essay tomz

[Overview and key terms – Key questions] What are the three key questions for Section 1.3?

How successfully did the Weimar Republic respond to economic challenges, 1918–32? • How far did the Nazis control the economy, 1933–45? • What effect did the creation of a 'social market' economy have on the Federal Republic, 1945–89?

[Overview and key terms – Introduction] According to the introduction, what shaped economic policy across 1918–89?

Two world wars and various international crises • Current economic theories • The government of the time: its political theories and its domestic and foreign policies

[Overview and key terms – Introduction] Name the seven 'unconnected' events the introduction lists.

1919: inflation had made the mark virtually worthless; many starving • 1929: US economy sank into the Great Depression • 1933: Nazis sign agreement with I.G. Farben to subsidise synthetic fuel • 1937: Germany had full employment • 1945: food rationed, people starving • 1973: Arab oil states cut off trade with pro-Israeli countries • 1979: European Monetary System begins among EEC members

[Overview and key terms – Chapter timeline] Key dates on the chapter timeline, 1919–35?

28 June 1919: Treaty of Versailles; 31 July 1919: Weimar Constitution • 1923: hyperinflation; 15 Oct Rentenmark Decree • 30 Aug 1924: Rentenmark replaced by Reichsmark (RM) • 1932: unemployment over 5.5 million (30%) • 30 Jan 1933: Hitler chancellor; 2 Aug 1934: Hindenburg dies, Hitler Führer • 1935: unemployment just over 2 million (10%)

[Overview and key terms – Chapter timeline] Key dates on the chapter timeline, 1945–89?

7 May 1945: end of war in Europe; Germany and Berlin divided into Allied zones • 22 May 1949: FRG set up; 7 Oct 1949: GDR set up • 12–13 Aug 1961: Berlin Wall goes up • 9 Nov 1989: fall of the Berlin Wall

[Overview and key terms – Key terms] Define inflation, and say who it hurts.

Prices rise so the purchasing power of money falls • Hurts savers and workers, as wages and interest on savings seldom keep pace once it spirals

[Overview and key terms – Key terms] Define deflation and devaluing a currency.

Deflation: keeping prices low by reducing government spending • Devaluing: reducing a currency's value against another (usually the US dollar), making exports cheaper to other countries

[Overview and key terms – Key terms] Define cartel and autarky.

Cartel: businesses in one sector agree to set and control prices; gives stability but can fix higher prices • Autarky: economic self-sufficiency, with no need for imports in any area from food to petrol to electricity

[Overview and key terms – Key terms] Define isolationism, tariff and the League of Nations.

Isolationism: interacting as little as possible with other countries • Tariff: tax on foreign goods to encourage buying home-made goods • League of Nations: Allied body for co-operation and peace; Germany excluded until 1926

[Overview and key terms – Key terms] Define the EEC and the European Monetary System.

EEC: set up 1957 for free trade and co-operation; original members West Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands • EMS: EEC members linked currencies to stabilise exchange rates and make trade fairer

[Q1 · The Weimar starting point, 1918 – How successfully did Weimar respond?] Why was the economy in trouble in 1918?

Government had spent all its gold reserves on the war • Printing money: just over 6,300 million marks in circulation (June 1914) → just over 33,000 million (Dec 1918) • 150 printing firms, 2,000 presses working day and night • Wages and savings lost value as prices shot up

[Q1 · The Weimar starting point, 1918 – How successfully did Weimar respond?] What damage had the war done to production and trade?

European trade disrupted; businesses suffered, jobs lost • End of war production (e.g. ammunition) cost more jobs • Farm production down about 20% during the war; industrial output almost halved • Versailles took agricultural and industrial land

[Q1 · The Weimar starting point, 1918 – How successfully did Weimar respond?] What was the black market and who did it favour?

Developed in the war as inflation rose and goods became scarce • Illegal trade avoiding taxes and price controls, often barter • Favours the well-off who have valuables to swap

[Q1 · The Weimar starting point, 1918 – How successfully did Weimar respond?] What were the three phases of the economy 1918–32?

1918–23 • 1924–28 • 1929 to the end of 1932 • Strikes, political unrest and changes of government made it spiral out of control after the war

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Overview] Why did wages, savings and pensions fall, 1918–23?

Downturn, end of war production and demobilised soldiers raised unemployment • Employers cut wages to survive or maximise profit • Worst period was 1923

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Social welfare] How did the government respond with social welfare?

Retraining schemes and loans for ex-soldiers until they found work • Pensions for wounded, widows and orphans • A liberal government: national committees oversaw care in the Länder; federal and Länder layers of support

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Social welfare] What was the scale of welfare spending?

1920: est. 1,537,000 disabled veterans and 1,945,000 survivors not classed as disabled • 1924: still supporting 768,000 disabled veterans, 420,000 war widows with 1,020,000 children, 190,000 parents of dead soldiers • About 10% of the population on federal welfare, more on regional poor relief • Paid for by a government already in debt

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Debt and reparations] How serious was the debt and reparations problem?

By 1918 owed about 150 billion marks (three times 1914) • Reparations from Versailles pushed it deeper into debt • Kept borrowing and printing; changing policy would have made payments impossible • From 1921 wrangling with the Allies; France thought Germany was deliberately avoiding payment • Until 1924 reparations paid in kind: coal, wood, railway carriages

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – The Ruhr] Why did France occupy the Ruhr in 1923?

January 1923: Germany failed to deliver reparations in full • 1921 London Ultimatum: pay or the Allies would occupy the Ruhr • The Ruhr was vital for coal and industry • French occupied it with Belgian troops

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – The Ruhr] How did Germany and France act during the occupation, and how did it end?

Germany stopped payments to France only, told officials to ignore non-German orders, urged passive resistance (working slowly, strikes, sabotage) • France set up an armed border, took over post and telegraph, used force or brought in its own workers • Neither side benefited; the new coalition called off passive resistance in 1923 and negotiated

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – The Ruhr (Extend)] What effect did the Ruhr occupation have on German opinion?

Diverted distrust away from the government towards the occupiers • 1923 reports based on 90 sworn testimonies with photographs alleged callous disregard for workers, plus murder and rape • Resistance did not soften French attitudes

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Hyperinflation] Give the textbook's newspaper-price evidence for hyperinflation.

1 mark on 1 May 1922 • 100,000 marks on 1 September 1923 • 700 billion marks on 17 November 1923 • Prices rose several times a day; the Ruhr crisis turned inflation into hyperinflation

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Hyperinflation] What were the social effects of hyperinflation?

Faith in money lost; reliance on barter and black market • Black-market prices so high only the rich could buy; those with goods made huge profits • Towns, regions and businesses issued Notgeld ('emergency money') • Government sacked about 750,000 federal and regional employees • Fixed incomes and welfare lost value; poor worst hit, but well-off suffered too

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Hyperinflation] What does the von Lingans family show?

Landowners with a large house and servants • Had to close the house, sack servants, move to Berlin to work in a ball-bearing factory office • Not starving, but lost both wealth and prestige: hyperinflation hit the well-off too

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – Sources 1 and 2] What do Sources 1 and 2 show?

Source 1 marks in circulation (millions): June 1914 6,323; Dec 1918 33,306; Dec 1921 122,963; Dec 1922 1,295,228; June 1923 17,393,000 • Source 2: a woman lighting her stove with marks in 1923; notes became cheaper fuel than coal or firewood

[Economic crises and government response, 1918–23 – A change of government] How did the new government of August 1923 take control?

Crisis at its worst; government collapsed • New coalition with Gustav Stresemann (DVP) as chancellor • Emergency Decree of 10 August: could postpone Reichstag meetings and govern by decree • Most significant decision: decrees let it act fast without coalition bargaining

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Policies for recovery] What roles did Stresemann hold?

Chancellor and foreign minister from August 1923 • His coalition lasted only until November 1923 • Stayed on as foreign minister in the next government • A stabilising force urging compromise

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Making money work] How was the currency stabilised?

Worthless mark withdrawn; temporary Rentenmark from October 1923 • Savers objected: low value against the gold mark • All 'emergency money' banned • Overseen by Hjalmar Schacht, Reichsbank president from December 1923 • Restored faith at home and abroad; hoarded foreign currency exchanged; prices settled • Emergency decrees controlled rents, wages and prices • Reichsmark (RM) introduced August 1924

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Timeline: Stresemann's policies] Key economic decrees of autumn 1923?

26 Sept: abandon passive resistance • 15 Oct: Rentenmark to replace the mark, with a limit on printing • 30 Oct: state arbitrators set up; government controls official wages and hours • 17 Nov: emergency money banned after 22 Nov

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Timeline: Stresemann's policies] Key economic events of 1924?

14 Feb: Third Emergency Tax Decree values the new Reichsmark and revalues debts • April: Dawes Plan negotiations • 30 Aug: Reichsmark replaces Rentenmark, timed so reparations are fixed in the new currency • 1 Sept: Dawes Plan in force

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Timeline: Stresemann's policies] Foreign policy milestones 1925–29?

1 Dec 1925: Locarno, accepting Versailles borders and Rhineland demilitarisation • 10 Sept 1926: joins League of Nations • 27 Aug 1928: Kellogg–Briand Pact • 1929: Young Plan negotiated (in force Jan 1930) • 3 Oct 1929: Stresemann dies; late Oct: Wall Street Crash

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Why was foreign policy vital?] Why was foreign policy vital to recovery, and what was its weakness?

Stresemann called the 'architect' of recovery, though chancellor only briefly • Dawes (1924) and Young (1929) reduced reparations, extended time and brought US loans • Made Germany acceptable, so others would lend and trade • Weakness: recovery built on loans, many from the USA (the 'world's banker'), dangerous if recalled

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – The recovery of business] How did business recover, and who lost out?

Government helped businesses become more efficient • Small firms collapsed: 1924 had more bankruptcies than the previous five years together • Big firms formed cartels; about 2,500 by the mid-1920s • I.G. Farben (1925) united chemical cartels, from rayon to dynamite and fertiliser • Mass production and 'time and motion' methods from the USA

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – The recovery of business] What statistics show chemical-industry growth?

1925: one-third more than 1913 • 1930: almost two-thirds more than 1913

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – The recovery of business] What problem in business never went away?

Disputes between owners and workers throughout Weimar • Workers wanted better conditions; owners wanted lower wages, longer hours • Strikes and lockouts common; fewer in 1926–27 but persisted despite state arbitration (Oct 1923)

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – State arbitration (Extend)] How did state arbitration work and what happened in 1928?

Replaced Ebert's deal with industry and unions (eight-hour day, wages left to the parties) • 1924–29: 60,648 cases • At first favoured employers; after 1924 mostly compromises, usually accepted • 1928: Ruhr industrialists refused a ruling and locked workers out, later offering their own compromise

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Trade recovery] How did trade recover?

Hard at first with Britain and France; US isolationism spread tariffs, with heavier tariffs on Germany • Germany made steel and chemicals others needed • League membership and Stresemann's agreements helped • Exports back to 1913 level (10 billion marks) by 1926; 34% above 1913 by 1929

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Agriculture] What were the problems in agriculture?

A third to a quarter of all workers were agricultural • Small farmers deep in debt, some unable to pay interest or taxes • Big landowners like Hindenburg blocked reform, e.g. stringing out the 1918 Reich Settlement Law • They won high grain subsidies that mainly helped big farms

[Policies for recovery, 1924–28 – Government spending] Why was recovery flawed by government spending?

Built on foreign loans, many short-term • Heavy spending: grain and industry subsidies, social welfare, housing • Lowest tax band: 47% of taxpayers 1913, 62% in 1926, 55% in 1928, so the state borrowed instead of taxing • Its own bank lent to federal and regional government • Disputes hurt productivity and pushed up wages until 1930

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Impact of the worldwide depression] How did the 1929 US collapse hit Germany?

US banks stopped renewing short-term loans and called loans in • Figure 3.1 spiral: fewer goods sold → staff laid off → less spending → bankruptcies, bank failures → more unemployment

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Impact of the worldwide depression] Key statistics on the Depression in Germany?

Industrial production by end of 1932 about half of 1928 • Wages fell 20–30%, but prices fell too, so real wages fell only about 14% • Industrial production, prices and exports all fell by around 50% • Unemployment reached its highest ever level in 1932

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Source 3] Unemployment figures 1928–33 (Source 3)?

1928: 1,391,000 (6.3%) • 1929: 1,899,000 (8.5%) • 1930: 3,076,000 (14.0%) • 1931: 4,520,000 (21.9%) • 1932: 5,603,000 (29.9%) • 1933: 4,804,000 (25.9%)

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Government response] Why did the Grand Coalition fail and what did Brüning propose?

Coalition without Stresemann kept arguing and could not act quickly; Hindenburg resisted governing by decree • Collapsed 1930; Brüning proposed cuts in spending (especially welfare), wage cuts and higher taxes • Reichstag rejected them; Hindenburg returned to decree in July 1930

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Extract 1: Berghahn (1987)] What does Berghahn argue caused the collapse?

Sudden recall of American money ended loan-based prosperity • Nazi success in September 1930 alarmed foreign investors and sped it up • Short-term credit had funded long-term investment, causing a cash-flow crisis and bank runs • Brüning chose deflation: balanced budget, cut benefits and civil-service pay

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Did government policies work?] Did Brüning's policies work?

Deflation, but refused to devalue for fear of 1923-style inflation • One benefit: Germany clearly could not pay → Hoover Moratorium (1 July 1931) suspended loan payments for a year • Dec 1931: unions proposed US-style job creation; others urged devaluation • Brüning instead decreed wage, rent cuts and tax rises; no reparations next year • Verdict: they did not work and deepened the recession

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Did government policies work?] What did von Papen and von Schleicher do?

Von Papen (late May 1932): tax concessions and subsidies for job-creating businesses; some improvement, but no coherent policy • Von Schleicher (Dec 1932): Reich Commissioner for employment, public works list, RM500 million budget • Nothing in effect before the Nazis took power

[The Great Depression, 1929–32 – Did government policies work?] What were the political consequences?

Rule by decree made Weimar look a failure • Harsh decrees that did not work were very unpopular • Hindenburg stayed popular; chancellors were blamed • Rise of extremist parties, leading to the Nazis

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Changing living standards] What did Weimar inherit from the war?

Severe shortages; horses requisitioned; food sent to the Front; Allied blockade • 'Alternative foods' like K-brot (potatoes, oats, even straw) • High infant mortality and stillbirths; malnutrition common • One Berlin district: 90% of children aged 2–6 undernourished • Plus veterans and dependants to support

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Cost of living survey (Extend)] How was the cost of living measured?

From 1919, basket of goods for a family of five, priced against 1914 • 560 districts (497 towns over 10,000) • Monthly → twice monthly (1922) → weekly (Mar 1923) → twice weekly at the height of inflation • Covered food, heating, lighting, housing; clothing from April 1922; excluded furniture, transport, school, leisure

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Cost of living survey (Extend)] What does the Berlin tram fare show?

One mark, doubled 1918–19 • 7 marks July 1920; 10 July 1921; 40 July 1922; 10,000 July 1923

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Changing living standards] How did living standards change 1918–24 for workers?

Improved just after the war as employment and wages rose • Fell sharply as inflation galloped • Long-term unemployed took low-paid, long-hours jobs • Women did piecework at home, e.g. paid per 50 buttons covered • Eight-hour day (1918) had all but gone by 1924

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Source 4] What does Source 4 show about real wages (1928 = 100)?

1913: 93 • 1925: 81 · 1926: 84 · 1927: 89 • 1928: 100 · 1929: 102 • 1930: 97 · 1931: 94 · 1932: 86 · 1933: 91

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Extract 2: McElligott (2014)] What does McElligott argue about Weimar living standards?

Employment insecurity was the norm • Full employment only in 1922 and 1928 • Unemployment doubled 1925–28 (3.4% to 6.3%), peaking at 10% in 1926 • Hanover family: father jobless from 1931 for four years; RM17.50 benefit left barely 10 marks after rent

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Changing living standards] Housing conditions in Weimar Berlin?

Cramped, shared toilets and washing; poorest in one room • 1925 Berlin (pop. just over 4m): 130,500 lodgers, 44,600 who only rented a bed • Similar in 1929; children gave up beds to lodgers

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Changing living standards] Who else suffered, and who gained?

Skilled and clerical workers used up savings; men lost clerical jobs to lower-paid women • Small family businesses lost businesses and homes • Gainers: black marketeers, landlords cramming tenants, industrialists buying small firms • They became targets for Weimar's opponents

[Changing living standards, 1918–32 – Timeline: social legislation] Major social legislation 1920–27?

May 1920: Reich Pension Law, linked to pre-war jobs not rank • Feb 1922: Labour Exchange Law, offices and a 'right to work' • Feb 1924: Economic Enabling Law, benefit and employer contributions • 1924: Reich Social Welfare Law, unified system with municipal welfare offices • July 1927: Unemployment Insurance Law, benefit for all out of work

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – How did the Nazis attempt recovery?] What was the Nazis' starting position on debt and trade?

No reparations: Lausanne (1932) agreed payment was impossible • Schacht kept as Reichsbank president; foreign debts still owed • 1934: failed to pay US debts; trade with USA collapsed • Not relying on foreign trade: Schacht's 'New Plan' bartered goods with Hungary, Yugoslavia

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – How did the Nazis attempt recovery?] What was the first Four-Year Plan?

Political security came first • Announced 1 January 1933 with the aim of autarky • Most important targets: unemployment and agriculture

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Creating employment] Give three reasons unemployment fell.

The Depression had bottomed out; businesses hiring again • Statistics manipulated: Jews removed from the workforce; women discouraged and married women not counted • Work created: RAD manual labour for less than benefit, in camps; road-building tied to car and truck manufacture

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Source 5] Unemployment figures 1933–36 (Source 5)?

1933: 4,804,000 (25.9%) • 1934: 2,718,000 (13.5%) • 1935: 2,151,000 (10.3%) • 1936: 1,593,000 (7.4%)

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Building the autobahns (Extend)] How effective were the autobahns?

Propaganda stressed job creation; aim was moving goods and later the army • Slow to start; fewer roads than planned • Dec 1933–Jan 1935: at most 84,000 workers at once • Helped business: 126,000 trucks built 1934–36, only 15,700 for the army

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Managing agriculture] How did the Nazis manage agriculture?

Hugenberg: raised import tariffs, banned repossessing indebted farms, made margarine include German butter • Darré (May 1933): Reichsnährstand (RNS) set production, prices, farm wages; fines up to RM100,000 • Reich agencies controlled food imports; young women sent to farm work • German farmers' share of produce: 68% (1928) → 80% (1934)

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Managing business and the workers] Which businesses gained and which lost?

Iron, steel and I.G. Farben backed the Nazis • Exporters less happy • Department stores made 80% less in 1934 than 1929 after the 1933 retail law

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Managing business and the workers] How were unions and workers handled?

Weimar lost working days ranged from 1,222m (1926) to 36,198m (1924) • 1 May made a holiday in 1933; 6 May: single union, the DAF • DAF 'voluntary' but hard to get work without it • Big business could set conditions; Reich Trustees of Labour usually sided with employers

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Timeline: Nazi legislation 1933] Key economic laws of May–June 1933?

6 May: DAF set up, other unions banned • 12 May: Law for Protection of Retail Trade • 19 May: Reich Trustees of Labour (12) • 1 June: Law to Reduce Unemployment (Reinhardt Programme); marriage loans if women left work; Debt Regulation Law • 22 June: autobahn law

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – Timeline: Nazi legislation 1933–35] Key economic laws Sept 1933–1935?

13 Sept: Reichsnährstand • 21 Sept: second Reinhardt Programme; Reich Entailed Farm Law (about 700,000 farms, to eldest son) • 24 Oct: Strength Through Joy and Beauty of Labour • 29 Nov: Law for Construction of German Craft Trades • 16 March 1935: conscription and rearmament • 26 June 1935: RAD compulsory for ages 19–25

[Q2 · Nazi economic recovery, 1933–36 – The crisis of 1935–36] What was the crisis of 1935–36?

South-east European partners began demanding cash (e.g. Bulgaria for oil) • Rearmament and work creation needed raw-material imports; food shortages too • Schacht had to choose between food and raw materials • Exporting went against Nazi policy; the alternative was rationing and higher output • Led to the second Four-Year Plan (1936)

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – Creating a command economy] What is a command economy, and what had the Nazis done by 1936?

The state, not business, decides what and how much to produce • State control built up from the start • First plan ran to 1936, leaving high foreign debts

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – The second Four-Year Plan] What was the second Four-Year Plan?

Focus on autarky and war preparation • Goering in charge, controlling all business and agriculture • Six departments: raw materials, agricultural production, distribution, labour, prices, foreign exchange • Synthetics replaced imports, e.g. Buna rubber, needing new factories • Six tonnes of coal for one tonne of synthetic fuel, prioritised for the military

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – Extract 3: Noakes and Pridham (1984)] What do Noakes and Pridham argue about the Four-Year Plan?

Started because Schacht's New Plan failed to supply rearmament and consumption • Not a co-ordinated plan but a collection of measures • Tighter controls: Reich Price Commissioner (29 Oct) • Reorientation to synthetics and domestic raw materials, even uneconomic ones

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – Source 7] Which Four-Year Plan targets were met (Source 7)?

Exceeded: explosives (300 vs 223) and coal (411,977 vs 213,000) • Missed: oil 6,260 vs 13,830; Buna 96 vs 120; steel 20,480 vs 24,500; iron ore 4,137 vs 5,549 • Figures in thousand tonnes, 1942 vs target

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – Guns or butter?] What was the 'guns or butter' dilemma?

Rearmament vs food, fuel and necessities • Hitler said rearmament came first but needed the people's support • Rationing would be unpopular after war and Weimar shortages; promise was 'Work and Bread' • Office of the Four-Year Plan tried to balance; propaganda urged less meat and fat

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – 'Guns or butter' debate (Extend)] What is the historians' debate?

How early Hitler planned a war economy • Coal and steel have civilian uses, blurring the evidence • Some argue he exploited this to look 'butter' focused early • War focus clear after 1936; Schacht resigned 1937

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – The situation in 1939] How far was the economy controlled by 1939?

Tight control, but targets not always met • Imports still 17% of agricultural needs (20% in 1934) • Propaganda: fish over meat, jam over sausage; jam consumption trebled 1928–38 • Unpopular with big industrialists and consumer-goods makers • Not fully war-ready, but rearmed without inflation or protest

[Creating a command economy, 1936–39 – Source 8] Self-sufficiency in foods (Source 8), 1927–28 → 1938–39?

Bread grains 79 → 113 • Potatoes 96 → 100; sugar 100 → 101 • Meat 91 → 97; eggs 64 → 82; vegetables 84 → 91 • Fats 44 → 57: the weakest area

[Changing living standards, 1933–39 – Source 9] What does Source 9 show about wages 1933–39 (1928 = 100)?

Real wages: 91 (1933) → 94 → 95 → 97 → 101 → 105 → 108 (1939) • Hourly wages only 89 and weekly 90 by 1939 • Cost of living held around 78–83 • Real wages rose mainly through longer hours

[Changing living standards, 1933–39 – The ordinary worker] Did living standards improve for ordinary workers?

For conformists, initially yes; unemployment fell • Wages regulated; industry geared to war, not consumer goods • Real wages improved only with overtime • Strength Through Joy gave real extras (loans, medical care, food for 'suitable' mothers), but not the Volkswagen

[Changing living standards, 1933–39 – Volkswagen (Extend)] Why was the Volkswagen scheme propaganda?

First cars shown 17 February 1939 • About 270,000 saved by end 1939, lending the state RM110 million • No one got a car or money back; factory turned to war

[Changing living standards, 1933–39 – Changing living standards] How did 'undesirables' fare?

Standards split between conformist 'pure Germans' and 'undesirables' • 18 Aug 1939: disabled babies reported; T4 from Oct 1939, extended Jan 1940; over 70,000 died • Oct 1936–July 1940: 'asocial' families sent to Hashude (78 families)

[Changing living standards, 1933–39 – Social welfare] How did the NSV and Winter Aid work?

NSV (1933) split the needy into 'deserving' and not • Aim: a healthy nation, not individual welfare • Mother and Child programmes; about 10,800 crèches and kindergartens by end 1938 • By 1939: over 1m volunteers and 500,000 block wardens (30–60 households each) • Winter Aid from 1933 hard to refuse; 'voluntary' wage deductions; seen as snoopers

[Impact of war on Nazi economic policies, 1939–45 – Impact of war] How prepared was the economy in 1939?

More prepared than Britain and France, but not as self-sufficient as hoped • Army wanted four months' ammunition; had six weeks' • War changed how the economy was run, not its policies • Competing organisations; Goering favoured the air force

[Impact of war on Nazi economic policies, 1939–45 – Impact of war] What did Fritz Todt try to do?

Minister of armaments from 26 Feb 1940 • Needed centralised control but departments, especially Goering, resisted • 3 Dec 1941: Hitler's memorandum on rationalisation, not fully enforced • Died 8 Feb 1942 in a plane crash

[Impact of war on Nazi economic policies, 1939–45 – The new system] How did Speer's Central Planning Board transform production?

Decree of 22 April 1942: board allocated materials, factories, transport • Specialist committees per armament; only Hitler could override • Small factories closed, parts standardised, mass production • Skilled workers conscripted, replaced by women and foreign workers (army 1.4% of workforce 1929, 13% 1944) • Searchlights: 20/month (1942) → 150 (end 1944); 1944 output almost three times 1940

[Impact of war on Nazi economic policies, 1939–45 – Impact of war] How did military needs change during the war?

Blitzkrieg needed planes, tanks, armoured vehicles • After France fell (22 June 1940): U-boats and long-range planes • Operation Barbarossa (June 1941): tanks and armoured vehicles again • Constant changes caused delays

[Impact of war on Nazi economic policies, 1939–45 – Source 10] Military spending 1936–43 (Source 10)?

1936: 10.8 · 1937: 11.7 · 1938: 17.2 • 1939: 30.0 · 1940: 53.0 · 1941: 71.0 • 1942: 91.0 · 1943: 112.0 (millions of marks)

[Impact of war on Nazi economic policies, 1939–45 – An overstretched economy] Why had the economy collapsed by 1945?

Allied bombing of factories, mines, towns, transport • Loss of raw materials, e.g. Upper Silesia's coal • Damage to electricity, gas, water • Sabotage by foreign workers • Food: farm workers lost and transport bombed; starvation, black market

[Impact of war on Nazi economic policies, 1939–45 – Extract 4: Stolper (rev. 1967)] What does Stolper show about Allied bombing?

More bombs in early 1944 than the previous four years combined • Selective targets: ball-bearing factories, submarine pens, aircraft plants, airfields • Later oil refineries, synthetic rubber plants, transport

[Q3 · Economic recovery, 1945–55 – What effect did the social market economy have?] How did 1945 compare with 1918?

Surrender 8 May 1945, 27 years after WWI • Economy ruined, people starving, as in 1918 • But no armistice: Berlin taken, Hitler dead, Germany occupied • Potsdam (17 July–2 Aug 1945) decided what followed

[Q3 · Economic recovery, 1945–55 – How far was recovery achieved?] What did the Allies decide about the economy?

Rebuild, but prevent another war • Munitions banned; war-related industries like chemicals restricted • Reparations taken as equipment; French and Soviets dismantled factories

[Q3 · Economic recovery, 1945–55 – How far was recovery achieved?] What problems held back recovery?

Reichsmark almost worthless; black market thrived • 1 kg sugar: RM1 official in 1947, RM120–180 on the black market • Hard to get workers when wages bought little • Zones run differently; Soviet zone diverging

[Q3 · Economic recovery, 1945–55 – The refugee problem] What was the refugee problem?

160,000 German POWs stayed in France • About 10 million Germans fled the Soviets or were expelled after Potsdam • Seen first as a burden, later a great asset; rationing introduced • Some housed in camps, even Dachau; about 4.5 million displaced persons (DPs)

[Exam practice – Section A (20 marks)] 'How accurate is it to say that 1918–29 was disruption followed by stability and consolidation?' What evidence do you need?

Disruption 1918–23: debt, Ruhr, hyperinflation • Stability 1924–28: Rentenmark, Dawes, trade, business, welfare laws • Limits: loans, cartels, agriculture, disputes, McElligott • Tip: argue for and against

[Exam practice – AS Section A (20 marks)] 'Was economic recovery the main reason the Nazi regime survived 1933–39?' What must you include?

Recovery: unemployment, autarky, real wages, Strength Through Joy • Limits: manipulated figures, regulated wages, Volkswagen • Tip: weigh other factors: controlling opposition and propaganda

[Exam practice – Section B (20 marks)] 'How successful was the command economy in solving Weimar's economic problems?' What must you do first?

Define 'command economy' • Choose ways to measure success • Use evidence: unemployment, Four-Year Plan targets, food self-sufficiency, 1935–36 crisis