5077703
| Question | Answer |
| --Changing living standards, 1933-39-- | --Changing living standards, 1933-39-- |
| How did the standard of living change in Germany? | Became increasingly divided between that of conformist 'pure Germans' and that of people the Nazis saw as undesirable. |
| What happened on 18th August 1939, in terms of the Nazis cracking down on undesirables? | All doctors, nurses and midwives had to report any babies and children under 3 years of age that showed signs of physical or mental disability. |
| How was this action intensified in October 1939, and how did this progress? | -Nazis started the T4 campagin to get rid of disabled children. -Children could be send to 'specialist clinics' where they would be killed. -From January 1940. T4 programme extended for the old, mentally ill or chronically sick. 70,000 people died under the T4 programme. |
| What happened between October 1936 and July 1940, in terms of 'asocial' families? | -Families could be declared 'asocial' (failed to pay rent, failed to keep a job or were alcoholic). -They were sent for about a year to be 're-educated' at Hashude (housing estate). -They would be re-educated in order to be able to be released into society as the Nazis 'perfect Germans'. |
| --The ordinary worker-- | --The ordinary worker-- |
| What was the issue with wages for the ordinary worker? | -They were regulated so that workers didn't have too much money (since industry was geared towards war production) to spend on consumables. -Real wages only improved if a worker worked overtime. |
| Name one scheme that improved worker's lives, and what this scheme did. | -Strength Through Joy. -This provided extras such as: • Provision of loans • Medical care • Extra food and vitamins for 'suitable' mothers. • Save for a Volkswagen. |
| --Social welfare-- | --Social welfare-- |
| What was the name of the Nazi social welfare programme? | NSV (National Socialist People's Welfare) |
| What did the NSV aim to do? | It divided the needy into those who 'deserved' help and those who did not. It aimed to: • Create a healthy nation and not care about the welfare of individuals. |
| What sort of schemes did the NSV set up? | Ran Mother and Child programmes (kindergartens set up to indoctrinate the youth). |
| What impact did the NSV have on housing? | -NSV controlled housing. -By 1939, NSV had over 1 million voluntary workers and about 500,000 block wardens who were responsible for 30-60 households. |
| From 1933, how did the Nazis appeal to the needy? What did they set up? How did people react to this? | -NSV ran the yearly Winter Aid programme. -Relied on donations (hard to refuse to donate due to SA and blockwardens having brutal tactics). -Viewed NSV officials and volunteers as 'Nazi snoopers' to try to catch them out breaking the rules. |
| --What was the impact of the war on Nazi economic policies, 1939-45?-- | --What was the impact of the war on Nazi economic policies, 1939-45?-- |
| What was the major issue at the start of the war, in terms of war organisation? | The Office of the Four-Year Plan was not managing war production well, due to the 'power race' from different industries organising their sectors of war (e.g. economics ministry; army, navy and air force; the war ministry). |
| How did Hitler sort this situation out? | On 26th February 1940, Hitler made Fritz Todt minister of armaments and munitions with the task of organising industry to full production. |
| How did Todt try to fulfil his task and was this possible? | -Todt wanted centralised control to make the industry as efficient as possible. -Other departments would accept this level of power (especially Goering), who carried on giving more and more resources to the air force. |
| What did Hitler himself do about the situation? | -Tried to implement a policy of rationalising needs, updating factories and equipment to produce the most efficient weapons as efficiently as possible. -Wanted that the army, navy and air force keep their demands to a minimum. -DID NOT force the adoption of Todt's reorganisation and centralisation plans. |
| --The new system-- | --The new system-- |
| Who was Todt's replacement and what did he convince Hitler to do? | -An architect named Albert Speer. -Convinced Hitler that the armaments minister MUST be fully in charge. |
| What did Hitler's decree of 22nd April 1942 do? | -Set up Central Planning Board. -This distributed raw materials, decided on whether to build a factory or extend an existing one, organised transportation. -Had a variety of committees, made up of specialists, who were in charge of certain fields of warfare (e.g. tanks, ammunition etc). |
| What did these committees want to do? | -Look at all factories producing the same equipment. -Close smaller factories, concentrating production into larger ones. -Standardise factory machinery so that repair was easier. -Adapt factories to increase efficient mass production. |
| What did the committees do in terms of workers? | -Wanted production to become more mechanised so it could withstand the thousands of skilled workers that would be conscripted and replaced by less-skilled women. -By 1944, 13% of the workforce was in the army. |
| When did these big changes by Speer come in useful? | -Due to Blitzkrieg, Germany gained a lot of land very quickly (tanks, armoured vehicles). -Germany only had to take over UK to dominate the West of Europe (planes, U-Boats). -Germany failed to take UK and instead initiated Operation Barbarossa (tanks, armoured vehicles). The new factory system allowed for a smoother transition in production, though delays still occurred. |
| --An overstretched economy-- | --An overstretched economy-- |
| In 1945, the economy was severely overstretched. What was war production badly affected by? | -Allied bombing, which wiped out factories, mines, towns and transport links. -The loss of land that had provided raw materials (Upper Silesia's coal). -Damage to electricity, gas and water supplies. -Sabotage by foreign workers, deliberate 'mistakes' that damaged equipment and machinery. |
| What happened to food production? | -Severely affected. -Farmers had to go to the Front. -Transport links bombed. PEOPLE WERE STARVING DUE TO THIS! |
| What took over? | The Black Market, just like at the end of WW1. |
| --WHAT EFFECT DID THE CREATION OF A 'SOCIAL MARKET' ECONOMY HAVE ON THE FRG IN THE YEARS 1945-89?-- | --WHAT EFFECT DID THE CREATION OF A 'SOCIAL MARKET' ECONOMY HAVE ON THE FRG IN THE YEARS 1945-89?-- |
| --How far was economic recovery achieved in the years 1945-55?-- | --How far was economic recovery achieved in the years 1945-55?-- |
| What restrictions did the Allies put on the German infrastructure which damaged her economy? | -War industries banned (munitions). -War-related industries (chemical industries) had their outputs restricted. |
| How did some zones deal with their factories and what was the effect of this? | They dismantled the factories, which undermined any chance of an economic recovery in those zones. |
| Name two other factors that hampered any chance of economic recovery. | -The RM was almost worthless (black market thrived) which meant that it was hard to get workers whose wages bought them close to nothing. -Transport and communication links crossed between zones. |
| What did many Germans decide to do and give an example of this? | -Many Germans decided to leave or decided not to return to Germany. -E.G. 160,000 German prisoners of war in France stayed their after the war. |
| What was 'the refugee problem'? | -Almost 10 million of these refugees came from Eastern Europe, who were expelled, under the reallocation of land and people agreed at Potsdam. -Some refugees found work on farms and helped to rebuild Germany's agriculture. -The rest needed housing and feeding which put a strain on Germany's already weak economy. -Also, those who had been taken as prisoners during the war (about 4.5 million) had to be housed and fed as well before returning home. |
| --West Germany after 1949-- | --West Germany after 1949-- |
| What was one of the major economic factors that caused the separation of FRG and GDR? | -Allies gave FRG economic aid of almost $1.4 million which allowed the creation of the DM (Deutschemark). |
| What did the creation of the DM do? (2) | -Helped to stabilise the economy. -Helped to break up the black market as the currency was backed by Western powers. |
| What did the creation of the DM mean for the GDR? | -They had to create their own currency since they were not included in the DM. -This made separation more likely, until 1949, when Germany split into the FRG and GDR. |
| --Erhard and reform-- | --Erhard and reform-- |
| Who was appointed director of the economic administration in March 1948? | Ludwig Erhard. |
| What style of economy to Erhard try to create under the Allies and then as economics minister (1949-1963), and what was this? | -Social market economy. -A free market economy with the elements of social support for the poorest built in - a 'socially responsible' free market economy. |
| Which three things did Erhard announce in June 1948? | -The RM would change to the DM. -Abolish all but essential rationing. -Abolish price controls. |
| How did the public act, due to these changes? | -People stopped hoarding goods and started to sell them. -Shop with a more careful concern for price and quality as there would always be a supply. |
| What was the Equalisation of Burdens Act, passed by the Bundestag in 1952? | It raised money from assets and redistributed it to help people start again. |
| What were some of the issues caused by Erhard's new economic system? | -Factories and businesses still had to replace machinery and train workers. -Some businesses failed after the currency reform because they could not afford to pay the wages. -Other businesses had to lay off workers. |
| How was unemployment affected by Erhard's reforms? | -Unemployment rose substantially: • June 1948 - 442,000 • January 1949 - 937,000 • 1950 - 1.8 million. However it did then start to decrease: • 1955 - 1 million and continued to fall. |
| What was the effect on production? | -Car production in 1959 was 4.5 times greater than in 1950. -Steel production doubled (this underlined Germany's new focus on consumer goods). |
| --Opposition-- | --Opposition-- |
| Who did Erhard face opposition from and why? | -Faced opposition due to wanting to convert the command economy into a social market economy. -Got this from: Bundestag and Economic Council. |
| Why did Britain oppose the reforms? | Shared concerns with labour union leaders who feared a social market economy would lead to exploitation of the workers by business owners. |
| Who else wasn't supportive of the reforms? | -Industrialists. -Socialists (not to support price fixing); this was because they wanted to nationalise industries and use state control, not allowing a capitalist market to set its own levels. |
| In layman's terms, why did Erhard gain enough support to continue his policies? | Erhard had created a capitalist market with a responsible government that provided a social safety net for the poorest. |
| What did his policies allow businesses to do? | -Have tax concessions. -Remove wage restrictions. |
| What did Erhard encourage, to try to lessen the impact of the disadvantages of the social market economy? | The creation of trade unions to make sure that workers had adequate representation in wage negotiations. |
| In 1951, the policy of co-determination was introduced. What was this? | As all businesses had workers' councils, it seemed only fair that co-determination was allowed which was: The permission of workers' representatives on managerial boards in industry. |
| --The economic miracle, 1955-66-- | --The economic miracle, 1955-66-- |
| Why was the German economy called an economic miracle after 1955? | The German economy improved extremely rapidly. |
| Name 3 factors that contributed towards the economic miracle. | -The Korean War. -New investment. -Workers. |
| Why did the Korean War help towards the economic miracle? | -During the Korean War, the demand for war goods increased, especially from the USA. -FRG was banned from producing these. -1955, FRG joined NATO. -FRG allowed to re-arm and start producing war materials, boosting the economy. |
| What had happened to the state of businesses from the mid-1950s onwards? | They had recovered sufficiently to be able to invest in new, more efficient equipment, and even new factories. |
| What was the new aim of German businesses? | To produce high-quality goods and keep their prices as low as possible to compete with each other, as well as on the international stage. |
| What happened to German reputation after the mid-1950s, and what did this allow for? | -It improved dramatically and exports grew as a result of this. -As exports grew, businesses could invest more and employ more workers. -Manufacturers of consumer goods could also buy more raw materials, increasing production and therefore profits. |
| As for workers, how did the refugees impact on the workforce? | The influx of refugees after the war created a large pool of 'guest workers' for businesses to draw on. |
| What was the initial problem of the refugees, and later the major advantage of them? | -Initial problem was that many were unskilled and therefore needed training. -After this problem was overcome, they provided an efficient workforce. -Due to the fact it was a large pool of workers, wages could be kept low. |
| How did the migration of people from the FRG to GDR help the German economy? | -Almost 3.6 million people migrated from FRG to GDR during the 1950s. -Many of them were young, skilled and highly educated (doctors and engineers). -They all wanted to be part of West Germany's consumer culture. -This helped the economy twice over. |
| How did the save the government money and where did they invest their savings? | -Government didn't have as many people to train, therefore didn't have to invest as much into education. -Could spend this money elsewhere such as providing funding for housing construction. |
| --Possible problems-- | --Possible problems-- |
| How did Erhard view the phrase 'economic miracle'? | -Disliked it a lot. -Thought it still had a lot to do with good economic planning and hard work by German people, such as: --Businesses investing their profits back into expansion of business, increasing production and profits. |
| What happened to growth after the initial exponential increase? | -Once everyone had bought their consumer goods for the first time, demand fell to a lower level as people replaced these goods at different times. |
| What was the effect of the Berlin Wall on the FRG economy? | -It stopped workers crossing form the GDR to FRG. -This reduced the 'free' professionals that had helped the expanding economy. |
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