Economic Miracle- Who lost out and who benefited? Adolf Hitler became leader of the Nazi Party in 1921; throughout the passing years he made various attempts

Another group of Germans that lost out due to the rise and success of the Nazi’s was the Communists. As Nazi opposition, Hitler was eager to promote them negatively, for example the Reich Stag Fire in 1933, as a consequence the Communists were banned and made illegal. As well as showing how the Communists were discriminated against, it also demonstrates how Hitler abused Article 48 to gain power.  

Married women also partly lost out due to the repercussions of Hitler’s changes. The wife of the couple was required to give up her job, which would reduce her independence as she relies on her husband for a regular income. On the other hand, it can be said that some married women benefited from Hitler as tax concessions and welfare payments were given to fertile families and a quarter of the loan was cancelled for every baby born but this would only be an advantage if you were fertile and could conceive children.

One of Hitler’s interests was in grooming the German youth in to dedicated army men and Aryan producers for the future. The Nazis formed their own Youth Service in 1926, prior to Hitler’s succession. The end of 1933 brought youth movements under government control. It was positive for the Nazi’s but also for teenagers who benefited because it gave them independence and the opportunity to break away from the authority of their parents, school and even the church. The RAD Youth Service establishment took teenagers and youths off of the unemployment list and in 1934 400,00 youths were taken off the list. Hitler set up a Labour service, which gave men jobs in public work schemes and from 18-25 males had to do a two-year military service. However, by the time war began, many young people had joined illegal gangs in an attempt to now break away from the Nazi’s and their suffocating influence. So it can be said that although the youth of Germany were targeted on, it was in a contradictory way because they were being placed with restrictions, which meant they didn’t feel free or want to be part of the Youth group any longer.

Agricultural workers benefited from the decline in unemployment rates due to the creation of jobs. However, one of Hitler’s main priorities was rearming Germany so the Nazi’s failed to solve all agricultural problems. Despite the evidence that the depressed state of German agriculture had given the Nazi’s a rich harvest of votes before 1933.

The phrase ‘guns or butter’ relates to the tension between placing economic resources into supplying German people with goods, especially food fats, or the sole concentration to prepare Germany for war. It is debated weather Hitler’s priority was to rearm Germany or to provide its citizens with food. It was originally thought that the people lost out and that Hitler was squeezing domestic consumption too far, though now it has developed that he was wary of doing this so ensured there was an equal balance of both ‘guns and butter’.  

Trade Unions faced hindrance due to the banning in November 1933. The German Labour front (DAF), led by Robert Ley had replaced German free trade unions. Nevertheless, Hjalmer Schacht had made a series of bilateral trade agreements, especially with Balkan states, which supplied much of Germany’s strategic raw material imports. So it can be said that Germany’s trade unions both lost out and benefited under Hitler’s power. Between Nazi members’ Ley and Schacht, a plan was devised to eliminate the need to use scarce foreign currency and to strengthen their economical influence with the Balkan states.

To conclude, during the years of Hitler’s rule and his actions taken to combat economical issues, it can be said people were affected in different ways. Some groups of people were negatively targeted, such as the Jews, while others both benefited and lost out in different ways. For example, agricultural workers gained from the unemployment levels falling however were neglected due to rearmament priorities. When Hitler came to power one of his most significant aims was to rearm Germany and overcome the restrictions and aftermath the Treaty Of Versailles had placed upon them. He also made clear his adversity towards his opposition and the Jewish by using them to overcome obstacles in reach of his goals.