German History Revision Notes: The Impact of War on Nazi Germany and Occupied Territories (1939-1945)

Early Success and Initial Apprehension

Declaration of war in September 1939 met with apprehension among the German population.
Blitzkrieg tactics led to early military success, dispelling doubts and creating an impression of strength.
Hitler met with ecstatic crowds upon his return from France to Berlin.

Defeat of Poland and Access to Resources

Poland was defeated quickly using Blitzkrieg tactics due to the war declaration without direct help from Britain and France.
Germany gained access to raw materials and labor.
Received aid from the USSR under the Nazi-Soviet Pact.

Triumph Over Low Countries and France

Germany defeated the Low Countries and France within 6 weeks, a triumph for Hitler.
Generals were impressed by Hitler's handling of events.
Hitler had conquered a larger area of Europe than any previous leader.
It was assumed the war was almost over.

Turning Point: Defeats Begin in Russia

Britain, under Winston Churchill, refused to negotiate with Germany.
Churchill stated: “Victory despite terror…. For without victory there is no survival."
Germany failed to win the Battle of Britain in the autumn of 1940.
Hitler decided to prepare for the invasion of the USSR before neutralizing Britain.
On December 18, 1940, Hitler issued Directive No. 21 for Operation Barbarossa, planning to crush Soviet Russia quickly.
Initial success in USSR but by December 1941, the military advance halted near Moscow and Leningrad.
The Blitzkrieg invasion failed, leading to a long war on two fronts.
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Hitler's alignment with Japan turned the industrial capacity of the world's greatest power against Germany.
By the end of 1941, events were running out of Hitler's control.

Further Defeats and Shifting Tides

In 1942, German forces pushed into the Caucasian oilfields aiming to capture Stalingrad.
British victory at El Alamein led to the ejection of German forces from North Africa.
Encirclement and surrender of 300,000 troops at Stalingrad marked the Soviet counter-offensive's beginning.
Germany's defeats showed they were no longer invincible.
Rationing introduced as the war continued.

Economic Strains and Rationing

The Nazi economy wasn't ready for a major war in 1939, so prioritizing and rationing of food, clothes, and basics were introduced early on.
No serious food shortages between 1939-41; rations were 10% above the minimum calorific standard until early 1944.
Limited rationing and tax increases minimized strain in the early war years.
After the invasion of the USSR in 1941, more controls and sacrifices were necessary, with increased rationing.
By 1945, food supplies were precarious, leading to malnutrition in industrial cities.
Consumer goods trade struggled; furniture and clothing sales fell by 40% and 25% respectively in the first 2 years.
Coal was reserved for industrial production, reducing availability for domestic heating.
In the last two years of the war, clothes were scarce, shoes hard to find, and luxuries like magazines and sweets were stopped.

Maintaining Public Morale

Nazis focused on keeping public morale high.
Bonuses and overtime payments were offered to boost morale and productivity.
Early Nazi victories were used as propaganda.
It became difficult to disguise the reality of the situation from the winter of 1942-43.
Goebbels tasked with persuading Germans to accept sacrifices and toured bombed cities to raise morale and organize relief.
By 1943, Goebbels realized he could not convince people that Germany was winning.
In 1944, Kolberg, a film about heroic national resistance to Napoleon, had 100,000 soldiers diverted from the front to participate, seen as more important than fighting.
Little evidence of a collapse in morale undermining the Nazi war effort, but increased grumbling and opposition.
No time there was a threat to the regime.

Propaganda Efforts

Goebbels' ministry focused intensely negative propaganda against the Allies and promised victory.
No negative headlines were allowed in the press.
Anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic propaganda on the Eastern Front influenced German soldiers, increasing hatred of Communism and aggression.
This was known as "Germany against Bolshevism" campaign.

Disillusionment and Loyalty

By the Battle of Britain in 1940, it was obvious that information from the Propaganda Ministry was not accurate.
The peasantry became increasingly disillusioned, feeling their interests were sacrificed to the urban majority.
Despite defeats by 1944, many Germans remained loyal to Hitler.
People blamed the Nazi Party rather than Hitler when things went wrong.

Impact of Allied Bombing

Civilian hardship intensified after 1943 due to Allied bombing.
British RAF and US air force flew 1.4 million missions over Germany and dropped 2.7 million tonnes of bombs.
Boosted morale initially but didn’t last long.
Estimated 650,000 German civilians were killed.
Industrial plants, including synthetic oil, were destroyed; communications were severely disrupted.
In 1940, possibly 2 million children were evacuated from northern and western cities.
As bombing increased in 1943-44, a further 9 million women, children, and elderly men were evacuated.
The Nazi regime was criticized for failing to protect cities, and evacuees faced denial of shelter and food.
Absenteeism from work increased, and the regime increased its reign of terror.
By 1945, half a million Germans were held in 20 main and 165 subsidiary camps compared to 100,000 in 1942.
Hamburg bombed on July 27, 1943, resulting in 45,000 deaths, and again in August 1943, destroying 60% of buildings, with estimated deaths between 60,000-100,000.

Mobilization of the Labor Force

Waging war strained Germany's supply of men.
The Register of Labour was created to draft men into the armed forces, reaching 13 million by 1944.
The labor force fell from 39.1 million in 1939 to 30.4 million in 1944.
Labor and investment focused on war-related industries such as chemical, iron and steel, synthetic oil, and metal-working.
Armaments industries were prioritized and retained skilled labor.
Factories shifted from car manufacturing, clothing, and furniture to armaments, aircraft, and uniforms.

Labor Shortages and Foreign Workers

Strategies were not enough to make up for labor shortages.
The Nazi regime drafted foreign workers from occupied/allied countries and used prisoners of war (POWs).
After the defeat of France in June 1940, a million French POWs were drafted into German agriculture and industry.
By the summer of 1944, the Nazi regime forced a total mobilization with the creation of the Volkssturm (People's Army).
The Volkssturm consisted of men (and some women) between 16 and 60 not in defense roles.

Germany's Slow Mobilization and Speer's Impact

Hitler ordered major economic mobilization; military expenditure doubled from 1939-41.
Deficiencies in war materials: in 1941, one-third of German troops invading the USSR were ill-equipped.
From 1939-41, the German economy failed to meet war needs.
Albert Speer took over the economy in 1942, organizing it effectively for total war.
Speer employed more women, used concentration camp prisoners as workers, and prevented skilled workers from military conscription.
Led to increased output: Ammunition production increased by 97%; tank production rose by 25%; total arms production increased by 59%.
By the second half of 1944, war production had increased more than threefold since early 1942.
Allied bombing caused industrial destruction and communication breakdowns.
Germany diverted resources to anti-aircraft guns and underground industrial sites.

Mobilization of Women in the Workplace

By 1939, females made up 37.4% of the workforce already.
The government attempted to transfer women from the consumer-goods sector to war industries.
From June 1942, girls in the Reich Labour Service served as auxiliaries in the armed forces.
In 1944, women replaced men operating searchlights attached to anti-aircraft batteries; some were employed in occupied territories.
Longer hours meant women neglected families, and lower wages increased grievance.
By Jan. 1943, pressures on manpower intensified.
On Jan 27, Hitler decreed that all men 16-65 not in the armed forces and all women aged 17-45 had to register for war work; only 900,000 women were called up due to exemptions。
Employers preferred high-performing foreigners to low-performing women from small workshops.

Increased Use of Hitler Youth

The youth of Nazi Germany was a dislocated generation due to evacuation, allied bombing, and family losses.
There was a decline in education and academic standards due to the conscription of teachers.
Formal exams ceased in 1943; by 1944, teaching in schools had petered out.
The age of military service was reduced to seventeen in 1943 and to sixteen in 1945.
Teenagers were used for defense work such as manning anti-aircraft batteries.
Young people could not avoid the increasing demands of war.