ABSTRACT
The nature and course of Nazi trade policy are not themes which lend themselves to simple interpretation. For example, there was no fundamental discontinuity between the policies of the later Weimar administrations and those of Hitler. In large part, this reflected the basic facts of German economic life before, during and immediately after the Depression. A deeper problem, though, centres upon the longer term goals of Nazi trade policy. Was the policy mainly a response to evolving economic expediencies? Or did it embrace dimensions of Nazi ideology, including the extension of German living space in eastern Europe?
