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Gearing the economy 1939-42: Goering and Todt Speer 1942-45: the miracle man? The impact of bombing 1942-45. . Connector. Outcomes. To know the roles of Goring, Todt and Speer To know how the Nazi economy was affected by the war
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Gearing the economy 1939-42: Goering and TodtSpeer 1942-45: the miracle man?The impact of bombing 1942-45.
Outcomes • To know the roles of Goring, Todt and Speer • To know how the Nazi economy was affected by the war • To know how the allied bombing affected the economy and war production
Expansion of War Economy • Hitler wanted to avoid the problems Germany faced in World War 1 • In 1939 war economy decrees were issued by Hitler outlining vast programmes for every part of war production • This suggests that the Nazi were going way beyond a European war • German military expenditure doubled between 1939-1941 and food rationing was introduced from the beginning of the war • 55% of the population worked in war related projects upto 61% by 1944. • Consumption declined by 20% in civlian consumption
Limitations of economic mobilisation • Wholesale mobilisation did not bring massive results • Submarines increased • Airforce- 8290 in 1939 to 10780 in 1941, low compared to Britain • When Hitler wanted to invade Russia in 1940 he only had 800 more tanks than when he invaded France
Why did this happen? • Many projects were not ready and there were confusion between Nazi leaders over long and short term projects • This was because a host of different agencies were competing for the same raw materials eg the Ministry of Armaments clashed with the economics, finance and Labour. • There were a number of groups responsible for armaments, including the office of the Four Year Plan, the armed forces (Luftwaffe, Wehrmacht and navy) • The armed forces were determined to have the best equipment possible and often chose quantity over quality
1942-45 • In 1941 Hitler issued a Rationalisation Decree which intended to eliminate waste and inefficiency • In 1942 Albert Speer was appointed Minister of Armaments, previously he was Hitler’s personal architect • He used Hitler personal authority to cut through the mass of interests and to implement mass production • Controls and constraints previously placed on business were relaxed in order to fit in with Nazi and a Central Planning Board was established in 1942, whose members each represented one vital section of the economy • Speer encouraged industrialists and engineers to join the board but excluded military personal.
Speer • Used his personal friendship with Hitler and his personal skills to charm or blackmail other authorities • Employed more women in war factories • Using concentration camp prisoners as workers • Preventing skilled workers being lost to military conscription
Success and limitations • In 6 months • Ammunition increased 97% • Tank production up 25% • Total arms production up 59% • But • Gauleiters remained powerful at local levels • The SS remained a law unto themselves in conquered lands
Allied Bombing • After 1942 the Allies began to bomb civilian and industrial targets in Germany, upto then Britain had followed a campaign of strategic bombing, only attacked certain targets • This was known as area bombing where a certain area would be more or less flattened • This caused industrial destruction and broke down communications and certainly halted the increase in war production • When production peaked in 1944 it was at a level well below its full potential
Effects of bombing • 24th July a massive raid on Hamburg created a fire storm that killed 30 000 civilians and left one million homeless. • 13-15 Feb 1945 Dresden was bombed by 1300 heavy bombers dropping 3900 tonnes of bombs destroying 13 square miles of the city • By 1945 • 300 000 Germans were killed • 800 000 were wounded • 3.6 million homes were destroyed.
Effect of War • Economy • Lack of food, rationing, clothes production declined, boots and shoes in short supply, magazines and sweets no longer existed • Working hours increased, non essetial businesses were closed, many foreigners were used as labour
Role of women • Women • Caught between the Nazi’s belief of the traditional role of women and their need for workers. • German women encountered considerable hardship working in factories or farms and balancing family roles • Research • Dissent, youth, churches,