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Nazi Germany 1933-39 » Work and Bread: Nazi Employment Policies

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

Edexcel spec: Paper 1, Depth study 3, Key topic 4

How public works, rearmament and conscription cut unemployment
What 'invisible' unemployment was and why the official figures misled
What the Labour Service, the Labour Front and Strength Through Joy did
Whether German workers were really better off by 1939

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The promise of work and bread

Remember, about 6 million Germans were out of work when Hitler became chancellor in January 1933, and the Nazis had promised them 'Work and Bread'. Hitler had to keep that promise. Jobless men might turn to the communists, and he needed workers to build up Germany's armed forces.

On paper the results were striking. Official unemployment fell to about 1.6 million by 1936 and to about 300,000 by 1939.

Key terms:

Public works: building projects paid for by the government, such as roads, houses and hospitals.
Autobahn: a German motorway.
Rearmament: building up a country's armed forces and weapons.
Conscription: a law forcing men to serve in the armed forces.
Invisible unemployment: people without proper jobs who were left out of the official unemployment figures.
Labour Service (RAD): the Nazi organisation that made young men do six months of manual work.
Labour Front (DAF): the Nazi organisation that replaced the trade unions.
Strength Through Joy (KdF): the part of the Labour Front that organised workers' free time.

How the Nazis cut unemployment

🚧 Public works

The government spent billions of marks on new houses, schools, hospitals and, above all, autobahns. Hitler dug the first spadeful himself in September 1933. About 3,000 km were built by 1938. Up to 125,000 men worked on them at one time, and more had jobs supplying the steel and concrete.

🏭 Rearmament

Hitler rearmed secretly from 1933 and openly from 1935, breaking the Treaty of Versailles. Spending on arms rose from about 3.5 billion marks in 1933 to about 26 billion in 1939. In 1936 Göring's Four Year Plan set out to get Germany ready for war. This meant jobs in coal, steel and chemicals, and in factories making tanks, aircraft and ships.

👥 Conscription

In March 1935 Hitler announced conscription. The army grew from 100,000 men in 1933 to about 1.4 million by 1939. Men in the army were not counted as unemployed, and the jobs they left were freed for others.

'Invisible' unemployment

The official figures did not tell the whole story. Several groups were simply not counted:

Jews who had been forced out of their jobs
women who had given up work (see Women and the Churches in Nazi Germany)
young men in the Labour Service, and conscripts in the army
political opponents held in concentration camps

People with only part-time work were counted as fully employed. So real unemployment was higher than the Nazis claimed. Even so, millions of real jobs were created, and most Germans noticed the difference.

The Labour Service (RAD)

The Reich Labour Service began in 1933 as a scheme for volunteers. From 1935 it was compulsory: every man aged 18 to 25 had to serve for six months. The men lived in camps, wore uniforms and paraded with spades instead of rifles. They planted forests, drained marshes, dug ditches on farms and helped to build roads.

Many men disliked it. The work was hard, the food was poor and they received only pocket money. Others were proud to be doing something useful after years without work. For the Nazis it was a source of cheap labour, and it got young men used to drill before they joined the army.

The Labour Front (DAF)

Remember, trade unions were banned on 2 May 1933. In their place the Nazis set up the German Labour Front, led by Robert Ley. It covered both workers and employers, and by 1939 it had about 22 million members.

Strikes were illegal, and workers could no longer bargain for higher pay.
From 1935 each worker had a 'work book' recording his jobs. Without it he could not be hired, so it became hard to change jobs freely.
The average working week rose from about 43 hours in 1933 to about 49 hours by 1939.
In return, the DAF made it harder for bosses to sack workers on the spot.

Strength Through Joy (KdF)

Strength Through Joy was set up in November 1933 as part of the Labour Front. Its aim was to keep workers content and loyal, without pay rises, by organising their free time. It offered cheap theatre and concert tickets, sports, hikes and holidays. In 1938 over 10 million people took a KdF holiday. Most of these were short trips inside Germany. The famous cruises went mainly to better-paid workers and loyal Nazis.

One branch, Beauty of Labour, pushed firms to provide better canteens and washrooms, though workers often had to build them in their own time, unpaid. In 1938 the KdF launched a savings scheme for a 'people's car', the Volkswagen. Over 300,000 workers paid in 5 marks a week. Not one of them received a car: when war came in 1939 the factory switched to making military vehicles.

Were workers better off?

✅ Better off

After the misery of the Depression, most men had a job and a steady wage. KdF gave workers leisure they had never been able to afford. Many felt Germany was strong again.

❌ Worse off

Workers had no unions and no right to strike. They worked longer hours, and food prices rose, so wages bought little more than before the Depression. Those left out, such as Jews, gained nothing.

Common mistakes

Do not mix up the three organisations: the RAD put young men to work, the DAF replaced the unions and the KdF ran leisure. Do not write that the Nazis 'solved' unemployment without mentioning invisible unemployment. And do not say workers got Volkswagens. They paid in, but no car was ever delivered.

Exam-style question

How far do you agree? Explain your answer. [16 marks]

You may use the following in your answer:

rearmament
public works

You must also use information of your own.

Model answer

I largely agree with the statement. Rearmament created the most jobs, but public works began the fall, and the figures were also lowered by leaving people out.

Rearmament was a very important reason. Spending on arms rose from about 3.5 billion marks in 1933 to about 26 billion in 1939, and Göring's Four Year Plan of 1936 pushed industry to prepare for war. This created huge numbers of jobs, not only in factories making tanks and aircraft but also in the coal, steel and chemical industries that supplied them. Rearmament also brought conscription in March 1935. The army grew from 100,000 men to about 1.4 million by 1939, which took over a million young men out of the job market.

However, public works also mattered, especially in the early years. The government paid for new houses, schools and hospitals, and autobahn building began in September 1933. Up to 125,000 men worked on the autobahns at one time, and others supplied the steel and concrete. Unemployment had already fallen from about 6 million to about 1.6 million by 1936, before arms spending reached its height, so public works helped to give the first push.

A third reason is that the Nazis made the figures look better than they were. This 'invisible' unemployment meant that Jews forced out of their jobs and women who had given up work were not counted. From 1935 every man aged 18 to 25 had to spend six months in the Labour Service, so he was not counted as unemployed either. Part of the fall was therefore not caused by new jobs at all.

Overall, rearmament was the main reason, judged by the number of lasting jobs each factor created. Public works employed far fewer men, and each project ended when the building was finished. Invisible unemployment only changed how people were counted and created no work. Rearmament was the only factor large enough to turn 6 million unemployed into about 300,000 by 1939, and it kept growing every year.

What lifts this to the top level: it covers three aspects, including one that is not in the bullets, argues both for and against the statement, and reaches a judgement using a clear test (the number of lasting jobs created).

Exam tip

An answer that uses only the two bullets cannot reach the top level, so always add a third factor of your own. Here, invisible unemployment or the Labour Service works well. In your conclusion, do not just repeat your points. Name the test you are using to decide which reason mattered most.

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