1. Society and Economy in Nazi Germany
Part four
The Nazi economy under Goering 1936 to 1939

2. Aims of the lesson By the end of the lesson you will
Understand what we mean by the term Autarky and evaluate the extent of German self-sufficiency by 1939
Understand the main features if the four year plan and evaluate its effectiveness
Evaluate Goerings stewardship of the German economy between 1936 and 1939

3. Goering and the four year plan
Goering did not trust Schacht and wanted to control the economy himself
But he was not a professional economist
In 1936 he implemented the four year plan which aimed to make Germany self-sufficient and ready for war by 1940

4. Autarky
Hitler wanted Germany to be self-sufficient in raw materials by 1940 so that she did not have to depend upon other countries
Coal, oil and iron
He called this Autarky
Concentrated on producing synthetic replacements for rare raw materials

5. How successful was Autarky?
New industrial factories built and by 1939 Germany was the world leader in synthetics
But by 1939 Germany was still not fully self-sufficient
She was still importing more than a third of the raw materials that she needed
Not a total success – in reality Autarky was unachievable

6. Rearmament to 1939
From 1936 Germany was preparing for war – Autobahns were only build so that tanks could be moved quickly
When it became obvious that autarky was not going to be achieved the Nazis needed to invade other counties in order to get access to raw materials such as oil & gas
Shows how economic and foreign policy began to overlap

7. How successful was Goering?
He promised Hitler success but did not succeed – a soldier not an economist
Autarky was impossible to achieve – but came a long way in a short time
In 1939 Germany was not prepared for a long war
In reality Goering had failed – Hitler never forgave him