ABSTRACT
Gennany's industrial machine underwent a traumatic decline during the Depression (Fig. 4.12). In some sectors, production fell by around 70 per cent over the years 1929 to 1931. It was partly the depth of this crisis that prompted business leaders to put their support behind National Socialism in 1933, quite aside from any benefits that they perceived from a renewed political hegemony which might help to maintain the existing structures of capital. The first pre-occupation under Nazi rule was simple regeneration of industrial capacity and industrial investment (Fig. 4.13). In fact, it took until around 1935/6 to achieve the levels of production of the pre-Depression
years. This was not the sum total of the Depression's effects, though. As in agriculture, the deficient state of the country's export earnings capacity placed severe limits on imports of industrial raw materials and goods. Foreign currency reserves were small and had to be strictly rationed. Again in common with agriculture, therefore, a policy of autarky was set. The primary vehicle was Goering's Four-Year-Plan Organisation with its exceptional room for intervention in economic administration. Three materials were singled out in particular: iron ore, oil and rubber.
