GCSE History: The Nazi Economy and Workers 1933–39

This material covers the economic side of the GCSE History depth study of Nazi Germany – for example the 'life in Nazi Germany' section on work in Pearson Edexcel's 'Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39', and the Nazi economy in AQA's 'Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship'. Nazi political control, youth and women are covered in the existing Nazi Germany material in this category, and education, the churches and persecution in a separate material.

You revise how the Nazis tackled the unemployment they inherited – about six million registered unemployed at the start of 1933, falling to under one million by 1938 – and why historians treat the official figures with caution, because of the 'invisible unemployed' such as women pushed out of work and Jews dismissed from their jobs. You study the methods used: the National Labour Service (RAD), public works such as the autobahns, and above all rearmament and the reintroduction of conscription in 1935.

The material explains how the economy was run: Hjalmar Schacht's New Plan of 1934, trade agreements and the Mefo bills that hid the cost of rearmament; then Göring's Four-Year Plan of 1936, with its drive for autarky, ersatz goods and the choice between 'guns or butter'. You look at what happened to workers when trade unions were abolished in May 1933 and replaced by the German Labour Front under Robert Ley, with Beauty of Labour and the Volkswagen savings scheme, and at the balance sheet for living standards – more jobs but longer hours, rising food prices and real wages that barely recovered. The effects on different groups are compared: farmers under the Reich Food Estate and the Reich Entailed Farm Law, small businesses, and big firms such as Krupp and IG Farben.

The quiz tests key figures, policies and people; the flashcards drill the vocabulary; the written work asks for explanations of the fall in unemployment and a judgement on whether German workers were better off; and in the oral exam an examiner asks one question at a time and gives brief feedback at the end.

The material is revision practice written by Zestly and is not produced or reviewed by any exam board; check the details of your own specification with your teacher.

• Explain how and why unemployment fell between 1933 and 1938, and the problem of the 'invisible unemployed'
• Describe the RAD, public works, rearmament and conscription
• Explain the economic policies of Schacht and Göring, including the Mefo bills and the Four-Year Plan
• Describe the German Labour Front and its schemes for workers
• Assess changes in workers' living standards
• Compare the effects of Nazi policies on farmers, small businesses and big business

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the DfE GCSE history subject content (modern depth study) and the economic content of options such as Pearson Edexcel 'Weimar and Nazi Germany, 1918–39' and AQA 'Germany, 1890–1945: Democracy and dictatorship'.