What caused Germanys economic miracle in the 1930s?

Answer 1

The Nazi's reduced unemployment from five million to zero in a few years. Although it would appear miraculous this was not the case. The German army reintroduced military service which meant instead of having young men unemployed they were in the army. The Nazis also put pressure on employers to not employ Women. As women were to stay at home and look after the children. This meant women were not counted in the figures for unemployment thus lowering it. All unemployed were forced into any vacant job. If they refused to work then they were labelled "work shy" and risked imprisonment. Jews were denied German citizenship so technically were no longer unemployed as they weren't German.

German companies were given money if they employed as many people as possible. Instead of using a digger they would employ five men with shovels or even maybe fifteen people with spoons. This reduced unemployment but decreased wages.

German war industry drastically decreased unemployment. The guns were made to arm the new conscripted force. This provided jobs for many German workers. Many Autobahns and other building projects such as football stadiums or planting new forests. The Nazis set up many events which provided jobs such as cruises, concerts and weekend trips. All served to lower unemployment.

Germany reduced the extent to which she was dependant on imports. This would increase the demand for products that Germany produced. Instead of Germans buying white bread from Poland they would instead buy black bread from German farmers. This increased the demand for black bread which meant there had to be more German farmers growing the black bread.

Germans felt as if their economy was recovering. Unemployment had fallen dramatically and new building projects such as the Autobahns boosted German moral. The truth was the real value of the currency had fallen.

Although it would seem that Germany is better off. The fact is that the German economy was overheating. If it had not been for the outbreak of war then Germany would have experienced another inflation crisis.

There was no economic miracle in Germany only the drastic reduction in unemployment. The quality of life for the German population fell and although unemployment was eliminated many who were still unemployed were not counted in the statistics.