Goering and the Four Year Plan

Under the Nazis, rearmament was a key feature of Germany’s

economic rebuilding plans.

By 1936 the economy had made huge progress, shown in the

massive drop in unemployment. Hjalmar Schacht worried that too much money was spent on

the military, and wanted to focus on exports instead.

Schacht’s fears were based on a growing budget deficit and balance of payments gap.

However his demands to shift focus and resources away from

the military angered Hitler.

In 1936, long-term Nazi Hermann Goering was put in charge of Germany’s economy,

based on a Four Year Plan.

Goering was a member of the SA and had been wounded in the

Beer Hall Putsch.

He eventually became a member of Reichstag and oversaw the

Night of the Long Knives.

Goering rose to become head of the Luftwaffe and committed suicide before being executed

after the Nuremburg Trials.

The Four Year Plan had a simple aim: to ensure that Germany

would be ready for war within four years.

It had two main tasks:

• Build a strong military

• Make Germany mostly self-sufficient in food and industry (known as autarky)

In order to introduce the Four Year Plan, Goering was given

wide ranging powers.

He headed the new Office of the Four Year Plan. This

department had influence over various other government sections. In addition, it set

targets that private businesses were expected to meet.

Part of Germany’s problems in World War One was the

success of the Allied naval blockade, which stopped

resources getting to Germany.

The aim of autarky was to ensure that Germany could

survive without any outside help, limiting the impact of any

possible future blockade.

Germany’s attempts to achieve autarky had varying success.

Industrial commodities such as oil, steel and coal saw big

increases in production by 1939, however this still fell well short

of the Plan’s targets.

More food was grown in Germany, although one fifth still

came from abroad by 1939.

The Four Year Plan saw a major increase in both national

income (measured in GNP) and also military spending:

• Germany’s GNP in 1934 was 67 billion RM, with 6% spent on the military.

• By 1940, GNP had risen to 141 billion RM and 38% was spent on the military.

German opinion was divided between the demands of guns and butter. This meant that

some people wanted the government’s economic plans

to focus on the military (guns), whilst others favoured

consumer goods (butter).

Goering famously said that guns made Germany powerful but butter only made her fat.

Hitler was wary of placing too great a focus on guns. He

worried that a lack of consumer goods might cause

revolt, although he still needed a strong military.

Some historians say that the Nazis concentrated too much

on guns, and this undermined the economy, hurting plans for

military growth.

It has even been claimed that the Nazis needed to start a war by 1939 in order to meet their

economic demands.

Germany faced problems due to a lack of skilled workers and also natural resources.

This meant they invaded other countries to give them access to

outside supplies.

Historians’ views

• Richard Overy: Hitler needed autarky to ensure that Germans did not suffer during a war, stopping possible revolts

• Panikos Panayl: The Four Year Plan proved the Nazis’ dominance in Germany, and their control of big business.

• Michael Freeman: At times the Nazis dominated businesses, at others both sides worked together to benefit each of them.

• Francis Nicosia: Businesses at first cooperated with the Four Year Plan but eventually were simply given targets to meet.