The economy of Nazi Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler (1933-1945) developed a hothouse prosperity. The economic system in Nazi Germany was mainly supported by high government subsidies that were favored by Hitler himself. Adolf Hitler believed that "the economy is of something of secondary importance." Therefore, he left the economic duties out of his political platform when he first introduced himself to Germany and the western world. The Nazis rose to power during a time period of high unemployment in Germany, but they later gained full employment due to massive rearmament.
Here is a basic synopsis of the Nazi German trade:
- Discouraged trade with countries outside the German sphere of influence.
- Make southern Europe largely dependent on Germany.
- Developed strong relationships with big business.
- Abolished trade unions.
- High exports of synthetic rubber, steel, and textile.
- Limit trade partners
- A number of bilateral trade agreements were signed between Germany and other European countries (mostly countries located in Southern and South-Eastern Europe) during the 1930
By the late 1930s, the aims of German trade policy were to use economic and political power to make the countries of Southern Europe and the Balkans dependent on Germany. The German economy would draw its raw materials from that region, and the countries in question would receive German manufactured goods in exchange. Already in 1938, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece transacted 50% of all their foreign trade with Germany.
Throughout the 1930s, German businesses were encouraged to form cartels, monopolies and oligopolies, whose interests were then protected by the state.
In his book, Big Business in the Third Reich, Arthur Schweitzer notes that:
"Monopolistic price fixing became the rule in most industries, and cartels were no longer confined to the heavy or large-scale industries. [...] Cartels and quasi-cartels (whether of big business or small) set prices, engaged in limiting production, and agreed to divide markets and classify consumers in order to realize a monopoly profit."