To what extent, if at all,

did Hitler’s rule benefit

the people in Germany?

INQUIRY QUESTION:
Was life under Hitler a bed
of roses?

Whose life??
Big Question:
To what extent, if at all, did Hitler’s
rule benefit the people in Germany?

 Smaller Questions:
 What was the political impact of Hitler’s rule?
 What was the economic impact of Hitler’s rule?
 What was the social impact of Hitler’s rule?
 SUMMARY of POINTS

Political Impact
 Consolidation of Hitler’s Power

Economic Impact
 Re-employment
 Rise of Big Industries
 Organizing workers’ leisure time
 Militarisation

Social Impact
 Propaganda & Censorship
 Rise of Secret Police
 Persecution of Jews & Minority groups
 Roles of Women & Youth
 To what extent, if at all, did
Hitler’s rule benefit the people in
Germany?

What was the impact of
Hitler’s rise to power on
Germany?

Effects of Hitler’s
rule.

Political Social Economic

Impact Impact Impact
Who was the man?

What did he stand for?
What did he believe in?
 Hitler’s ideas [Empire,
Race]

 Restore Germany as the  Ensure the racial purity
leading country of of the German nation
Europe  Aryan race
 The Third Reich  Strong, healthy
 New strong empire citizens
 Lebensraum  Aryans [Germanic
 living space peoples] are superior
 Take the land it needs  Stay racially pure
from weaker  Get rid of undesirable
neighbouring countries non-Aryans
 
 An An Ideal
Aryan
family
 

Hitler awarding the Hünenkreuz to a model

Übermensch, ca. 1942. Nazi S.S. officers sharing a laugh with a
Hünenmensch at Auschwitz, ca. 1943.
 Democracy destroyed in Germany

 What is political democracy?
system of government in which all the citizens of
a nation together determine public policy, the laws
and the actions of their state, requiring that
all citizens have an equal opportunity to
express their opinion.
 February 1933 Reichstag Fire

 Dissolved the Reichstag


 Called for fresh elections - 5 March
1933.

 27 Feb 1933: Reichstag building

caught fire.

 Blamed the Communists

 Wanting to overthrow the
government
 February 1933 Reichstag Fire

 Convinced the President to grant him
emergency powers

 All civil and political rights were

suspended

 Arrested the Communists and other

political opponents.

 On 5 March 1933, the Nazis won 43.9 %

of the votes in the Reichstag.
 23 March 1933 Enabling Act

 Gave Hitler full dictatorial powers for four years

 Could ignore the constitution, Reichstag & President

 To pass the Enabling Act, Hitler needed a two-thirds majority of the

Reichstag.

 Outlawed the Communist Party

 Arrested most of his opponents to prevent them from voting against

him.

 23 March 1933, Hitler got two-thirds of the votes

 Within a month, Hitler made use of his powers to strengthen his control.
 April 1933

May 1933
•All trade July 1933
•New laws •All other
unions were
were passed to political parties
banned
remove all •Reorganised in the country
members of were banned.
into a Nazi-
other political •Germany thus
controlled
parties from became a one-
organisation
all •German party
government dictatorship.
Labour Front
departments.
or DAF
 
 1921: SA grateful for help given (food,
clothes, sense of belonging), very loyal to
the Nazis

 Purpose: Set up to protect Nazi meetings

and rallies from being disrupted by its
opponents

 Impact: Threatened people who opposed

the Nazis

 Leader of SA: Ernst Röhm

 4 million strong army potential rival

Rohm’s calls for the SA to be made into a second
German Army and large firms nationalised worried the
generals, industrialists and Hitler, who was afraid that
the SA might challenge his position.

 The Night of the Long Knives

 Hitler wanted to have complete power within his own
party

 Ernst Rohm, leader of the SA, was disappointed

 Not given a more important role in the new government
 Started to create trouble for Hitler
 When told that SA becoming a 2nd German army
was not possible…

 Ernst Röhm: But immediately after the
meeting, Röhm let his true feelings be
known.

"What that ridiculous corporal says

means nothing to us. I have not the
slightest intention of keeping this
agreement. Hitler is a traitor, and
at the very least must go on
leave...If we can't get there with
him, we'll get there without him."
SA leaders Ernst Röhm (rear seat looking backwards) and Karl Ernst
enjoying the pomp and circumstance of power


 The Night of the Long Knives

Just before Wiessee, Hitler suddenly breaks his
silence: "Kempka", he says, "drive carefully when we
come to the Hotel Hanselbauer. You must drive up
without making any noise. If you see a SA guard in
front of the hotel, don't wait for them to report to me;
drive on and stop at the hotel entrance."

Then after a moment of deathly silence: "Röhm wants to

carry out a coup." An icy shiver ran down my back. I
could have believed anything, but not a coup by
Röhm.

Kempka, Hitler's chauffeur.

 Röhm is arrested

Next it was on to get Röhm. A column of cars
containing Hitler and the SS sped off toward the resort
hotel at Bad Wiessee to surprise him. Along the way
they were joined by trucks containing Hitler's personal
bodyguard. Arriving about 6:30 a.m., the hotel was first
secured by the SS before Hitler went inside.
Accompanied by several SS men, Hitler then banged
on Röhm's door and confronted the sleepy-eyed SA
leader, screaming accusations of treachery at him for
several minutes.

"Ernst," Hitler finally announced, "you are under arrest."

 The Night of the Long Knives

 Hitler decide to get rid of SA leader & many of his followers

 Hitler called the leaders of the SA to a special conference

 During the night, he had them dragged out of bed and shot

 On the same night, many other opponents all over

Germany suffered the same fate

 No public protests – What did this show?

demonstrated Hitler’s power and the people’s fear
 Hitler used opportunity to
eliminate other political
leaders who opposed him

 Many arrested and

imprisoned

 Eliminated threats from

within his own party
 The Night of the Long Knives
30 June 1934

 Hitler had Röhm
and
other SA leaders
arrested

200 had been shot

SS became the main

security force

 Hitler becomes Führer,

19 Aug 1934
About 9 a.m. on August 2, 1934, the much
anticipated death of President Hindenburg
finally occurred. Within hours, the Nazi
Reichstag announced the following law, back-
dated to August 1st.
 Oath for German Army

 Immediately following the
announcement of the new
Führer law, the German
Officer Corps and every
individual soldier in the
German Army was made to
swear a brand new oath of
allegiance:
 Oath of Allegiance

"I swear by God this sacred oath: I will render
unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler, the Führer
of the German Reich and people, Supreme
Commander of the Armed Forces, and will be ready as
a brave soldier to risk my life at any time for this oath."
 Mandatory Loyalty Oaths

August 20, mandatory loyalty oaths for all public
officials in Germany

"I swear: I shall be loyal and obedient to Adolf Hitler,

the Führer of the German Reich and people, respect
the laws, and fulfill my official duties conscientiously,
so help me God."
 Big Question:
To what extent, if at all, did Hitler’s
rule benefit the people in Germany?

 Smaller Questions:
 What was the political impact of Hitler’s rule?
 What was the economic impact of Hitler’s rule?

What was the social impact of

Hitler’s rule?
To what extent, if at all, did Hitler’s
rule benefit the people in
Germany?

What was the impact of
Hitler’s rise to power on
Germany?

Effects of Hitler’s
rule.

Political Social Economic

Impact Impact Impact
 Social Impact


Rise of Secret Police
 Propaganda & Censorship

 Persecution of Jews & Minority groups

 Roles of Women & Youth

 How did the Nazis use fear to
control people?
The Nazi Police State
Gestapo
SA
SS
 The Nazi Police State

 Squads of SA & SS seized political opponents off the streets

 Arrested and placed in concentration camps, without due

process of law

 In Nazi Germany the police were allowed to arrest people

on suspicion that they were about to do wrong. This gave
the police huge powers.

 All local police units had to draw up a list of people in their

locality who might be suspected of being "Enemies of the
State"
 LAWS of The Nazi Police State

Anybody considered to be a political threat was
arrested

Arrested for making jokes about the Nazi Party

Jokes about Hitler were punished with death.

Homosexuals were also arrested and the SS used

this as a common tactic to discredit someone.
 The Gestapo (Geheime Staats Polizei).
26 April 1933

 Founded by Hermann Goering

 Secret Police Office

 Silence Political Opponents

 Ruthless efficiency
 Emergency Laws were used

Suspend political and civil rights

Power to arrest anyone suspected of being against the

government

Impossible to get a fair trial

IMPACT:
German people had little Freedom & no justice
 The SS (Schutzstaffel), 1925
 Hitler’s elite bodyguard

 Members strictly disciplined

 Blind loyalty and obedience to Hitler

 Most powerful element of the Nazi

movement

 An empire of strategic importance, led

by the leading and most ruthless
Nazis Heinrich Himmler
 How do you recognise the SS?

Black shirts
+ red &
white
Swastika
armband
 Both SS & Gestapo …

 Arrested and often killed those who
opposed Hitler and the Nazi Party

 The Gestapo were not accountable to the

courts or to any law

 The SS and Gestapo struck fear in all

Germans.

 Nazi Germany is sometimes called a

police state, because of the virtually
unlimited power of its police force
Hitler, Himmler & SS troops


 Informers

 The Nazis divided each town into smaller units called viertels or quarters

 Nazi Quarter Warden - visit houses every week to check and gather information on
everyone

 The Quarter Wardens acted as informers to the Nazi Party of any possible opposition.

 People were encouraged to report on their families and neighbours who did not show
total support for Hitler and the Nazi Party

 Listened to gossip, even children talking

 Nazis encouraged neighbours, even family members to report “antisocial” or

“suspicious” behaviour

 The people policed themselves through fear

WHAT IMPACT DID THIS HAVE THE LIVING ENVIRONMENT OF ORDINARY

GERMANS?
 Social Impact


Propaganda & Censorship
 Rise of Secret Police

 Persecution of Jews & Minority groups

 Roles of Women & Youth

 Only Pro-Nazi Cultural Activities were
allowed

 Musical performances, films and
art exhibitions, were aimed at
shaping the minds of the Germans
to think like Nazis.

 The Nazis organised a lot of

cultural activities to encourage the
Germans to support Hitler.

 The development of other forms of

culture was not permitted.
We are for Hitler
 Enough! Vote
Hitler!

 Nazi Propaganda


What is propaganda?
Why use propaganda?
  Where can we find
propaganda?
 Who uses propaganda?  When did propaganda became
 Who is the intended audience? widely used?
 How does propaganda
influence people’s opinions,
emotions, attitudes, or
behavior?
Carefullydesigned to make people believe in
something or to do something

Lots of subtly embedded messages and images, strong

visual impact, inspiring speeches, etc
 Nazi Propaganda

 Kept things simple

 Repeated slogans “work and bread”

 “We”, “Our” to suggest they and the German people

were on the same side
 Freedom and
“Work and Bread”
Bread

 Soldiers in uniforms,
marching to patriotic
music in the background
Nazi Propaganda

Inge’s Visit To A Jewish Doctor
Inge sits in the Jew doctor’s reception
room. She has to wait a long time. She
looks through the magazines on the table.
But she is much too nervous even to read a
few sentences. Again and again she
remembers her talk with her mother. And
again and again her mind dwells on the
warnings of the BDM leader: “A German
must not consult a Jew doctor! And
particularly not a German girl! Many a girl
who has gone to a Jew doctor to be cured
has found disease and disgrace!”…
The door opens. Inge looks up. There
stands the Jew. She screams. She’s so
frightened, she drops the magazine. She
jumps up in terror. Her eyes stare into the
Jewish doctor’s face. His face is the face of
a devil. In the middle of this devil’s face is
a huge crooked nose. Behind the
spectacles are two criminal eyes. And
thick lips are grinning. A grin that says:
“Now I’ve got you at last, little German
girl!”
 Nazi Propaganda

 Spread Nazi propaganda to gain the
people’s support for the ‘Führer and the
Fatherland’

 The Nazis brought all radio stations under

their total control

 All Germans were encouraged to buy radios

which were sold very cheaply in Germany

 Radio loudspeakers were installed in all

public and work areas

 Whenever Hitler gave speeches, orders

would be given for everyone to switch on
their radios and listen to his speech.  Ministry of Enlightenment
and Propaganda
 Joseph Goebbels
 Nazi Propaganda
 Nazis controlled the cinema

 Only movies approved by the Nazis could be
shown
 Praised the Nazis
 Showed the Jews as the enemies of the Germans

 Short films which highlighted the

achievements of the Nazis and which
contained Nazi beliefs had to be screened
before the start of all movies.

 The Ministry of Propaganda made sure the

only information the German people got was
what the government wanted them to hear,
read and see.

 Parade and Rallies

 Even after gaining political control of the state, the Nazis
continued to use spectacular and colourful rallies

 The biggest rally was an annual one held in Nuremburg.

Hundreds of thousands of people witnessed or took part
in the rally.

 The people were very impressed by the Nazi uniforms,

colourful flags, searchlights and torchlight processions.
These gave an impression of power and unity, which
greatly appealed to the Germans.
The Fahnenlied (Banner Song)

Unsere Fahne flattert uns voran
(Our banner flutters before us)

Unsere Fahne ist die neue Zeit

(Our banner represents the new era)

Und die Fahne führt uns in die Ewigkeit!

(And our banner leads us to eternity!)

Ja, die Fahne ist mehr als der Tod

(Yes, our banner means more to us than death)
 Censorship

 The Nazis controlled all forms of media and there was very
strict censorship.

 Publications, including newspapers, could publish only what

was approved by the Ministry of Propaganda.

 Any publication that did not follow this was closed down
and the people responsible arrested and thrown in the
concentration camps.

 Books written by Jews and other ‘undesirable’ people were

removed from libraries and shops, and burnt in public.
 Social Impact


 Propaganda & Censorship

 Rise of Secret Police

 Persecution of Jews & Minority groups

Roles of Women & Youth

 Youths were brainwashed by the Nazis

 Nazi youth organisations were set
up for both sexes
League of
German Maidens
 Boys went through programmes of “every girl
military athletics while girls were belongs to us”
prepared for eventual motherhood

 German youths who were not

members of these youth
organisations found it difficult to Youth Serves the
enter universities or Führer.
obtain jobs All 10-year-olds
into the Hitler
Youth.
Youtube Video: Lebensborn – Ubermensch
Hitler Youth League of German Maidens


 Youths were brainwashed by
the Nazis
Evening and weekend

activities

Took children away to

camps for more group
activities and training

Children were encouraged

to spend as little time as
possible alone
*Why do you think this is so?


 Youths were brainwashed by the Nazis


 Wanted children to grow up believing in
Nazi ideals and loving and obeying the
Fuhrer

 Toy soldiers wore uniforms of the

German army, navy and airforce

 Girls had toy tea sets, prams and dolls

 Colour books had pictures of Hitler

playing with little children

 Rhymes stressed that children should

love the Fuhrer
 Youths were brainwashed by the Nazis

 Though many young people enthusiastically joined these organisations,
others did not. One of the largest anti-Nazi youth groups was the
‘Edelweiss Pirates’.

 Youths who did not like the strictly-controlled life required by Nazi
youth organisations.

 The Nazis punished the members by putting thousands of them in prison

and hanging the leaders of the group, but this did not deter them.

 Significance: The presence of these groups showed that the Nazis did not
have complete control over the German people.
 Education System was controlled by the Nazis

 Hitler made sure that schools encouraged loyalty and obedience to Nazi
beliefs.

 All teachers had to attend special training camps to help them teach Nazi
beliefs more effectively.

 Physical Education was emphasised to ensure all German children were

healthy.

 Students were taught how unfair the Treaty of Versailles was.

 Textbooks portrayed the Jews and the Communists negatively.

 Students were also taught the superiority of the German (Aryan) race.

 Education system controlled by the Nazis


 Nazis appointed teachers and set the curriculum
 Girls and boys studied:
 German
 Race studies (taught the superiority of Aryans)
 History (information was changed to fix Nazi ideas)
 Geography (taught pupils about the land Germany
had taken away from her in 1919 and the need for
Germany to have living space - lebensraum)
 Ideology (lesson in Nazi ideas)

"no boy or girl should leave school without complete

knowledge of the necessity and meaning of blood purity."
 Education system controlled by the Nazis

Girls learned: 
 Singing
 Basic biology (stress on basic health care)
Boys learned:
 Chemistry
 Mathematics
 Physics (all focused on military subjects)
Boys and girls had to exercise every day

“a young German must be as swift as a greyhound, as

tough as leather, and as hard as Krupp's steel”
 Adolf Hitler 1933

“My programme for educating the youth is hard.
Weakness must be hammered away. In the castles of
the Teutonic Order a youth will grow up before which
the world will tremble. I want a brutal, domineering
youth, fearless, cruel youth. Youth must be all that. It
must bear pain. There must be nothing weak and gentle
about it…”
 Exam Questions: Guess the Subject?

"A bomber aircraft on take-off carries 12 dozen bombs,
each weighing 10 kilos. The aircraft takes off for
Warsaw the international centre for Jewry. It bombs the
town. On take-off with all bombs on board and a fuel
tank containing 100 kilos of fuel, the aircraft weighed
about 8 tons. When it returns from the crusade, there
are still 230 kilos left. What is the weight of the aircraft
when empty ?"
 Exam Questions: Guess the Subject?

"To keep a mentally ill person costs approximately 4
marks a day. There are 300,000 mentally ill people in
care. How much do these people cost to keep in total?
How many marriage loans of 1000 marks could be
granted with this money?"


Nazi-controlled education system:
The Nazis had total control over the
subjects and textbooks. The main
objective of education was to teach Nazi
ideas and to instill in all young Germans a
sense of loyalty to Nazism.

Teachers had to attend special training

camps to learn how to teach Nazi ideas.
Those who refused to attend lost their
jobs.
Use of terror to control Germany:
The Nazis used violence to make sure
that they did not face challenges to their
power. Many opponents of the Nazis
were beaten up, sent to prison or killed.
 Women were given little freedom

 The Nazis believed that women should only be
concerned about ‘children, church, kitchen’
(kinder, kirche, kuche).

 Hitler thought the role of German women was to

produce racially pure and healthy German babies
and to look after their families.

 Professional women forced to give up their jobs

and stay at home.

 Women who bore many children received special

awards and cash to encourage them to have more
children.
 Nazis encouraged women to stay at home
and have families


"Take hold of kettle, broom and pan,

A painter’s depiction of Then you’ll surely get a man!
the German family Shop and office leave alone,
Your true life work lies at home."
 Motherhood Cross

 August 12th had been the birthday of Hitler’s
mother.

 On this day each year, the Motherhood Cross

was awarded to women who had given birth
to the largest number of children.

 The gold cross went to women who had

produced 8 children; silver was for 6 children
and bronze was for 4 children

 By 1939 around three million German

mothers had been so decorated with these
awards.
 Social Impact


 Propaganda & Censorship

 Rise of Secret Police

Persecution of Jews & Minority groups

 Roles of Women & Youth

 Concentration camps

 Housed huge number of people arrested for being anti-
government.

 More than 200,000 Germans were arrested

(1933 - 1939)

 People were very badly treated

 Forced to work very hard
 Very little food to eat

 Endured much hardship and suffering

 Many deaths
 Concentration Camps

 Used to isolate “undesirables”

 To “re-educate” prisoners to accept Nazi ideas

 Provided minimal food, clothing and housing

 By 1935, most political opponents were imprisoned, shot

OR meeting in secret and hard to catch
 Concentration Camps
 Built labour camps close to factories or workplaces to
provide cheap labour

 Filled camps with “undesirables”
Concentration Camp

Badges
Jews wearing yellow stars


Disabled Jews


Czesława Kwoka, child
victim

 Racial Discrimination

 Jews were treated cruelly

 Aryans as the superior race

 Opposed marriages between Aryans and Jews - weakened the

German race

 Need to remain racially pure

 Hitler convinced many Germans that the Jews were responsible

for all the bad things that were happening in Germany.
Anti-Semitism

"This person suffering from
hereditary defects costs the
people 60,000 Reichmarks
during his lifetime. People,
that is your money. Read
'New People'.
 Anti-Jewish Propaganda

 The Language of Slogans
 As part of the propaganda campaign against Jews, slogans were posted on
shops, on the sides of ships and airplanes, at mass rallies, and carried on signs
through the streets. Read the following examples:

 "Jews are our misfortune."

 "The Jew is our greatest enemy, beware of the Jew.

 "Germans defend yourselves against Jewish atrocity propaganda."

 "Germans defend yourselves! Don't buy from Jews!"

 "Avoid Jewish department stores; buy at Christian ones. "

 "Hyenas are scum, so are Jews.

 1 April 1933

SA men organised a boycott of Jewish Shops
 “Germans, defend yourselves against the Jewish atrocity
propaganda, buy only at German shops!”
 "Germans, defend yourselves, buy only at German shops!"


 1935 Nuremberg Laws

 People with four German grandparents (white circles)
were of "German blood," while people were classified as
Jews if they were descended from three or more Jewish
grandparents (black circles in top row right).

 Having one or more Jewish grandparents made

someone a Mischling (of mixed blood). In the absence of
discernible external differences, the Nazis used the
religious observance of a person's grandparents to
determine their "race."
 1935 Nuremberg Laws

 Law said that Jews were no longer German citizens
 Had no right to vote
 Could not marry non-Jew
 Could not employ anyone under the age of 45 who
was of “German blood”
 Racial Discrimination
 7 April 1933

 Jews could not work in the government unless they had
fought in WWI or family members had died fighting the war

 Sept 1933
 Jews could not inherit land

 1935
 Jews banned from swimming pools, restaurants or buildings
 Had to use separate benches in parks
 Could not join the army or go to university
Jews not wanted here

Jews not wanted here

 Night of Broken Glass
Kristallnacht

 7 November 1938, following the killing of a
German official, Ernst vom Rath, by a Jew,
Nazis used this as an excuse to organise a
night of violence against the Jews.
 First large scale Nazi-organised attack on
Jews across Germany
 Nazis attacked synagogues, Jewish
businesses and people in their homes
 Encouraged local people to do the same
 More than 7 500 Jewish shops and over 400
synagogues were destroyed.
 More than 90 Jews were killed while
another 30 000 were arrested.
A synagogue burns

Damage done to a synagogue




Jews being arrested


Jews arrested


The frontpage of
The New York
Times of November 
11, 1938 did not
mention that the
German Nazi
government
initiated the
attacks, but said
that Goebbels
called to stop it
 The Final Solution - Holocaust
 Killed more than 6 million Jews through mass execution death

camps in parts of Germany and Poland
 Christian Churches were controlled by Nazis

 The Reich Church was established by Hitler.

 The Reich Church controlled all Protestant churches and preached

Nazi values.

 Members of the Catholic church who opposed the Nazi party were
arrested and sent to concentration camps.

 Hitler was able to reduce the influence of Christian churches over

the people significantly.

 This was achieved through closing all church schools and church
youth groups.
 Big Question:
To what extent, if at all, did Hitler’s rule
benefit the people in Germany?

 Smaller Questions:
 What was the political impact of Hitler’s rule?

What was the economic impact

of Hitler’s rule?
 What was the social impact of Hitler’s rule?
 SUMMARY of POINTS

Political Impact
 Consolidation of Hitler’s Power:
Democracy is destroyed + Threats removed

Economic Impact
Re-employment
Rise of Big Industries
Organizing workers’ leisure time
Militarisation
Social Impact
 Propaganda & Censorship
 Rise of Secret Police
 Persecution of Jews & Minority groups
 Roles of Women & Youth
To what extent, if at all, did Hitler’s rule
benefit the people in Germany?

What was the impact of
Hitler’s rise to power on
Germany?

Effects of Hitler’s
rule.

Political Social Economic

Impact Impact Impact
 Economic Impact

 Re-employment

 Rise of Big Industries

 Organizing workers’ leisure time

 Militarisation
 Policy of Autarky


Hitler’s three main economic policies:
 To reduce unemployment.
 To build up the German weapons building
industry so as to create jobs and make
Germany a great military power again.

 To achieve autarky or economic self-

sufficiency.

 To ensure that the industries were not

disrupted, Hitler banned all trade unions and
declared strikes illegal in 1933
 

Rodenkirchen
One of the public
work projects
 Centralization of Labour Control

 Trade unions were banned


 Possible source of opposition to Nazi control

 Everyone had to join the Nazi trade union

 Aim: to educate all Germans at work to support the national Socialist state
mentality
 Regulated working times and pay

 The German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront/ DAF) replaced the trade
unions.

 The DAF controlled the workers to ensure that wages were fixed according to
the employers
 Centralization of Labour Control

 Efforts were made to improve the lives of the
workers, e.g. the ‘Strength through Joy’ (Kraft durch
Freude) programmes included cheap holidays,
cruises and sporting activities to encourage the
workers.

 The DAF also included a programme that enabled all

workers to own cars at low prices. This was stopped
however, when war broke out. Many workers paid
their installments but did not receive their cars.
 “The People’s Car”

 Few were able to afford a
Volkswagen

'Your Own KdF-Car' poster, 1939 ©

 New jobs were created

 Hitler spent large sums of money on government projects that
involved many workers.

 The National Labour Service employed many jobless people in

government building projects. Schools, hospitals and highways
(autobahns) were built using this labour.

 The civil service was expanded to provide more jobs.

 Unemployment was further reduced with the reintroduction of

conscription and the removal of Jews from their jobs.

 Overall unemployment fell from six million in 1933 to below

one million in 1939.
 National Labour Service
(Reichsarbeitsdienst/ RAD)

 Set up to find work for unemployed men
 Millions put to work on autobahns and public
buildings
 Women left their jobs
 Factories were state-run
 Complains:
 Arrested and sent to labour camps
 Big businesses benefitted

 The rearmament programme benefitted big businesses.

 This was due to the increase in demand in the coal, steel,

chemical and transport sectors.

 Small businesses did not benefit as they were not treated as

favourably by the Nazis, compare to the large companies.

 However, due to the lack of natural resources, Germany did not

achieve self-sufficiency. Germany was still spending money to
buy goods from abroad.

 Overall, although unemployment fell, the German economy did

not improve.
 Agricultural Reforms

Aim: increase production to meet the needs of the growing
population

Reich Food estates

Regulate production, distribution and prices of crops and

animals

Regulate hunting and fishing rights

By controlling production and distribution

Government in position to introduce rationing at any time

Hitler Builds

Based on this illustration, what was the strength of the German
economy based on?


 SUMMARY of POINTS:
Impact of Hitler’s Rule

Political Economic Social
Consolidation of Re-employment Propaganda &
Hitler’s Power Censorship

Rise of Big Industries Rise of Secret Police

Organizing workers’ Persecution of Jews &

leisure time Minority groups

Militarisation Roles of Women &

Youth
To what extent, if at all,
did Hitler’s rule benefit
the people in Germany?

Answer the Inquiry Question