L2 - development of economic policy under goring (up to feb 1942)

what are typical topics of exam questions that may involve the economy?

• extent of success

• use in maintaining morale/ impact in morale

• external factors affecting the economy

• consequence on the war

what are the 4 key stages of the nazi wartime economy?

1. goering’s failure to fully mobilise for war 1936-1942

2. speer’s “production miracle” 1942-45

3. impact of allied bombing

4. use of forced labour

evidence for successful preparation of german economy for war 1933-39?

• self-sufficient in grain, bread, potatoes and meat

• issued 12 billion RM in mefo bills to fund immediate rearmament

• government had control of labour supply via DAF

• increasingly widespread corporatism

• government setting of production targets and state owned industrial plants

• increased output of raw materials → 18,000 to 45,000 tonnes of explosives p/a

• encouraging r+d for ersatz

evidence the nazi economy failed to prepare for warfare 1933-39?

• goering failed year by year to meet target of 223,000 tonnes of explosives

• still imported 1/3 of raw materials

• 1939 - shortage of workers in key industries

• 4 year plan to be completed by 1940 → focused on raw goods only

• shortage of fats persisted

• major structural issues needed to be addressed

what were the key objectives of the 1936 four year plan?

• achieve full autarky (self-sufficiency)

• be ready for war by 1940

what 2 key actions did goering take within his 4 year plan? (1936 onwards)

• set targets for industrial production

• nationalised most of the coal and steel industries → herman goering steelworks

when did war begin? how prepared was the german economy?

• september 1939

• economy was not fully prepared

  • deficient to sustain the war and allies mobilised own economies much faster

what problems existed within the economy 1939-41?

• shortage of materials

• shortage of labour

• slowness of full mobilisation

• need to maintain morale

• armed forces demands for specialised equipment

• goering’s weak leadership

what act gave the nazis full control over the german economy? when was it passed?

• decree for the mobilisation of the whole economy onto a war footing

• 2nd september 1939

when was a state of full mobilisation achieved?

1942

how did the germany army initially make advances? how were they impacted by the economy?

• used blitzkrieg tactics

  • secured victories in poland, norway, holland, belgium and france

• german armed forced suffered from shortages of weapons and equipment

  • despite long term attempts to prepare

where did blitzkrieg tactics make advances? (5)

• poland

• norway

• holland

• belgium

• france

what were the consequences of gaining territory via blitzkrieg tactics?

• rapid initial victories bolstered morale and support on the home front

• exacerbates economic problems

  • more territory now being occupied, so vastly greater demand for armaments and resources to maintain control

what attack served as a major turning point in ww2? how?

• 1941 - german attack reached down to the mediterranean and launched operation barbarossa → invaded the USSR

• army became overstretched due to massive demands of maintaining vastly greater territory

• supply problems began to hinder the war effort

• initialised fighting on 2 fronts → major strategic fault

what were the 3 main reasons for problems in supply by 1939-41?

• had not expected war to begin prior to 1939 → four year plan not yet complete

• structural weaknesses of armaments production → unable to standardise production

• political problems and g

evidence for the four year plan being incomplete by the outbreak of war sept 1939

• expansion of the luftwaffe to be completed by 1942

• build up of the navy to be completed by 1944-45

• prioritised increasing iron and steel production and machine tools

• focused on developing ersatz to contribute to autarky rather than weaponry

how can goering’s 4 year plan be criticised, considering ‘hitler hadn’t expected the war to start in sept 1939’?

• goering’s 4 year plan was supposed to be complete in 1940 → anticipated conflict post 1941

• war broke only 3 months prior to predicted completion of economic plan

• overlooked that armaments/weapons were the fundamental, integral aspect to warfare rather than raw materials and autarky

how did the german economy suffer from structural weaknesses?

• different branches of army required different, high quality specialised equipment

• very expensive, needed scarce highly skilled labour

  • made standardisation impossible

• brought in more workers but supply of weapons grew very slowly

  • productivity gap

how did the proportion of the labour force producing armaments increase sept 1939 - jan 1941?

sept 1939: 21%

jan 1941: 55%

what possible solution was there to the structural issues of the german economy? problem?

• mass production via standardisation

• wouldn’t been much cheaper and bridge productivity gap

• many german firms not structured in a way to achieve this

• military demanded different versions of same weapon (specialised) and made standardisation impossible

what economic problems was goering personally responsible for?

• lacked technical and economic knowledge to effectively do his job

• had poor relations with leaders of military and large companies/banks

  • little teamwork, everyone acting in own self-interest

• too busy building own empire → hermann goering steelworks

• economy needed greater central coordination

  • goering absolutely incapable of leading this change

how can goering’s economic failures be described 1939-1941?

• 1939-40: failures had been masked by successes of armed forces in battle

• 1941: weaknesses in economy and four year plan as apparent as own personal role in this failure

who replaced hermann goering? when?

• 1942

• albert speer → armaments minister

how does albert speer describe goering’s years in charge of the economy?

“an era of incompetence, arrogance and egotism”

ultimate judgement of goering’s years in charge of the economy

ultimate failure to adapt the economy to meet the full demands of the military forces