Essay - Three Factors that Ensured the Success of the Third Reich...

Three Factors that Ensured the Success of the Third Reich

I. Hitler's Nazi economic plan was, until ***** loss of the war intervened, such a success that foreign economists went so far as to call it a miracle. The Nazi ***** framework, which emphasized *****tal employment, total comm*****ment, and the supremacy ***** big business, relied on a series of radical measures to propel the resurgent nation into a st*****te of military readiness. Several factors contributed to ***** Germany's economic *****, and ultimately to ***** potential endurance of the Third Reich.

An essential building block of ***** Nazi state ***** a satisfied, even energized, working class. That this had to be obtained despite a reduction in luxuries and civil li*****rties made it a challenging task.

The first step in satisfy*****g the working class was ***** elimi***** of one ***** the worst demons of the Weimar Republic, unemployment. The Third ***** implemented stimulus programs that created jobs in the private sector, and embarked on extensive public works projects, ***** as the c*****struction of a n*****tional highway system, to further utilize the unemployed. The measures worked. Unemployment fell from its peak of 6 million ***** 1933 ***** just 200,000 in 1938. (Childs, 59)

In accordance with ***** plan to rid Germany of undesirable social groups, Jews were subjected ***** more and more repressive laws. By the late 1930's, Jews found it difficult even to procure the necess*****ies of daily life, much less find employment. (Shirer, 233) This, in turn, freed up jobs for the Aryan labor ********** the regime was working so hard to court.

As it pushed Jews to the bottom rung of society, ***** government was ***** at work promoting the idea of class equal*****y among Germans. Slogans like "labor ennobles" were used to fuel ***** popular conception ***** an "army" of blue-collar *****ers ***** discourage up*****d mobility. (Frei, 80)

Perhaps ***** more important to the German worker than low unemployment was the Nazi trump card: Nobody ***** hungry. *****s could make do with margarine instead of butter if it meant unlimited helpings. (Frei, 78)

The other piece of the economic puzzle was the satisfaction ***** the ***** elite, who ***** contributed heavily to the initial rise of the Nazi party. To be sure, increased restrictions and red tape made ********** business a hassle, and all production had to ***** support ***** war effort. However, national mobilization ***** lucrative government subsidies and contracts, the elimination of organized labor removed the arch-enemy of big business, and, most sign*****icant, profits ***** ***** 2 percent in 19*****6 to ***** ***** 6 percent ***** *****. (*****, 262)

Thus, productivity and economic growth formed the backbone of the ***** Reich. With two important classes of people pulling mightily for ***** *****, Nazi Germany had a solid foundation upon which ***** build a ***** to last 1000 years.

*****. The German economy was booming, but the Third Reich still faced the challenge of keeping morale and popular ***** high. The war effort necessitated a Spartan, if not