Nazi Germany 1933-1945

Unemployment was 33% or 6,000,000 people

German exports were minimal compared to normal

Needed to reduce unemployment, stimulate the economy

Dr. Hjalmar Schacht was appointed president of the Reichsbank A non-Nazi, but well respected by businesses

Reduce unemployment—public works projects Construction of Autobahnen, planting trees, digging

ditches for irrigation Subsidies for private construction Loans for industrial activity Use people instead of machines when

possible Expand the bureaucracy Discourage female labor—stay home! Have

babies! 1935—conscription returns, increase in war

materials production: rearmament

Each worker’s leisure time was calculated and mapped out, the state provided approved recreational activities:Activity # Events # People

Theater 21,146 11,507,432

Concerts 989 705,623

Hikes 5,896 126,292

Cultural Events 20,527 10,518,282

Museum Tours 61,506 2,567,596

Courses/Lectures

19,060 1,009,922

Weekend Trips 3,499 1,007,242

Trade agreements made with other countries; Germany got raw materials & sold back German goods (cars! Volkswagons!)

Ended trade unions & strikes Seizing Jewish businesses gave money to

the government/”German” businesses Website:

http://www.johndclare.net/Nazi_Germany3_Gunsnotbutter.html

Year Total Unemployed

1933 6 million

1934 3.3 million

1935 2.9 million

1936 2.5 million

1937 1.8 million

1938 1 million

1939 302,000

This was the Great Depression—did the propaganda machine of the Nazis convince Europe that Germany had done something no one else could accomplish?

It was more of a “Bookkeeping Miracle”: Women were removed from the rate Jews lost citizenship in 1935 & were

removed

People were given work by the gov’t and told to take it or go to a concentration camp

Conscription (the draft) reinstated (illegally, according to Versailles) in 1935—as men did their time in the military, they were “employed”

4 million were put in the army Only about 2 million jobs created, and

many went towards factories for rearmament