Michaella smith 12JH Mr Llywelyn German History
What was the significance of the Four Year Plan in terms of understanding Nazi economic structure?”
Before Hitler and his economic policy, Germany had just suffered from the collapse of world trade as a result of the Wall Street Crash in 1929. Germany had already been facing low economic status and this only contributed to its problems such as unemployment, poverty and homelessness.
To tackle these problems Hitler placed Hjalmar Schacht in the position Minister of Economics in 1935. Hjalmar Schacht supported the public works programs and the construction of the Autobahn in an attempt to improve unemployment. Schacht also found an innovative solution to the problem of the government deficit following the raise in welfare claims due to mass unemployment by using mefo bills to fund government run projects. Hjalmar Schacht was in charge of the Nazi party’s economic policies until 1937. When Hitler replaced Hjalmar with Goring who was more valuable to his cause now that he no longer required strengthening the Nazi Party’s political standing. Goring was determined to follow up plans to rearm Germany while Schacht opposed rearmament. Hitler now included rearmament in to his overall views creatingThe Four Year Plan that favored both the protection of agriculture and economic independence. They created the campaign of guns or butter with the slogan "Guns will make us strong, butter will only make us fat." This campaign became infamous and saw the beginning of the rearmament programme put forward by the radical mind of Goring. This lead Germany into a peacetime war economy and this was in an effort to train a workforce for war.
