Figure 1.--This photograph probably taken in Paris illustrates why German occupation policies failed to support the war effort. (And the French economy was Germany's major economic support.) Notice that here is not a vehicle in sight on a major city street. This couple is bringing a goat into the city with feed. (Perhaps as a source of milk.) The bicycle is a modern innovation, but the French economy was reduced to walking and animal power hugely reducing productivity. This impacted both industrial and agricultural productivity, actually going back to the pre-industrial era. .

Hitler's expectations of exploiting the resources of the occupied East was a complete disaster. Resources did not flow west to the Reich. The East did not even fully support the Ostheer, the immense army Hitler committed there. Rather Hitler had to turn to the occupied West to support its war economy. And here he did extract needed resources, especially from France. But here the NAZI effort an exploitation has to be assessed a failure. As the Reich mobilized for total war after Barbarossa failed to destroy the Red Army, war production did increase. Just the opposite is the case in the countries that he NAZIs occupied in Europe. This is the case both in industrial and agricultural production. One has to understand that at the time of World War II that the industry that produced modern weaponry was almost entirely located in North America (primarily the United States) and Europe. Japan was a rare exception, but a minor exception compared to America and Europe. Britain was a major industrial power, but Continental Europe (not including the Soviet Europe was a huge economic exceeding that of the United States, although not by much. And the NAZIs occupied or controlled most of Europe. If it could have mobilized that economic power, it would have had a good chance of winning the War. Especially as war with the Soviets and the United States, were conflicts of choice. A major factor in German's defeat was the failure of the NAZIs to effectively mobilize the economies of the Captive Nations. Germany did exploit the economies of occupied Europe--especially France. While the Germans did exploit the wealth and productive power of the captive nations in the West. What they exploited was the existing wealth, but they were not only incapable of maintaining the productive capacity of the occupied countries, but they actually caused industrial output of the occupied countries to decline. At at the same time, war production in America and Britain exploded. And even the Soviet Union managed to expand war production despite losing vast swaths of territory including important industries. This was by commission and omission. Hitler had no interest in expanding or even maintaining arms industries outside of the Reich. He saw these as enemy or potentially enemy countries. France had a major arms industry, but the NAZIs did not use it. France in particular had a large, sophisticated armaments industry. This industry was not converted to support the German armed forces. The economies of France and the Low Countries could have made a major contribution to the NAZI-war effort. The NAZIs in 1940 seemed more concerned in making sure that France would never again be a threat in the West. As a result, the was not effort to gear up French armaments production. By the time the NAZIs realized that the War was not already won, it was to late to take full advantage of French industrial capacity. Thus planes, tanks, artillery, and other key weapons were not constructed in France for the Germans. The same was true f Belgium and the Netherlands. France's major contribution to the military was to produce trucks for the military--no tanks, artillery, aircraft, or even ammunition. France was mostly used to provide consumer goods and food for German civilians. Germany did use the captive nations as a source of raw materials. Romania in particular was a critical source of petroleum. (Romania was a NAZI ally, but coercion was an important factor in forming alliances with countries like Romania.) Hitler had no interest in Romania developing a major arms industry. Given the industrial forces being marshaled against Germany in America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, the Germans needed to fully utilize the industrial capacity of the conquered nations. They failed to do so. By the time that Goebbels began talking about 'total war' it was too late for the NAZIs. Speer did succeed in raising German production. He was unable to increase production in France and the other captive nations. In part this was because a goal of the NAZIs was to turn neighboring countries into subservient agricultural countries that would feed agricultural harvests and raw materials to Germany. In the end the criminality of the NAZI world view sewed the seeds of its own destruction. Not only was NAZI economic policy a disaster, but unintended impact of its their policy also adversely impacted production. And by reducing European industrial production, the NAZIs reduced what cold be exploited. NZ policies impcted energy, raw materials, worker productivity, and sabotage. Energy was a major weakness of the German war effort. Petroleum was needed for the military. It was basically unavailable in occupied countries. The major problem, however was coal. European industry was dependent on coal. And many countries before the war go their coal from Britain. Germany had enough coal for the Reich, but not to supply all of Europe. Thus European industrial production declined because of coal shortages. Raw materials were another problem. Europe before the War imported vast quantities of raw material. This ended with the German occupation. The Royal Navy blockade prevented maritime imports. The Soviets supplied German needs (1939-41), but not the needs of the occupied countries. After the NAZI invasion (June 1941), the Soviet life-line ended meaning that most raw materials available in Europe were seized by he Germans, impairing industrial activity throughout occupied Europe. Harder to measure is worker productivity. Well paid and fed workers are the most productivity. Under German occupation, real wages fell and food became increasingly difficult to obtain. There are also reports of sabotage. There are documented incidents, especially n France. Just how important this was is difficult to assess.

Created: 8:44 PM 12/29/2025
Last updated: 8:44 PM 12/29/2025