fter the end of the First World War

After the end of the First World War, Germany was perhaps the most financially afflicted. Having been deemed the aggressors in World War One, the Germans were forced, by the Treaty of Versailles, into a situation which left the country even further ravaged that its contemporaries. Often it is argued that one of the only decent things that could be attributed to Hitler was his fixing of the German economy, making it into one of the world’s most powerful prewar economies. The rebuilding of the economy, in blatant disregard to the Treaty of Versailles is what led to Germany’s rising power. The focus on rebuilding the army even after they had sanctions placed upon them not is what is often attributed as saving the German economy. Nazi economic policy before World War Two had two main goals, the first was to prepare for the inevitable war which Hitler knew would be coming. This would be done by trying to make Germany as self-sufficient as possible. The second goal was to use economic policy to create a society where the German people felt they were being helped by the Nazi regime, thus creating the volksgemeinschaft, or racial community. The Nazis used the idea of rebuilding the economy in order to turn social classes into imperialistically minded supporters of the Nazi war program. Although the Nazis largely deluded the German people through their rhetoric, this does not mean that the Nazis only helped themselves and their sympathizers. The success of the Nazi economic rebuild was important in shaping how modern Germany looks today and moral abhorrence should not detract from the success of some Nazi policies.

At the conclusion of the First World War, the Allied forces, United Kingdom, France and the Russian Empire imposed upon Germ...

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...es. The Nazis used economics to create a system where they could create the volksgemeinschaft, and unite all German people under the banner of their strive towards war. By manipulating every facet of the economy, from big business, to the moral of each worker and their homes, the Nazis ensured that the German people were willing to endure the harsh industrialization which occurred. The weaving of economics and propaganda was intensified further after 1939 when the Second World War started. The workers who had become “Nazified” could easily transition from the sphere of industry to that of the military. As well the large corporations were already benefitting from rearmament and war only meant that a larger more constant supply was necessary. These factors were essential to the war aims of the National Socialists and were what allowed for such a lengthy war campaign.