Did the Third Reich Experience An Economic Miracle? Essay

Although the sparing situation undoubtedly improved in general during the Third Reich, to jaw this an frugal miracle is a drastic overstatement. The German parsimoniousness made a huge recovery under Nazi rule solely this can not be completely assign to Hitler and it must be noted that the frugal situation in Ger legion(predicate) was descent to improve before the Nazis came to power.However, when Hitler came to power in 1933, he did inherit a difficult situation. The Great Depression had destroyed the previous regime and 50,000 businesses had foregone bankrupt. Whether or not the country was in great crisis is debat fit barely it was certainly in desperate need of dramatic changes in the economy. Although at that place were some signs of the beginning of an economic recovery, this was by no means inevitable, and Richard Overy argues that 8 one million million million people were still unemployed and the economy was still in poor shape.Hitler was keen to avoid economic ex perimentation and simply aimed to consolidate and improve Weimar policies. He continued and enlarged Work Creation programmes from Weimar and this rock-bottom unemployment as well as providing other benefits for workers. By 1936 the average net was 35 marks per week, ten times more(prenominal)(prenominal) than the dole bills which 6 million had been receiving in 1932. The 1933 Enabling Act meant that Hitler had no testicle constraints on his power so he was able to extend and more vigorously enforce the schemes from the Weimar government.In avoiding experimentation and purely consolidating old policies, Hitler was cleverly avoiding any risks which may have worsened the situation further. Therefore although this was an trenchant dodging, it indicates that the drastic reduction of unemployment was not miraculous but merely the issuance of continuing and improving existing ideas and schemes.Another method in which Hitler want to return Germany to its former prosperity was th rough careful rule and imperious accommodate. Wages and prices were tameled to reduce the threat of inflation and Mefo Bills were introduced to help fund increase government spending. The State took over the banking system, which was on the verge of collapse and took control of the capital market. There were high levels of state supervision and intervention. Schachts impudently Plan of 1934 aimed to tackle the problem of trade deficit through the regulation of imports and the control of foreign exchange. Schacht also made a series of symmetrical trade agreements to supply raw materials that Germany needed and the New Plan was relatively successful in solving the immediate problem.Therefore Hitlers economic strategy mainly consisted of expanding the Weimar Work Creation schemes, regulating imports and taking control of the countries economy the banking system, the capital market, wages and prices. This suggests not a miracle but an economic recovery caused greatly by Hitlers enhancement of state control.The pre-slump poll of Gross National Product had been exceeded by 1935 and the level of industrial work achieved in 1928 was surpassed by 1936. By 1937 unemployment was down to under one million and by 1939 the German economy had grown 33% above its new-made 1920s peak. This secernate supports the argument that the German economy made a radical recovery during the Third Reich but can this really be classed as a miracle? Certainly these are impressive statistics and Germanys economic recovery drew admiration from both home and abroad, but to call this miraculous is an over exaggeration.The economic recovery occurred due to a signifier of factors- political stabilization, the continuation of Weimar policies, the New Plan, greater state control and change magnitude government spending. Although on that point were signs of the beginning of a recovery before the Nazis came to power, there is little reason to believe that Germany would have recovered an y more successfully then France if not for these factors, brought about in the Third Reich. Germanys successful recovery was a result of the way Germany was governed during the Nazi rule. Although many of the Nazis economic controls had been developed under Weimar, Ferguson argues that the success would not have been achievable without a radical transformation of the political system. Hitler extended and improved Weimar policies and was able to enforce them more vigorously as he had no clump constraints on his power.Hitlers strong focus on rearmament however, had a hurtful effect on the countrys economy. Hitler wanted to be take a shit for war within four years and the excessive pace of rearmament meant that the German economy was overheating. Mason has argued that the economy was under great strain as a result of the emphasis placed on rearmament and autarky- a strategy to make Germany as self-sufficient as possible. Therefore although Germanys economy did make a significant re covery during the Third Reich, there were also negative aspects to the Nazi regimes economic policies.However despite this, the improvement in Germanys economy was extremely impressive. This should not be classed as a miracle but rather as an impressive recovery from a dour situation due to the consolidation of Weimar ideas enforced more vigorously with increase government funding and greater state control. The economic recovery was unparalleled considering the countrys economic state when Hitler first came to power but miracle is too powerful a term. By 1938 the GNP had increased by about 75% which is undoubtedly spectacular but is purely evidence of successful governmental strategies- not a miracle.