A country's wartime economic policies and plans are closely related to its technological achievements. As early as 19 16, that is, during the first world war, Germany first tried to develop economic control means that met the strategic needs. These means are compiled step by step, and there is no overall planning. Because these economic control measures determine the amount of raw materials and resources obtained by each industrial sector, these related control departments have gained important power to organize, distribute and manipulate the entire German economy. After the establishment of the Third Reich, its rearmament policy was formulated after considering the past experience and lessons, so it can complete the plan of transforming economic production into war in time more perfectly than during World War I. The following will briefly review the economy of the Third Reich in various periods.
First, from 1933 to 1936, the early combat power.
After the Treaty of Versailles (19 19), the German Defence Forces made secret efforts to rearm Germany, but until Hitler came to power, Germany's overall economic policy was based on the usual economic needs of peaceful countries. After Hitler came to power, the German economy began to change to the general goal of rearmament. This change is closely related to Nazi Germany's foreign policy. The foreign policy of Nazi Germany was determined by Hitler's long-term goal clearly put forward in Mein Kampf. Nazi Germany's foreign policy can be summed up in the following two political slogans: one is "expanding territory" and the other is "conquering living space". These objectives are explained in detail in the German "Four-Year Plan" of 1936 and the minutes of Hossbach meeting of 1937.
These foreign policies are based on an ambitious weapons program. By 1936, Germany's armaments had caught up with or even surpassed those of Britain and France in some aspects. By the time the war broke out, Nazi Germany's accumulated military expenditure had reached 60 billion imperial marks, accounting for 4% of the national annual budget, ranging from 1932 to 50% of 1938, equivalent to 17% of Germany's gross national product that year. 1938 in the same period, British military expenditure only accounted for 4% of the gross national product, while that of the United States was 1% (see table below).
Since the financial assets of the German central government (including states and administrative regions) can only be responsible for two-thirds of the military expenditure between 1933 and 1939, in order to bear such a huge expenditure, new financial procedures and systems must be established.
In order not to let the public see that the government bears huge debts for rearmament, the German government issued a kind of "Metallurgical Research Institute Securities". "Metallurgical Research Institute" is a purely fictitious institution, and its capital is provided by major arms manufacturers. The German government uses this kind of securities to pay for the purchase of arms, but under the guarantee of Deutsche Bank, this kind of securities will not be cashed after being handed over to the arms manufacturer, or the redemption period will be postponed as much as possible, and the interest will be paid by the government. This is equivalent to the huge credit provided by Deutsche Bank to the government. At the end of the fiscal year 1937- 1938, the face value of the issued metallurgical research institute securities reached1200 million imperial marks, and only1500 million imperial marks were actually cashed when the war broke out. By 1939, the securities due to be cashed in the arms manufacturers' hands by Metallurgical Research Institute were paid by treasury bills without interest instead of cash. In this way, the German government (dictator) controlled all the creditor's rights of Deutsche Bank and Germany.
In the early days of Hitler's administration, raw materials and agricultural products for arms manufacturing were in short supply, and the army's gasoline reserves were about to run out. This shortage of materials is caused by the harsh conditions faced by Germany's foreign trade. Moreover, it is actually impossible for the government to control military expenditure and meet the economic needs of the people. It was not until 1935 that Germany set the maximum wage limit, so that the state could allocate more money from the national income to repay the increasing public debt.
One of the achievements that the Third Reich likes to flaunt is to solve the huge unemployment problem in Germany. The expanding demand for arms has stimulated the abnormal prosperity and development of the arms industry and related industries. Skilled workers enter the arsenal and unskilled workers build highways. After these unemployed troops entered the labor market, although the average wage was very low, the overall purchasing power of society increased. Of course, the lack of basic consumer goods in Germany makes the improvement of purchasing power only stay on the books. As one of the solutions, the Nazis advocated the German people to live a simple peasant-style simple living and pursue food and clothing instead of luxury. Call on people to replace meat with fish, white bread with black bread and real butter with margarine. High-grade foods such as game, shellfish, caviar, foie gras and imported high-grade liquor are only sold in hotels and high-grade food stores, but enjoying these delicious foods is promoted as immoral, sinful and depraved behavior. Ordinary middle-class foods such as tropical fruits, imported meat, coffee, white bread and fresh butter are not common in the German market. Generally speaking, under the policy of "cannon instead of butter" in Germany at that time, people's livelihood was only a secondary issue.
In addition to domestic difficulties, the conditions of Germany's foreign trade have also deteriorated. Before 1933, Germany had benefited from the decline in raw material prices in the international market. However, in 1934 and 1935, the prices of manufactured goods in the international market are falling, while the prices of raw materials, food and semi-finished products are rising. This is very unfavorable to an industrial country like Germany. German government officials once considered that if the speed of military expansion remained unchanged, the grain rationing system would be implemented in Germany from the autumn of 1935. It is obviously impossible to improve the level of armaments and living standards at the same time. Therefore, the government appointed Goering as the mediator of the Ministry of Raw Materials and Money, and then appointed him as the economic coordinator of the Ministry to solve this annoying problem. After 1936, Germany exchanged advanced industrial products for a large number of agricultural products and raw materials from China, Denmark, the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries. However, the shortage of consumer goods in Germany and the low living standards of the people were not completely solved until the end of the war.
The fuel problem is more serious than foreign trade and raw material supply. This is the main reason why 1936 made a "four-year plan" for preparing for war. Germany's oil mainly comes from American and British oil companies in Romania and the Persian Gulf, in addition to importing a small amount of oil and oil shale from Hungary and Estonia. The German Defence Force had vowed to produce synthetic gasoline in Germany. In order to achieve this goal, considering that it does not depend on foreign oil sources in wartime, it is necessary to produce a large amount of fuel oil from liquefied coal. This task was given to the huge I.G. Faben Konzern. Attempts at self-sufficiency in steel and rubber have also been unremitting efforts, and, like attempts in food and consumer goods, the final results are not very good (except for the artificial rubber industry).
Note: Meeting minutes, meeting minutes and meeting memos. Friedrich Hossbach was a colonel in the General Staff of the Nazi German Defence Forces. As a recorder, he attended the military summit held by Hitler in Berlin on June 5438+0937+065438+10.5, and recorded the details of Hitler's plans for aggression and expansion against Nazi Germany, which were sorted out on June 5438+065438+10.0 and submitted to the General Staff. From four o'clock in the afternoon to eight o'clock in the evening, Hitler made a four-hour speech at this meeting, detailing the order of conquering various countries-first, conquering Austria and Czechoslovakia as an important early action against the Soviet Union. Later, Nazi Germany began its war operations in this order. Present at the meeting were Hitler, Marshal von brumberg, Defence Minister, Baron von Fletcher, Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Admiral Goering, Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Baron von Neureiter, Foreign Minister and Colonel Hossbach. The minutes of this meeting later became the important evidence of 1946 Nuremberg trial.
Second, from 1936 to 1940, "four-year preparation plan"
1936 At the Nuremberg Party Congress in August, Hitler put forward a "four-year plan" to make all-round preparations. He then appointed Goering as the full head of the "four-year plan". Germany began the stage of comprehensive war economic planning. Hitler announced the goals of the four-year plan. Economically, the task is to create a number of "self-reliance" conditions for the German people, that is, to provide the Germans with weapons in order to fight an inevitable war. In view of the fact that the development of German economy is limited by the lack of "living space", in the long run, only by expanding the "living space" can the German people obtain the means of subsistence. In other words, it is the source of German food and raw materials. But the situation at that time was that the German economy could only partially meet the needs of the people. At that time, the German economy had two functions: one was to ensure people's living conditions in limited areas, and the other was to create some conditions for self-reliance. Military efforts should be supplemented by economic efforts. Within four years, it is necessary to organize the adjustment of Germany's economy in order to support the costly war. Every effort should be made to develop fuel oil, synthetic rubber, steel and chemical industries to reduce Germany's dependence on imported raw materials.
Hitler's instructions on economic work are an integral part of Germany's overall strategy. In this way, in order to obtain foreign raw materials, armed means are inevitable. Later, from some captured data, we can see some suggestions and contributions made by German economic departments for Germany to seize the origin of raw materials. These suggestions were supported by Goering, but the goal to be achieved was still a cliche, that is, how Germany was armed to win the last war. Compared with the same suggestions made by the arms and economic giants of the Kaiser during World War I, the only novelty is to link Germany's economic self-sufficiency with expansionism. This is exactly the opposite of the ultimate goal of Economy Minister Yalma schacht-to revive the German economy and return it to the world market. Therefore, Germany has set up a four-year planning committee which is not subordinate to the Ministry of Economic Affairs but directly responsible to Goering himself.
A special group with Goering and his cronies as the core appeared in Germany, which controlled the country's trade, production, national economy and raw material distribution. Unfortunately, under the leadership of Goering, who is also the head of the Air Force, this distribution is bound to tilt towards the air force, aviation industry departments and so-called "Hermann G?ring" Kangzern enterprises in Germany, and it cannot be a fair distribution.
During the period from 1936 to 1942, the organization and purpose of the four-year plan changed several times, but since the summer of 1938, its economic focus has been to formulate plans for developing raw materials and ordinary consumer goods. During this period, the four-year plan also took into account the development of agricultural production. In addition, issues such as wage and price control, labor and overseas investment are also considered in this plan. Also from the summer of 1938, planners took the development of industries related to mechanized military equipment as the primary consideration, including those factories that manufacture synthetic fuels, armor, guns and engines. From the declaration of war to 1942, the relevant implementing agencies of the "four-year plan" became the most important department in the whole German war economy. It can provide a lot of weapons, equipment and fuel for the national defense forces, but it has not eliminated the bureaucratic style of fighting for power and profit and procrastination. In this way, the pre-established indicators for the development of raw materials, consumer goods and synthetic products will inevitably be revised frequently, with unreasonable quantity and unreasonable time limit. The production of important war materials should have been controlled by the military, but it was also included in the four-year plan for the production of raw materials and consumer goods. At the same time, the departments under the four-year plan are fragmented, and it is usually impossible to consider issues such as capital turnover, production cycle, labor distribution and transportation mode from the overall perspective, so these departments are often the source of mistakes. Of course, this system also has some flexibility, and it will produce good results when some resources are all concentrated in one department.
It is impossible to accurately count the role of the four-year plan in the German war. Because it only controls individual projects in certain specific industrial sectors. But we can see the scale of its various activities from the input of the four-year plan. From 1936 to 1942, the total investment of the four-year plan reached132.5 billion imperial marks, accounting for 50% of the total industrial investment in Germany during this period. Among the investments in the four-year plan, the investment in hydrocarbon production accounts for 465,438+0%, the investment in synthetic textiles accounts for 265,438+0%, the investment in heavy metal production accounts for 65,438+00%, and the investment in explosives, ammunition and other weapons products accounts for 65,438+02%. Although some production projects have not been realized, the four-year plan is generally successful-at least in the view of the German government. In the early years of the war, Germany never seriously lacked these war materials.
Although military enterprises have received most of the investment, the investment in consumer goods industry has also increased slightly. The German government is worried that the shortage of consumer goods will lead to the situation getting out of control.
1938 and 1939 The changes in German industrial investment structure show that the burden of the economic system is increasing day by day, and the government needs to constantly adjust to correct the imbalance among various departments. Although this has happened in the economy, people cannot infer that war is inevitable because of such high expenditure on armaments. The materialism of Nazi thought caused the extreme tension of production, and the change of national economic structure gradually increased the social pressure, but also increased the temptation of war. Similarly, Germany's economic recovery and economic construction based on preparations for war also have extremely dangerous limitations. Even if public opinion does not hinder the mobilization of this kind of war economy, this kind of economy can only develop further under the condition of constant crisis.
Iii. 1939 turn 1945: the establishment of war economy.
At the beginning of the war, compared with its weak and unprepared neighbors, Germany enjoyed an advantage in the reserve of war materials, thus gaining great benefits. This enabled them to use blitzkrieg tactics to win for two years in a row. But this does not mean that Nazi Germany's wishes and goals in war preparation have been realized. Although most of Germany's resources are classified as military, its war machine has not become an irresistible giant as its propagandists say. Before 1939, Germany had two contradictory tendencies and was in an unstable balance. One tendency is to engage in war economy. Another trend is to improve people's living standards. On the surface, the Nazi party was United, but there were serious differences on the views of these two tendencies and the methods that should be adopted. Finally, Hitler decided that in order to avoid the depression of the people, it was necessary to improve the living standards of the German people at a stage before Germany entered the war. At the same time, Germany was able to take this opportunity to hoard a large number of non-weapon war materials-by the time the war broke out, Germany had stored enough food and sugar for the whole country to eat for more than two years, 270,000 tons of lard, salt and butter, and a large number of oats and corn used as feed. At the same time, the Germans also hoarded a lot of leather, cloth and silk (which can be used to make parachutes and other war materials). These are the results of pre-war efforts. In fact, compared with the embarrassing situation of Britain in 1940, the life of the German people reached the highest level in wartime. A large number of agricultural products, meat and luxury goods shipped from the occupied countries have prospered the German market, and the huge occupation fees paid by the occupied countries have enabled Germany to search for consumer goods markets in these countries. Britain, on the other hand, has to implement a strict rationing system for basic livelihood materials-the consumption of meat, eggs, sugar and fruit has decreased by 27%, 56%, 35% and 56% respectively, and the rationing of candy, butter, tea and coffee is almost zero. A whole generation of British children born from 1940 to 1945 had never seen bananas before 1946.
On the other hand, although there were many internal problems, it was proved that the central government's strategy of planning economic problems was correct for Germany, which was dominated by war economy at that time. Just like the principle of centralized use of troops in the battlefield, the more centralized economic management in wartime, the higher its efficiency. As the previous data shows, Britain's war preparation is extremely poor, and the overall planning and control of the economy after the outbreak of the war does not apply to Britain's democratic political system.
After the war broke out, Germany established a system of working at night, going to work on holidays and rewarding overtime. In the early days of the war, workers were willing to extend their working hours in exchange for overtime pay. Workers in some departments work 10 hours to 12 hours a day on average (excluding slave labor in the later period). From June 65438 to1October 65438, the number of newly recruited workers in Germany reached1.4000. By 1942, it had dropped to 800,000-mainly by supplementing foreign workers and establishing a reasonable division of labor system.
Judging from the changes in weapons production and workers' wages, the scale of economic mobilization of 1940 and 194 1 has not expanded. Even a series of laws related to war efforts were abolished shortly after the war because the effect was not as obvious as expected. In this way, restricting the free movement of workers and freezing the maximum wage, the two core guiding principles of German labor policy, are actually invalid. The average wage of German workers increased in September 1939 and increased in June 194 1. Women's mobilization in Germany is not as effective as that in Britain. Traditionally, Germans think that women's jobs are kitchen and sewing room. After the war, the British female labor force increased by 18%, and a large number of women were added in military production, logistics, transportation, agriculture and other departments. During the same period, the number of female labor force in Germany has been declining. Before 194 1 years ago, the number of German arsenals only increased by 1 1%. It was not until Albert Speer was in charge of this work that the mass production of the arsenal began.
When the war dragged on much longer than expected, Germany established a system that could fully meet the needs of the war. This is also the second stage of economic mobilization. Hitler had to admit that Blitzkrieg failed to defeat the Soviet giants. By 1942, he had no hope of a quick victory and needed to redraw his strategic plan. The development direction of war economy in Germany, occupied areas and German satellite countries changed with the appointment of the two men. One is that speer became the Minister of Arms and Military Industry; The other is Fritz Shaq, who served as Minister of Labor in the spring of 1942. Speer tends to concentrate power, but in order to improve productivity, he also agrees that factories should strengthen their autonomy in management. When drawing up the plan, the new methods have replaced the old procedures before 1942, because these old methods have become impractical due to various power struggles, power struggles and arbitrary modifications. Speer's centralization method was opposed by Goering and some departments in the German Defence Force from the beginning. Especially terrible is the resentment and jealousy from Goering. Speer once ridiculed himself as "the general manager in charge of military production in accordance with the' four-year plan' under the supervision of the German Air Force Commander". With the appointment of speer, Goering's "four-year plan" came to an end. But the term was used until Germany surrendered.
From 65438 to 0942, the Ministry of Defence and Ordnance under the German High Command was merged into the German Ministry of Weapons and Military Industry. Similar departments under the German Navy have also embarked on the same path. To 1944, speer also managed to control the weapons and ordnance department under the German Air Force. So he can suppress the Central Planning Commission and the Military Planning Department. The latter two are responsible for making all the important decisions. In this way, speer completed the general mobilization plan of the national economy. He is now in charge of all management departments and administrative departments of military enterprises except for recruitment. The power to direct the "four-year plan" of production now belongs to speer. These powers include: the right to formulate and implement existing production plans; The final decision to change the plan; Establish a new production department; Distribution of raw materials and semi-finished products. Even if the navy and air force try to keep control of some shipyards and aircraft factories, Speer can still control them by paying or refusing to pay for raw materials.
The second characteristic of this centralized control is to encourage the development of private enterprises. Through the establishment of industrial self-management institutions, as well as the establishment of authoritative entrusted institutions and joint ventures within various industrial departments, Germany was able to standardize the mass production system for the first time and benefit from it. Both the huge Krupp Arsenal in Essen and the small family factory with only a dozen people in Silesia can produce barrel, bullet, gear and other products with the same specifications according to unified standards. This new control system is of great benefit to economy and production. From 1940 to 1944, the average weapons output tripled. Most notably, the output of consumer goods declined only slightly during this period. Contrary to the expectations of foreign observers, the total industrial output value of Germany, which was actively preparing for the war, maintained a sustained growth momentum throughout the war, even in the first few months of 1945.
After 1942, the only department not under the jurisdiction of Minister speer was the General Employment Committee. 1An order issued on March 27th, 942 stipulated that shackle was responsible for supervising and controlling the hired army. Prior to this, according to the provisions of the four-year plan, several departments were responsible for this responsibility.
Pay special attention to the collection and distribution of labor according to the needs of the Ministry of War and military production. This system was expanded in the late war. The person in charge of labor has gained the greatest power in labor so far. In order to increase the number of workers, he personally has the right to issue decrees, take necessary measures and formulate policies he deems necessary, regardless of the Ministry of Labor. Thanks to the support of the local governor, Shackle's power was consolidated. 1April 6, 942, he issued a decree announcing that these local governors were his agents. Scheck is the highest official who formulates labor policy, and he is most concerned about recruiting workers from abroad. The second is to grade German workers. The best skilled workers can get the richest supply and generous bonuses. Shackle's work is fruitful. Just 1.942, the working population in Germany has increased by1.30,000.
Among the increased labor force, the main source is the recruitment of foreign workers. Shackle and the French traitor Pierre Laval stipulated that France could release 1 French prisoners of war for every five volunteers. French police rounded up young and middle-aged workers in cinemas and cafes, took them to the police station and then transported them to Germany-many people took advantage of their holidays in France to flee to Britain and Spain or join the underground army at home. France sent 600,000 workers. In the Netherlands and Belgium, 350,000 people were mainly sent by the deceptive propaganda of collaborators and the power of depression and unemployment. Mussolini signed relevant agreements with Hitler, and many Italian laborers were sent to Germany after signing the contracts, mainly construction workers, to work in Toth's "Atlantic Wall" building system. If this collection in Western Europe is mainly through voluntary registration and the cooperation of the occupied government, then in Eastern and Central Europe, it is totally naked slave plunder. These migrant workers have poor working conditions, poor nutrition, low wages, discrimination and abuse, and their treatment is only a little better than that of slave workers in concentration camps. Due to this cruel and criminal labor policy, Shaq was sentenced to death in the Nuremberg trial after the war and lost his life.
As can be seen from the above table, there are two important trends in German labor policy. The first is to forcibly recruit foreign labor, at least to make up for the shortage of German male labor in quantity; Secondly, due to ideological obstacles, the practice of increasing the number of female workers failed. In any case, the number of industrial workers in Germany in 1944 was roughly the same as that in 1939, but the production efficiency was improved. Before 1944, the output of some departments of the arms industry surged. Similarly, chemical industry (output increased by 30%), internal combustion engine production and fuel industry (increased by 85%) and electric power industry (power generation increased by 26%). Moreover, the food consumption of the German people gradually deteriorated after the war entered the fifth year. Before 1943, all consumer goods in Germany were strictly rationed. Coupled with the continuous contributions of the occupied countries and satellite countries, the living standards of the German people are still relatively high compared with other European countries (as mentioned above, "the shortage of consumer goods in Germany and the low living standards of the people were not completely solved until the end of the war", which is the same as that of the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden and other countries before World War I, as well as Germany itself.
Note: Italy is the data after September 1943. Other countries include Norway, Serbia and Croatia, Slovakia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary. Axis countries do not need to pay occupation fees, but they need to pay other tributes, and they are often blackmailed by Germany to provide "loans".
(Fritz Federau, World War II, German Finance, 1962 Tiebingen Edition)
The occupied countries and satellite countries played an important role in supplying raw materials to Germany. 1943 Among the raw materials used in Germany, 55% to 100% of iron ore, sulfur, silicon and nitrogen came from the occupied countries. Starting from 194 1, Germany regularly transports the spoils captured in the Soviet Union back to China by train to maintain its production speed. Under the "new European order" established by the Germans, every country in Europe should try its best to support the huge German monster. Russia provides slave labor and various raw materials, Ukraine provides wheat and corn, Denmark and the Netherlands provide cheese, meat and butter, Norway provides electricity, Sweden provides minerals, Switzerland provides quality financial services, Hungary provides bauxite, Romania provides oil and wheat, Belgium provides steel and machinery, and France provides everything from grain and alcohol to steel, aluminum, weapons, engines and cars. Of course, private cars, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, pianos and other consumer goods unrelated to the war are not allowed to be reproduced before the end of the war. But this is not limited to Germany, but also to Britain and the United States.
The German government tried to lighten the people's increasing burden of war expenses. 194 1 year, annual income 10000 Deutsche Mark, and the German personal income tax rate is 13.7%. In contrast, the income tax rate of British people with the same annual income (1000) is 23.7%, and the total tax rate is 38%. Germany's personal annual income100000 imperial mark is 55%, and Britain's is 85%. Britain imposes a consumption tax of 100% on luxury goods, and a tax of 94% on non-wage unexpected income of 1000 pounds. During the war, Britain issued 8.467 billion pounds (85 billion imperial marks) of public debt. In contrast, Germany paid 657 billion imperial marks for the war, of which only 654.38+084.7 billion imperial marks were settled through taxes. The German government prefers to get financial support in a covert way. It forces all public capital storage centers to agree that the German government has the right to dispose of their assets at will in case of emergency. In this way, Germany's pension funds, social insurance funds and other large-scale public capital are under the control of the government. This kind of black-box operation can give the German public a stable illusion and avoid the psychological trauma caused by the sudden tax increase. Before 1944, these public capital storage centers paid about160 billion pounds (about equivalent to the total domestic tax revenue of Germany). The government's surplus deficit is solved by issuing bank notes. By 1945, German national debt had reached 340 billion German marks. However, this situation does not actually have much impact on German arms production and operation, because although the government is heavily in debt, all materials can be obtained through a paper requisition order. From all indications, at the end of the war, Germany's monetary system was on the verge of collapse. In the post-war monetary reform of the Federal Republic of Germany, it is necessary to limit the amount of exchange of imperial marks for new German marks (with 1: 1, cash of 40 marks and bank deposits of 1 000 marks as the upper limit) to avoid the collapse of the German economy.
Finally, there is a phenomenon about the economic mobilization of the Third Reich. In the fiscal year 1942- 1943, the production level in Germany reached an astonishing peak, although the war reached the most intense stage in this period. The reason for this phenomenon is the unprecedented victory of Blitzkrieg, so Germany can mobilize the strength of most parts of Europe in the shortest time and make use of the economic potential of these countries. In this short time, Germany considered itself an economic giant. But this is not the case, at least compared with the United States and the Soviet Union, it is not an economic giant. The military and economic advantages of the United States are bound to show their talents. By the beginning of 1944, Germany's resources had been exhausted, while its allies had inexhaustible treasure houses in the United States and huge human resources in democratic countries. This is what Hitler's generation has always despised and ignored.