Figure 1.--

Major economic changes occurred in Germany during 1942 although the full impact of theWar was not yet clear to the German people. Germany experienced its future major defeat as a result of the Red Army offensive before Moscow. Massive casualties were sufferedand vast quantities of material and equipment was destroyed or captured. The cutbacks in military production and procurement Hitler order after the victory over France now came back to haunt him. The personnel and equiment losses in the East were enormous and had to be replaced if Germany was to continue the War. And Germany did not have the industrial power to replace all that was lost before the summer campaign could be launched. Changes occurred in both industrial and labor policy. Minister of Armaments Fritz Todt was killed in a never fully explained plane crash shortly after taking off from Hitler's eastern headquarters at Rastenburg (February 8, 1942). Albert Speer, at the time primarily Hitler's chief architecht, had arrived in Rastenburg the previous evening after an arduous trip to occupied areas of the Soviet Union. He had an offer by Todt to fly him back to Berlin. He canceled becayse he was tired and had met with Hitler late in the evening. After the crash, Hitler immediately appointed ahocked Speer the Reich's new Armaments Minister. Reichmarshal Hermann Göring raced to Rastenburg hoping to take over Todt's responsibilities an increase his control of the economy. Hitler surprised him with the fait accompli of Speer's appointment. [Speer, pp. 193-96.] Göring had done very little to put the Reich's industry on a war footing. On a war footing. Speer on the other hand with virtually no experience with industry and economics, set in motion an ambitious program, often described as rationalizing industry, that significantly expanded war production despite the escalation of the allied strategic bombing campaign. As German workers had to be conscripted for military service, workers for the factories were needed. Jews could have been used for the factories, but Hitler instead in 1941 made the decesion to kill them in what we now call the Holocaust. This decesion could have been changed after the disaster before Moscow, but instead Hitler decided to kill the Polish Jews, many involved in productive labor in Getto workshops. Nor did he attempt to utilize the Polish and Soviet POWs for labor, many of whom persished in dreadful conditions during Winter 1941-42. The NAZIs instead began to concript foreign workers to work in German factories. The NAZIs as the war dragged on transported millions of foreign workers from occupied countries to camps for forced or slave labor, often under horendous conditions. Ernst Friedrich Christoph "Fritz" Sauckel, General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment. organized the systematic enslavement of millions from lthe occupied trritories. This was a major cause of the Resistance movement in France and other counties. Non-Jews except for food and other shortages had not felt the German occupation in dramatic terms until the labor round up began. Jews were also transported, but mostly to death camps rather than labor camps. The NAZIs using this system were able to maintain production levels in the Reich. There were, however, huge declines in production levels in the occupied countries. This is why that even though the NAZIs occupied much of Europe, there were no massive increases in production levels comensurate with the pre-War industrial or agricultural production of Europe.

Red Army Offensive before Moscow

Major economic changes occurred in Germany during 1942 although the full impact of theWar was not yet clear to the German people. Germany experienced its future major defeat as a result of the Red Army offensive before Moscow. Massive casualties were sufferedand vast quantities of material and equipment was destroyed or captured. Zhukov had been building up his reserves. Zhukov strategy was to bleed the Wehrmacht as it drove toward Moscow, build up a powerful force, and then strike when the Wehrmacht had been weakened. This was a stategy that he used successfully on several occassions. Here he made full use of the Russian Winter that was handing a terrible impact on the unprepared German soldiers. The Soviet Siberian forces were well trained in Winter warfare. The Soviet buildup was completely indetected by German intelligence. Particularly important was the arrival of Siberian reserves which were withdrawm from the forces facing the Japanese in Manchuria. Zhukov launched his winter offensive against the Whermacht that had been stoped at the gates of Moscow and which had been severly affected by the cold weather. The Red Army struck (December 6). The resulting battle was probably the most important of the War. The Wehrmacht was stuned at the extent of the Soviet offensive, assuming that the staggering victories in the Summer had crippled the Red Army. There were no preparations made such as winter clothing or assessing the performance of weapons in extemely cold winter conditions. Hitler had assummed that the campaign would defeat the Soviets in a summer campaign before the onset of Winter. The Soviet offensive was a shock to the Germans who had thought that victory was within their grasp. The Soviets attacked with their Siberian veterans as well as new largely untested divisions. They were supported by artillery, T-34 tanks, and Katyusha rocket launchers. The Soviet armor unlike their German counterparts did not freeze up in the cold weather. For the first time in the War, The Soviets had the advantage of armor and mobility.

Crisis

The cutbacks in military production and procurement Hitler order after the victory over France now came back to haunt him. The personnel and equiment losses in the East were enormous and had to be replaced if Germany was to continue the War. And Germany did not have the industrial power to replace all that was lost before the summer campaign could be launched. Changes occurred in both industrial and labor policy.

Industrial Policy

Minister of Armaments Fritz Todt was killed in a never fully explained plane crash shortly after taking off from Hitler's eastern headquarters at Rastenburg (February 8, 1942). Albert Speer, at the time primarily Hitler's chief architecht, had arrived in Rastenburg the previous evening after an arduous trip to occupied areas of the Soviet Union. He had an offer by Todt to fly him back to Berlin. He canceled becayse he was tired and had met with Hitler late in the evening. After the crash, Hitler immediately appointed a shocked Speer the Reich's new Armaments Minister. We do not know why Hitler did this. He was impressed by Speer's performance as architecht in some important projects. But this was nothing like this assignment. Reichmarshal Hermann Göring raced to Rastenburg hoping to take over Todt's responsibilities an increase his control of the economy. Hitler surprised him with the fait accompli of Speer's appointment. [Speer, pp. 193-96.] Göring had done very little to put the Reich's industry on a true war footing. In part because that would have required real work on his part and taking on powerful NAZI Party Gaulitiers. Speer on the other hand with virtually no experience with industry and economics, set in motion an ambitious program, often described as rationalizing industry, that significantly expanded war production despite the escalation of the allied strategic bombing campaign.

Labor Policy

German workers had to be conscripted for military service to replace the heavy casualties in the East. Hitler launched the War against countries which had a much greater populatiin than Germany and karger militaries. Victories in the West and East had begun to narrow that gap, but the cauakties suffered in the Soviet offensive before Moscow meant that the disparity had begun to widen again. Thus workers to replace them in the factories were needed. Jews could have been used for the factories, but Hitler instead in 1941 made the decesion to kill them in what we now call the Holocaust. This decesion could have been changed after the disaster before Moscow, but instead Hitler decided to kill the Polish Jews, many involved in productive labor in Getto workshops. Nor did he attempt to utlize the Polish and Soviet POWs for labor, many of whom persished in dreadful conditions during Winter 1941-42. The NAZIs instead began to concript foreign workers to work in German factories. Hitler forbade anyone to bring up labor shortages in his presence. He said that having occupied much of Europe that there were millions who could be conscripted for war work. [Speer, p. 293.] The NAZIs as the war dragged on transported millions of foreign workers from occupied countries to camps for forced or slave labor, often under horendous conditions. Ernst Friedrich Christoph 'Fritz' Sauckel, General Plenipotentiary for Labour Deployment. organized the systematic enslavement of millions from lthe occupied trritories. This was a major cause of the Resistance movement in France and other counties. Non-Jews except for food and other shortages had not felt the German occupation in dramatic terms until the labor round up began. Jews were also transported, but mostly to death camps rather than labor camps. The NAZIs using this system were able to maintain production levels in the Reich. There were, however, huge declines in production levels in the occupied countries. This is why that even though the NAZIs occupied much of Europe, there were no massive increases in production levels comensurate with the pre-War industrial or agricultural production of Europe.

Rationing

Sources

Speer, Albert. Inside the Third Reich (Avon, New York, 1970), 734p.

Created: 8:36 PM 2/20/2014
Last updated: 8:36 PM 2/20/2014