Hitler's economic miracle

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Ann-Katrin Schlichtherle LVI        10.11.2012

Hitler’s economic miracle

When Hitler was elected chancellor in 1933, Germany was an economic mess. Before he came to power, Germany’s economy had already endured a lot. By 1914 Germany had become Europe’s most powerful economic and military power. That was second only after the United States in the world. After that, 4 terrible years of warfare leaded Germany, by 1918, to economic ruin. Warfare was the fact that they couldn’t export or import industrial goods and were limited in trade. As a result of World War 1, Germany wasn’t any longer the second most advanced nation in the world by 1919.

Also the terms of the Treaty of Versailles obliged Germany to pay a huge sum in reparations to the others. In 1921, Germany couldn’t pay that sum and French troops invaded and occupied the Ruhr. They took away goods and raw materials that were strongly needed by the Germans. Those reacted by printing more money and by 1923 they had reached hyperinflation.

After some rough years came a better time for Germany. The years 1924 to 1929 are now known as “The Golden Years”. It became peaceful and USA lent Germany a lot of money. The economy was then rebuilt and unemployment was reduced. People began to feel more secure. But that time didn’t last long. The collapse of the American economy after the Wall Street Crash during 1929 had huge consequences on a lot of countries in Europe. Unemployment and poverty was growing more and more between 1929 and 1933.

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Hitler realised that he was going to work hard to get support from the Germans to solve the massive problems his country had. The main problems were unemployment, Autarky and hyperinflation. By the time Hitler became chancellor, the unemployment rate was at 6 million people. This meant 1 men out of 3 was without work. He also saw that Germany had to become self sufficient if it wanted to survive a war. Being independent and not needing help from anyone was very important for him. That is why international trading was one of the things that were massively ...

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