Another main aim of Hitler’s domestic policies was on the economic problem that was facing German at the end of the old government. Karl Bracher wrote, “ at no time did National Socialism develop a consistent economic or social theory” instead there were a series of separate ideas that would gain economic stability.
One of Hitler’s main aims was to reduce the amount of unemployed in Germany. He went about this in 2 different ways the first of which was to increase industrial production and in so creating a lot of new jobs. This was also good because it helped the German government in its process of rearmament. It also meant that the party was widening its support base, as they were primarily socialism party more industrial workers meant that there were more people supporting them. As well as an increase in industrial jobs the Reich labour service was set up.
On the 26th June 1935,a law was passed that stated that all Germans males between the ages of 17 and 25 years had a compulsory service in the labour service for six months. The main job of the workers in the Reich labour service was the construction of the new road networks in Germany. After this was seen to be successful the Reich labour service started to perform other tasks such as land reclamation, drainage projects and soil conservation work.
These policies of compulsory labour service and industrial growth were very successful. Not only did they achieved their aims but also gave both quick and effective results. German unemployment fell from 6 million to 2 million in the first 18 months.
To aid this falling unemployment figure national service was reintroduced this meant that again unemployment figures fell. In 1939 there were only 200 000 unemployed. This did not only give Hitler popular support and economic stability. Hitler was gaining both industrial strength and an ever-increasing military.
The industrial growth in Germany was an important factor in the economic recovery of Germany. This was achieved through the 4-year plan, which aimed for self-sufficiency. Germany needed to start producing and processing large amounts of raw materials. They planed to do this by increasing productivity. This was highly successful the economy grew at an impressive rate. In 1932 their were 6.04 million unemployed in Germany and they were producing 118.6 million tons of coal 8.2 millions tons of steel. By 1938 unemployment had fell to 0.2 million and production of coal had increased to 186.4 million tons and steel to 21.9 million tons. Although heavy industry had undergone great changes and was very successful other areas had been neglected and were not experiencing the same level of growth. For example the fuel and rubber industries were very lacking in 1938 to the point that Germanys was still importing a lot of it from abroad.
Because of the focus on the heavy larger industry and business the smaller traders were starting to lose out. To try and stop the trend of falling prices and rising costs for framers new legislation was introduced to try and help farmers cope. This included the suspension of farming debts and the increased taxation of imported foods and goods. Another law that was aimed at helping the farmer was the ‘hereditary farm law’
This meant that small farmers could not sell confiscate, divide or mortgage any farm between 7.5 and 10 hectare. While this did secure the farmers production it did stop any improvements in the methods through consolidation. This meant that the policy was not been successful it lead to a lot of problem. In 1939 not only were prices 50% higher that at the start of Nazism but German farming was not self-sufficient.
One of the problems facing Hitler was the lack of capital in Germany. Hitler needed to secure investment in the big industry. The first step in this was the paying off of all foreign debt that they could in the Reichsmark. This not only started a secure and respected currency in Germany but also meant that foreign investors had more faith in the Germany economy. This encouraged outsiders to buy German products this was aided with a series of treaties. Historian William Shirer writes ‘his creation of capital in a country that had little liquid capital and almost no financial reserves was a work of genius’. This had been another success for Hitler. But it can not be totally attributed to him. A lot of the work with the new currency was done before he came to power Hitler built on its success rather than started it himself.
When looking at the success of Hitler’s domestic policy you have to remember his aims and what Hitler want to achieve. The most important thing to Hitler was making Germany self-sufficient. Hitler achieved this by focusing on the growth of large industry and the development of a single race Germany. On both of these policies Hitler had achieved some success. Large industry had increased rapidly and in turn had reduced unemployment. Hitler had also success in the laws that limited the activities of the Jews. But in other areas the sacrifices that were made for the bigger business. This meant that all Hitler’s polices were not as successful as they seem because they had effect on other areas of the German society. Hitler over all did not achieve enough success to make Germany fully self-sufficient.