CHAP 4.4; Nazi unemployment policies

Nazi economic plans

THE “4 YEAR PLAN” - ATTEMPT TO ACHIEVE AUTARKY & PREPARE GERMANY FOR WAR

—> self-sufficiency; Germany would not need products from other countries, so it didn’t risk losing resources if it waged war.

—> A propaganda campaign encouraged people to only consume German products & food

Results/success of the Nazi’s economic plans

LIMITED SUCCESS

• there were frequent food shortages and rationing had to be introduced.

• Germany imported 1/3 of its raw materials & imported more than it exported

• Government spending > the government’s income

• By 1939 the government was billions of marks in debt

How did the Nazis reduce unemployment?

• Increased spending on public works (e.g motorways) created jobs for construction workers

• A more aggressive foreign policy + emphasis on rearmament; investment in arms. Created jobs in factories + adjacent industries (coal/steel mining, chemical factories etc)

• Germany’s expansion created jobs: army went from 100,000 - 900,000+ by 1938

• Private companies were paid to create jobs, e.g the car industry producing the Volkswagen

Invisible unemployment in Nazi Germany

WOMEN

• Encouraged to stay at home, they quit or were fired

• even when women were encouraged to work again during rearmament there were less women working in 1939 than before the Depression

• Not included in unemployment figures

JEWS

• forced from their jobs and replaced by Aryans

• Not included in unemployment figures

THE NATIONAL LABOUR SERVICE

• single men had to serve 6 months doing public building projects

• after 1935, unemployed men were forced to join & no longer counted as unemployed

TEMPORARILY EMPLOYED PEOPLE

• e.g agricultural workers

• counted as fully employed, so over a million people that may have needed work were excluded from the unemployment figures

^ The statistics do not include what life was like. The cost of life + working hours went up so the average worker could afford less in 1939 than 1933

What was the German Labour Front?

An organization set up after trade unions were banned to ensure the industry’s efficiency. Their main aims were for workers to work harder and to control wages — more hours without more pay.

Subdivisions of the German Labour Front

STRENGTH THROUGH JOY (KDF)

• ran activities for workers in their free time

• intended to make more motivated, satisfied workers by giving the hardest workers rewards

• rewards; cheap theatre tickets, museum tours, (very rarely) cruises & holidays

BEAUTY OF LABOUR (SDA)

• improved working conditions — encouraged employers to provide facilities such as canteens and sport/leisure areas

• most employers provided, but on the basis that employees would build it in their own free time, and it came out of their wages.