History

W

hen

H i t l er

was

decr easi ng to 30 2,0 0 0 by Januar y 1939. I t gave H i t l er a way to er ad i cate unem p l oym en t wh i l st p r epar i ng a m i l i tar y m ach i ne that cou l d gai n h im a cen t r al Eu r opean em p i r e. T he Weh rm ach t was bo l ster ed as a d i r ect r esu l t of Germ any ?s econom i c co l l apse i n the ear l y 1930 s. W hy was th i s si gn i f i can t f or the Second Wor l d War ? W i thou t the Weh rm ach t , wh i ch had i n cr eased i n si ze by 30 0 ,0 0 0 m en f r om 1933 to 1936, and w i thou t the L u f twaf f e, wh i ch had i n cr eased by 8,20 0 ai r cr af t between 1933 and 1939, Nazi aggr essi on wou l d have been im possi b l e. H i t l er wou l d not have had a weapon that wou l d have al l owed h im to th r eaten h i s opponen t s i n to subm i ssi on or appeasem en t . Germ an econom i c st r uggl es, wh i ch par t l y p r eci p i tated the st r engthen i ng of the Weh rm ach t , ther ef or e hel ped cause the ou tbr eak of war w i th H i t l er ?s i nvasi on of Po l and . I n a sen se, econom i cs began the con f l i ct .

appo i n ted chan cel l or

i n

Januar y econom i c catast r ophe i n Germ any was endem i c. 30% of the nat i on?s wor k f or ce was unem p l oyed , and the im pact of the Wal l St r eet Cr ash was pal pab l e. I n 1933, the Germ an econom y was wor th a total of 61 b i l l i on Rei chsm ar ks, com par ed to 71 b i l l i on i n 1928 (p r i or to the Cr ash ). At the star t of h i s l eader sh i p H i t l er , decl ar ed that the arm y, or Weh rm ach t , wou l d be key to h i s new econom i c m ach i ne. I t s pu r pose was to at tai n l eben sr aum (?l i v i ng space?), wh i ch wou l d al l ow the Germ an econom y to gai n vast m ater i al r esou r ces such as coal , o i l and steel . I ndeed , m i l i tar y spend i ng i n cr eased f r om 1% to 10% of the Germ an econom y i n the f i r st two year s of abso l u te Nazi con t r o l . T h i s expend i tu r e was key to al l ow i ng the Germ an econom y to r ecover . Unem p l oym en t stat i st i cs i l l ust r ate th i s? i n Januar y 1933, unem p l oym en t sat at 6 m i l l i on , 1933,

14

Japan had a sim i l ar stor y to that

15