WWII question

[Hankerton]

I had a discussion with my mom the other night after watching the German film, Downfall. I am curious about the state of the German economy at the start of WWII.

From what I understand, after WWI, Germany was left as a poor nation after the first unconditional surrender. But after years of letting Germany rebuild there country, soldiers, and resources, I was under the impression that Germany turned into one of the most powerful countries in the world (by 1942).

I was also under the impression that they were also one of the most technologically advanced countries at that time. They had U-boats, the first jet aircraft, home of the Panzer tank, and a very well made pistol (the Luger).

As I know war stimulates the economy, I would have thought at that time they were a very powerful force (until of course 1945).

Could anyone answer my question? I'm more then willing to be wrong. Thanks.

 

[K1052]

A great deal of the capital for the rebuilding (and subsequent illegal rearming after the Weimar republic fell) came from European and American loans.

Overall, German weaponry and tactics were generally superior to that of their enemies with a few exceptions until early 1943 when the balance began to shift in favor of the allies.

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

they came out of the depression quickly because of the war production and breakthroughs in technology.

 

[Chaotic42]

German currency was completely worthless before WW2. Their economy was seriously hurting.

The were very technologically advanced. The US and Soviet governements desperately wanted German scientists. The space program? Founded with lots of help from German scientists.

I don't know much about their economy during the war, but they were arguably the most powerful country at the time. Look at what it took to stop them.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: iwantanewcomputer
they came out of the depression quickly because of the war production and breakthroughs in technology.

Mainly it was the stability offered by the new National Socialist government under Hitler following the weak, unstable Weimar government that made Germany an attractive place once again for foreign investment and loans.

 

I took a class last year titled "Weimar and the Rise of Hitler," but I can't remember a wink of information I learned in it.

Oh, but I DO know that before WWII, Germany printed huge amounts of currency. People were not paid in amounts of marks; they were paid in POUNDS of marks. The currency was essentially worthless. A cucumber would cost the equivalent of 2 lbs. of mark notes.

Also, many Germans blamed Weimar leaders for the raw deal they got after WWI. They called it the "stab in the back." People like Hitler and Goebbels really synthesized that anger and united the German people into forming a great military nation.

 

[ZavrionX]

Germany was by far the most advanced military wise but due to their lack of resources they were unable to create half of their air planes and various missles in mass numbers example: resversed winged fighters or jet air planes in general. actually i believe that they had to major military advantage threw out the course of the war but once again due to the lack of supplies and resources they weren't able to mass produce there genious aircraft and chemical weapons. other than a military stand point they wont that incredibly powerful dispite there excellent infostructure. military: they were potentially the most powerfull and virtually unstopable. resources: started in surplus but became minimal quickly due to rapidly devloping technologies.

Edit: ah yes, currency almost entirely useless if it was on the world markets because nothing of significate value backed it. it would be almost as bad as the rubel entering world markets

 

[Gibsons]

The German economy was very precarious at the start of the war from what I've read... lots of inflation. They financed a lot of the wartime economy by pillaging... including gold from teeth. They were pretty close to economic ruin in any case.

Surprisingly, Germany was very late in moving to a full wartime economy. ISTR in Blood Tears and Folly Text Deighton talks about how German industries were producing large amounts of luxury goods up through 1943 or so. That certainly wasn't happening in the USSR.

 

Originally posted by: ZavrionX
Germany was by far the most advanced military wise but due to their lack of resources they were unable to create half of their air planes and various missles in mass numbers example: resversed winged fighters or jet air planes in general. actually i believe that they had to major military advantage threw out the course of the war but once again due to the lack of supplies and resources they weren't able to mass produce there genious aircraft and chemical weapons. other than a military stand point they wont that incredibly powerful dispite there excellent infostructure. military: they were potentially the most powerfull and virtually unstopable. resources: started in surplus but became minimal quickly due to rapidly devloping technologies.

Edit: ah yes, currency almost entirely useless if it was on the world markets because nothing of significate value backed it. it would be almost as bad as the rubel entering world markets

Also, Hitler was a bit too ambitious in the areas he wanted to conquer. He wanted to bring ethnic Germans 'home' from ALL over Europe but as the war went on, that became impossible to accomplish.

 

[Rastus]

By the start of WWI, the German industrialist were multinational companies with customers all over the world. Even during WWI, they were selling their wares everywhere (sometimes even selling arms to their own enemies) through their subsidiaries in neutral countries.

When it became apparent that Germany was going to lose the war, the German industrialists ceased production and shipped all their stock to other countries and sold it from there.

After the Versailles treaty, they weren't allowed to produce arms (their biggest product) except to fulfill orders that were made before the war. They retooled for peacetime production. In the mean time, their designers went to work on the next generation of arms immediately.

The capital for this venture was supplied by the industrialists from their vast wartime profits. They kept their employees on the payroll on starvation wages even though there wasn't any work for them to do. Eventually, they began to rebuild and started production back in new factories with new designs and had no problem finding customers.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Rastus
By the start of WWI, the German industrialist were multinational companies with customers all over the world. Even during WWI, they were selling their wares everywhere (sometimes even selling arms to their own enemies) through their subsidiaries in neutral countries.

When it became apparent that Germany was going to lose the war, the German industrialists ceased production and shipped all their stock to other countries and sold it from there.

After the Versailles treaty, they weren't allowed to produce arms (their biggest product) except to fulfill orders that were made before the war. They retooled for peacetime production. In the mean time, their designers went to work on the next generation of arms immediately.

The capital for this venture was supplied by the industrialists from their vast wartime profits. They kept their employees on the payroll on starvation wages even though there wasn't any work for them to do. Eventually, they began to rebuild and started production back in new factories with new designs and had no problem finding customers.

Yep.

Even some new weapons were designed and developed by those German industrialists by buying stakes in foreign companies and doing the work there instead of in Germany.

Krupp even had the balls to sue an English firm for using fuses of their design in shells sold to the British Army during WWI and won payment for it.

 

[Rastus]

Originally posted by: ZavrionX
Germany was by far the most advanced military wise but due to their lack of resources they were unable to create half of their air planes and various missles in mass numbers example: resversed winged fighters or jet air planes in general. actually i believe that they had to major military advantage threw out the course of the war but once again due to the lack of supplies and resources they weren't able to mass produce there genious aircraft and chemical weapons. other than a military stand point they wont that incredibly powerful dispite there excellent infostructure. military: they were potentially the most powerfull and virtually unstopable. resources: started in surplus but became minimal quickly due to rapidly devloping technologies.

Edit: ah yes, currency almost entirely useless if it was on the world markets because nothing of significate value backed it. it would be almost as bad as the rubel entering world markets

Germany became more advanced after WWI because their older factories were demolished under the Versaille treaty and they were able to secretly design the next generation of arms while the allies didn't see a need to modernize as fast. Later in the war, they got into trouble because they had too many models of tanks and aircraft to support properly with spare parts. And some of their later designs were too big or complicated to work properly.