Goering's first move was to introduce a Four-Year Plan in October 1936, the chief aim of which was to make Germany an autarky. To achieve this, a number of targets were set, including:
• the bringing of Germany's labour force under tighter control so that it could directed into vital areas such as arms production
• increased use of import controls to protect German manufactures
• the production of synthetic substitutes for rubber and oil to avoid these essentials having to be imported.
Economic historians suggest that in the twentieth century autarky was an impossible goal for advanced industrial states like Germany. Their commerce was too interlinked internationally and no country had all the vital resources
To be self-sufficient. In 1939 German industry was still importing a third of the raw materials it needed. Nevertheless, although autarky had not been achieved by that date, Germany had made significant economic advances.
In what way does Source K indicate that German workers had experienced only limited recovery in their wage rates between 1933 and 1938?
The limited post-recession recovery in the average wage rates of German industrial workers (calculated to an index of 100 in 1936).
SOURCE L
Graph showing the fall in unemployment in Germany, 1932-39.
6,013,612
The most striking aspect of Germany's economic performance was the sustained fall in unemployment, which added greatly to Hitler's popularity. Encouraged by the figures of industrial growth, he announced major spending programmes for all three armed services that would make Germany ready for war. But when war came in the autumn of 1939, there were fears among a number of Hitler's generals that Germany was not yet ready for a major European conflict.
The wartime economy
A remarkable feature of the Germany economy was that there was no ministry or body with overall responsibility for organizing the war effort. This encouraged rivalry between government departments and the armed services and made a concerted effort difficult. Communication between departments was seldom smooth which meant that decisions and instructions were not always clear. It is a further reminder that Nazi Germany was never the monolithic super-efficient state that its own propaganda suggested and popular imagination believed.
World History
