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German economy in World War II
1929 When the economic crisis of the capitalist world came, Germany was hit hard. During the period from 1923 to 1928 when capitalism was relatively stable, the upward trend of German industrial production was based on short-term loans provided by the United States. At this time, about 20 billion marks of loans were recovered by the United States, which triggered the deepest and most lasting economic crisis in German history.

During the crisis, industrial production plummeted. From 1929 to 1932, the output of coal, pig iron and steel decreased by 32.7%, 64.9%, 62. 1% and 23.4% respectively. The total industrial output value decreased by about 40%, the production of means of production decreased by 53%, the production of consumer goods decreased by 25.3%, the total export value decreased by 69. 1%, the total import value decreased by 70.8%, and the national treasury gold reserve decreased by 4/5. 10 at the same time, the average working hours decreased by about 47%, and the working hours in the construction industry decreased by about 66%. Employees in various industries have decreased significantly, including steel, machinery and electric power industries by about 64% and hard coal mining by about 47%.

The economic crisis has had a disastrous impact on the life of the working class. The number of unemployed people has increased rapidly. 1929, the number of unemployed people 1.3 million in September, reached 3 million a year later, 193 12, rose to 4.35 million in September, and 1932, the number of unemployed people reached 8 million in February, except for the millions who worked as temporary workers. Unemployment benefits fluctuate between 16.44 DM (in big cities) and 13. 14 DM (in small cities) per week. Only 82% registered unemployed people can receive unemployment benefits.

The economic crisis has also dealt a heavy blow to the urban and rural petty bourgeoisie. During the economic crisis, the economic status of small businessmen, small business owners and craftsmen in cities was unstable. Many factories closed down and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises went bankrupt. According to German official statistics, the total number of factory closures in1928-193/kloc-0 has increased from 10595 to 19254, almost doubling. In the same period, the total annual merger of factories increased from 365,438+047 to 8,628, almost doubling. Among them, the situation of individual traders is very embarrassing. 193 1 year, 6,664 stores closed down and 358 1 stores were forced to merge. Just as the economic and social status of the petty bourgeoisie was seriously threatened, it was disappointed with the * * * peace system, gradually divorced from the traditional bourgeois parties to find a way out, and was full of expectations for petty-bourgeois socialism, Hitler's Nazi party seized the opportunity. It incited the petty bourgeoisie, dragged them into the Nazi movement and became the main social foundation of the Nazi movement.

When Hitler came to power, there were 8 million unemployed people. He promised "work, work, work again". To this end, he borrowed a huge sum of money to set up various undertakings, especially the military industry, and expanded his army to prepare for war. Before the war, he can be said to have achieved full employment. The Nazis deeply understood the significance of grasping people's livelihood, put forward "vacation" for the first time, doubled the rest days and began to develop mass tourism. Germany 14 day tour only cost 40 to 80 imperial marks. Hitler even proposed a "national car", so "Volkswagen" came into being. Faced with the uncertainty of the world market and climate, many systems and measures have been established and taken to protect farmers. Today, the EU's agricultural system, road traffic rules, compulsory insurance system, child subsidy system and tax rate grading system, that is, the basis of nature protection, all come from that era. Nazi established a pension plan, which made old age and poverty no longer synonymous, and "made the living standard of elderly workers no different from that of compatriots engaged in other occupations". The Federal Republic of Germany has continued and developed this system.

It has even been calculated that the national economy achieved an annual growth rate of% 100 in the first three years of Hitler's coming to power.

1933, Hitler became German Chancellor. At this time, the deficit of the German government is still staggering, and the number of unemployed people exceeds 6 million. Although the west bank of the Rhine was returned by the allied forces in June 1930, it was in a state of great waste. Moreover, France occupied Saarland in an attempt to formally annex the state through a referendum by cultivating local separatist forces and pro-French elements. As long as Germany's economic situation does not improve, France's plot may succeed at any time. Moreover, the Nazi Party's ruling still has some inherent shortcomings, because there is no absolute majority in the parliament, which bothers Weimar and China's new prime minister, Hitler.

In its first year in power, Hitler's government was quite successful in both internal affairs and diplomacy. Anti-Party activities are banned by procedures and means that do not infringe people's rights. The factories in the heavy industrial zone on the west bank of the Rhine resumed normal operation one after another, and Germany got rid of the status of a defeated country and recovered a lot of sovereignty. Except for the loyal followers of banned political parties, most Germans are not opposed to the disappearance of political parties and trade unions, and even agree with them. The 14 rule of Weimar Republic was a complete disaster for them, and the people's living standard was greatly lower than that of the imperial period before World War I, so they didn't like this democratic regime and its political parties. The old trade union can't even win the minimum employment rate and the minimum living guarantee for workers, let alone others. 1933, Hitler not only sent a few anti-party elements to prison, but also let more people see the hope of life. The great economic miracle designed and presided over by him, unprecedented in human history and probably never seen again, has begun.

Since 1928, various highway construction schemes have been introduced one after another, but they are always abandoned because of the financial difficulties of the government. Hitler was very interested in this plan, but there were also many objections, because the Germans were too poor to even keep their jobs and had no money to buy a car. But Hitler decided to tighten his belt to support it, because according to his logic, there must be a road before there can be a car, otherwise the car will have nowhere to drive. What's more, highways can create a lot of employment opportunities, and the high unemployment rate made the wages of Germans very low at that time, which reduced the construction cost. So, he squeezed through the crowd and traveled all over the country, shouting many slogans and laying the foundation for the ribbon-cutting of the project. Sometimes slogans are more useful than money. The German people really follow their collars and sleeves without pay and military discipline, and they are in full swing.

Fuehrer (collar ~ sleeve): This word is wrongly translated as Fuehrer. This is1the new name Hitler gave himself after Hindenburg died on August 2, 934. His aim is to be close to the masses and not to look too aristocratic like "chairman" and "president". In the first four years after taking office, he has been focusing on internal affairs construction. No one can deny that his government has performed really well economically: 1933, 1934, 1935. It took Hitler only three years to turn Germany, the country with the largest deficit and unemployment rate in the world, into the world's top economic power, which could not be achieved by foreign investment and assistance at all.

In the past three years, the average annual economic growth rate in Germany has undoubtedly exceeded100%-of course, this has also benefited from a large number of objective factors such as the reopening of old factories and the recovery of the world economy, while the unemployment rate of German nationals has dropped from over 30% to zero-except those Jews and opponents who are in prison. What is even more amazing is that Hitler actually fulfilled his campaign promise and achieved prosperity for the German people-by no means let a few people get rich first, but let the working class and management get rich together. Wages are rising so fast that management can't find what they can afford and workers can't afford it.

Imagine that you are an ordinary German worker who was laid off three years ago. For a temporary job with only one loaf of bread an hour, you are fighting with your neighbor. And three years later, you went to Africa or America on a luxury yacht and enjoyed a sunny holiday. The working class has the right and money to go abroad for a holiday, which is unprecedented in human history-not in Britain, not in the United States, and the vast majority of workers in the world have not even dared to think about it until now, but in Nazi Germany at 1935.

With the completion of the 1000 km expressway, which is still called "Hitler's Road", various automobile factories, repair shops and gas stations have sprung up, of which the most famous is of course the "Volkswagen" company established by 1938. Not only that, Hitler is still comparing the advantages and disadvantages of airplanes and airships to decide whether the next transportation company he supports should be called "Volkswagen Aircraft" or "Volkswagen Airship". Of course, the ultimate goal of Hitler's economic construction is only one, and that is to accumulate strength for the coming war. He once said: "People need a holiday because it can keep them in a firm mental state under any circumstances."