Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book analyses the New Order as a discursively produced social construct, in which two interpretive frames, a volkisch and an economic one, amalgamated. It shows that these notions and the repertoire of thoughts and arguments, which the New Order as a point of reference provided, shaped the German perspective onto Europe during the course of the war. The attack on the Soviet Union not only widened the geographical scope but also radicalised this volkisch and economic planning as the New Order promised to align short-term needs with long-term objectives as well as economic knowledge with volkisch convictions. Throughout the war, the New Order was an important category in the decision-making processes of central institutions, local occupation authorities, and private companies. Economically, the New Order might have produced no concrete measures because the exigencies of war alone necessitated some kind of European economic policy.