy about being told what to produce and what price to sell it for.
Name German businesses that supported the Nazis.
Steel and iron industry and I.G. Farben
What type of businesses didn’t support the Nazis?
Those that were dependent on exports.
What did the 1933 Law for the Protection of Retail Trade do?
Stopped the building of new department stores and banned the expansion of existing ones. Depeartment stores often under Jewish ownership.
What was the one Trade Union the Nazis created?
DAF (German Labour Front)
What was the crisis of 1935-36? (Guns or butter)
Many countries began wanting cash in return for goods rather than goods. For example Bulgaria demanded cash for their oil. Germany was still not self-sufficient and rearming and work creation demanded raw materials.
Worse still, they needed food - there were growing shortages of meats and fats. Schacht wanted to keep borrowing as low as possible so had to choose between food and raw material imports. This was the basis for the Four Year Plan of 1936.
What is a command economy?
The state, not businesses or agriculture, decide how much to produce.
What was the focus and aim of the second Four Year Plan?
Autraky and preparing for war.
Name a product that was replaced with a German alternative?
Rubber replaced with Buna
By 1938, what percentage of its Agricultural needs was Germany still importing?
17%
Down from 20% in 1934 - so not a huge improvement.
What support did the Nazis lose under a command economy?
Big industrialists and manufacturers of consumer goods.
