Hitler's rule between 1933 and 1939, please help

[Michaelangelica]

Back to Hitler

 

HOW did he manage such an amazing turnaround economically in six short years?

While the rest of the world was in Depression?

 

Is there something to be learnt here?

[Qfwfq]

By stealing, as well as a Socialist policy that kept the Arbeiter Volks chugging along.

 

There are, of course, considerations of economics. The Great Depression was a situation in which Capitalism fails to help, viscious cycle. One way out of this is government intervention rather than free market, two possible forms of this are a government being a big customer as in the case of spending on the military, another is some Socialist policy; clearly these were present in Nazi-Fascism from the start, by their nature. In the USA these came later and the New Deal was perhaps a weaker or more limited Socialist type of intervention; anything stronger would have been blasphemy in the US. Military spending only came with the war and not directly at first but OK, Britain was a large customer at any rate.

 

Apparently, something to be learnt here could be that such regimes are economically wise... except for a few details such as how sustainable they are. It is however quite agreed (and frequent in political fiction) that a centralized economy driven by a state of war can be a strong one, typically to the advantage of a ruling class and less to that of the masses especially in the long term. So... choose your dictator and choose your foe!

 

Anyway not everything here was off topic.

[charles brough]

I respect Mahatma Ghandi, Mother Teresa, and the Dalai Lama. I concede that fear is a primary motivator for most, but your premise which I quoted here is completely bunk.

 

Here we are arguing over a definition! I should explain that my work and thinking is explicity tied up with how I define key words and I always give them only one single definition which I keep locked up in my glossary. That is, for the most part, I define words in ways found in the dictionary but only one way it is defined in the dictionary. I am really not saying you HAVE to use the word my way or even that the general public does. I really only mean that working with the words the way I do is insightful and useful in understanding ourselves. If you insist on using "respect" and "admire" as just being synonyms of each other, the only drawback is that we cannot well communicate when dealing with that subject.

[Llanea]

i started this thread for personal opinions as well as facts i could back up my own with, the essay is an assignment i needed to do to prove the question as being true or faulse and backing up the claims as to why,

 

thank you so much to all who have done so (i passed!) partialy thanks to you guys.

*hands out cookies promised*

[von Faulkenstein]

You may want to look into the connection of Nazi eugenics and American racism at this time--see:The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism

by Stefan Kühl

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002

[Michaelangelica]

National Centre for History Education - Commonwealth History ...

Leni Riefenstahl: Film Maker Extraordinaire or Nazi Stooge? ..... The song composed by Horst Wessel was the most famous song of the Nazi movement. ...

National Centre for History Education - Commonwealth History Project :: Leni

Fear would be a big part of it but I think excellent propaganda, national pride, good economics, the embarrassment of loosing and WW1 and having your nose rubbed in it, would all be factors.

Of course fear was promoted by the propaganda although I don't think you can say that about Leni Riefenstahl's films. they seemed to encourage national pride (Aryan admitted)

IIt is interesting that there was less fear in some occupied territories such as the Dutch who bravely risked a much to protect their jewish citizens.

 

II have read a bit about this period but still can't understand how Hitler avoided the Depression and in such a short time built up Germany's industrial might. (While paying reparations for a lot of this time)

[paigetheoracle]

The Nazi's relied on inspiration as Buffy says to get the ordinary people to follow them (Bread and Circuses) or hope, if you prefer (The opium of the masses) i.e. the idea of a better future. Fear was used against anyone who didn't hook into this 'dream' (Carrot and stick - the former to lead you forward and the latter to 'encourage' the stubborn, who questioned the direction, to think again).

[Michaelangelica]

I still don't get how Hitler avoided the depression and was able to build such a super economy in such a short time

 

Maybe there are lessons for us all here

[paigetheoracle]

I still don't get how Hitler avoided the depression and was able to build such a super economy in such a short time

 

Maybe there are lessons for us all here

 

Belief, sheer belief. What is depression but giving up all hope, all effort and giving into despair instead? (Sitting on your backside and doing nothing because you feel sorry for yourself).

 

All religions give us hope for the future (inspire us to go on) and in this way Nazism was itself a religion, which is why it still holds a fascination for us, except in the area of The Holocaust (Give me that old time religion)

[Michaelangelica]

Belief, sheer belief. What is depression but giving up all hope, all effort and giving into despair instead? (Sitting on your backside and doing nothing because you feel sorry for yourself).

 

All religions give us hope for the future (inspire us to go on) and in this way Nazism was itself a religion, which is why it still holds a fascination for us, except in the area of The Holocaust (Give me that old time religion)

I was talking about the Economoc depression of the 1930s

While the rest of the world went backwards (especially USA) Germany went forward

[Freddy]

I still don't get how Hitler avoided the depression and was able to build such a super economy in such a short time

 

Maybe there are lessons for us all here

Germany suffered greatly prior to and during the Great Depression. By 1933 over 6 million Germans were unemployed when Hitler came to power later that year. In 1935 Germany could not meet its monetary needs, as the government ran out of money. By 1937 Germany had built its economy back to the 1929 crash level. Hitler's rise to power can be traced to the Depression. Hitler was able to take Germany out of the Depression by putting industries on a primarily military goods (guns) driven economy as opposed to a consumer goods (butter) driven economy. It worked as Germany had lowered unemployment by 1938 to levels prior to the crash. The problem was all those tanks, planes, cannons, ships, and a huge army that led to WW II. If another German leader had emphasized consumer goods instead of military goods war in Europe may have been avoided. France and England were forced to follow Germany's lead in building up their militarys. That and WWII that followed brought the Great Depression to an end. What was worse the economic depression or the death (55 mil.) and destruction of war?

[Michaelangelica]

Germany suffered greatly prior to and during the Great Depression.

It worked as Germany had lowered unemployment by 1938 to levels prior to the crash. The problem was all those tanks, planes, cannons, ships, and a huge army that led to WW II. If another German leader had emphasized consumer goods instead of military goods war in Europe may have been avoided. France and England were forced to follow Germany's lead in building up their militarys. That and WWII that followed brought the Great Depression to an end. What was worse the economic depression or the death (55 mil.) and destruction of war?

But where did he get the money fo the military hardware?

[eric l]

But where did he get the money fo the military hardware?

 

I have practically no documents at hand to support this, but from what I learned (heard...) he simply didn't get the money, but he got credit ! Credit from armement companies for one, but also from private citizens.

 

Take the history of the Volkswagen, a project started as the "Kraft durch Freude"-wagen. "Kraft durch Freude", or in English "Power through Joy" was an organisation to keep workers happy by offering holliday resorts and such. The workers could save for a car in that project, but the early savers never got their cars because by that time the Volkswagenwerk was working exclusively for the military.

 

As I stated, I have almost no documents in English but check these two :

Strength Through Joy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Volkswagen Beetle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[paigetheoracle]

Germany suffered greatly prior to and during the Great Depression. By 1933 over 6 million Germans were unemployed when Hitler came to power later that year. In 1935 Germany could not meet its monetary needs, as the government ran out of money. By 1937 Germany had built its economy back to the 1929 crash level. Hitler's rise to power can be traced to the Depression. Hitler was able to take Germany out of the Depression by putting industries on a primarily military goods (guns) driven economy as opposed to a consumer goods (butter) driven economy. It worked as Germany had lowered unemployment by 1938 to levels prior to the crash. The problem was all those tanks, planes, cannons, ships, and a huge army that led to WW II. If another German leader had emphasized consumer goods instead of military goods war in Europe may have been avoided. France and England were forced to follow Germany's lead in building up their militarys. That and WWII that followed brought the Great Depression to an end. What was worse the economic depression or the death (55 mil.) and destruction of war?

 

Perhaps the depression could be seen as too much of everything (a glut), especially human beings and war, obligatory birth control? This is not to condone it but to perhaps explain it as a situation beyond our conscious control (It happened and we didn't stop it anyway, did we?). War as a mechanism stops us in our tracks (overpopulation), if we don't voluntarily control the birth rate - just as famine, drought and disease will act as control agents, should humanity outstrip its resources (Idealists argue with reality but reality has a habit of dismissing subjective arguments with a dose of objectivity e.g. If there isn't enough of something to go round, you go without (starve, fight for resources, cutting down numbers, die of thirst etc: You can't argue with reality but you can work with the facts, to survive and prosper (quality of life as opposed to quantity - thoughtful as opposed to thoughtless action)

[Michaelangelica]

How could Hitler build such a massive economy in a mere 4 years?

An economy that very nearly took over most of Europe, but for stubborn, pig-headed Poms.

Roosevelt's new Deal" could not do it.

Few Western economies can do it today. Most have growth rates hovering around3%

 

BTW

Trivia of the week

At certain speeds the VW symbol on the wheels of a Vdub turns into a swastika.

[Freddy]

How could Hitler build such a massive economy in a mere 4 years?

An economy that very nearly took over most of Europe, but for stubborn, pig-headed Poms.

Roosevelt's new Deal" could not do it.

Few Western economies can do it today. Most have growth rates hovering around3%

Hitler started with an unemployment rate of 30%.

From Wikipedia:

"One of the first actions was to destroy the trade unions and impose strict wage controls.

 

The government then expanded the money supply through massive deficit spending. However at the same time the government imposed a 4.5% interest rate ceiling, creating a massive shortage in borrowable funds. This was resolved by setting up a series of dummy companies that would pay for goods with bonds. The most famous of these was the MEFO company, and these bonds used as currency became known as MEFO bills. While it was promised that these bonds could eventually be exchanged for real money, the repayment was put off until after the collapse of the Reich."

 

By cutting wages Hitler increased the profits for companies to use to expand capital spending and putting more Germans back to work. Through huge deficit spending the government gave businesses more money to expand. Low interest rates gave more incentive for businesses to expand. The only drawback was this expansion was made possible through selling bonds that were never paid back. Once WWII began the economy was aimed primarily at boosting the war effort. Business was good!

[charles brough]

hey guys, i've been reading up on Hitlers Rule because of research i need for my Extended essay, "The Nazis relied on fear to stay in power between 1933 and 1939. How far do you agree with this statement?" so far i have had little luck finding a vast amount of relevant information, and was wondering if anyone had any ideas? All input would be great, especially in debate style much appreciated

Llanea, :hal_skeleton:

 

The Nazi system made most of the young men in Germany feel strong and powerful and ready to dominate the world. It was a heady feeling that built among them and the women who loved them a sense of unity and brothehood, mutual respect---which they shared with no other people. That is the trouble with racist systems throughout history. In the end they are doomed. No race is better than the others.

 

Most Germans loved the system. The economy grew by leaps and bounds after they came into power. They believed the propaganda. To them, it was simply idealism. In the schools, young men and boys studied with intensity. They loved to march and attend immense military parades with grand lines of impressive flags flying. The military hardware was intoxicating to them. They felt merged into the system.

 

I have lived a while in Germany, married a German, lived with Germans and studied the Nazi system. The reason is was so dangerous was that it was not based upon fear, that is was a success in Germany and that is why it was a big threat to the whole rest of the world.