More Germans found work under the Nazis, but workers lost their rights and the economy was geared towards war.
Unemployment fell under the Nazis for several reasons. The state paid for public works, such as motorway building. It also paid for rearmament: a bigger army and more weapons and military supplies. Rearmament became especially important. From 1935, conscription, compulsory military service, also took young men off the jobless lists.
For someone who had been out of work, a job brought income and security. This won the regime support, or made people put up with policies they disliked. Nazi publicity used new roads and falling unemployment to claim Hitler had made Germany strong again. Those claims must be tested against working conditions and different groups' experiences.
Workers lost free trade unions and the right to strike. The Nazi-run German Labour Front replaced them, so workers could not bargain freely with employers. Strength through Joy offered holidays and leisure. Beauty of Labour improved some workplaces. But these did not give back the right to organise, and average weekly working hours in factories rose in the mid-1930s.
In 1936, the Four Year Plan pushed more resources towards preparing for war. Hitler wanted autarky, meaning Germany would make its own key materials and rely less on imports. His secret memo demanded that the army and economy be ready for war within four years. It shows what he wanted, not that Germany actually became self-sufficient.
Judge the policy by asking who gained, what they gained and what they lost. Jobs mattered, but so did pay, hours, safety and the freedom to stand up for workers. Jewish Germans were pushed out of work and persecuted. A fall in unemployment does not describe everyone's experience.
- Why jobs rose
- Public works, rearmament and conscription from 1935.
- German Labour Front
- Replaced free unions; workers could not strike.
- Four Year Plan, 1936
- Prepare the economy for war; aim for autarky.
Worked example: A job is only one part of life
A claim says: unemployment fell, so every worker was better off in every way.
- A new job is a real gain in income and security.
- But the worker has lost the right to join a free union or strike.
- And persecuted groups were pushed out of work. So the claim is too simple.
Watch out for this
The motorways ended unemployment by themselves, and workers gained rights.
Rearmament and conscription mattered more. Workers lost free unions and the right to strike.
Check your understanding
What did workers lose under the Nazis?
- Their jobs, as unemployment rose sharply.
- All leisure activities.
- Free trade unions and the right to strike.