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
• 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 19391941 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,