Nazi Agricultural Policy Education Forum纳粹农业政策教育论坛.pptVIP

Nazi Agricultural Policy cationforum.co.uk Blut und Boden Nazi ideology held the traditional German peasant (small farmer) in very high regard Peasants were seen as racially pure (blut or blood) being isolated from the more cosmopolitan German cities, and as more patriotic due to their attachment to their land (boden meaning soil) Peasants were seen by Nazi ideologues as free from the moral decline and degeneration of urban Germany and therefore were central to the creation of a new purer ‘peoples community’ Policy Aims Walter Darre – Minister for Food and Agriculture had 2 main aims: To halt the population drift from countryside to the towns To protect the peasants from debt and takeover by larger farms or retail outlets To do this the whole food industry was coordinated by a massive and bureaucratic organisation know as the Reich Food Estate Reich Food Estate Based on the Fuhrerprincip throughout Darre aimed to control both agricultural production and retail through a vast command structure The Reich Food Estate fixed prices and wages rates, set production quotas and dictated farming practices Such state direction and protection inevitably led to a recovery in the agricultural economy Other Policies The Reich Entailed Farm Law 1933 protected thousands of small farms from competition. Any farm over 30 acres was classified as an ‘hereditary farm’. An hereditary farm could not be divided up on the death of its owner – it had to be passed onto the eldest son intact. Peasants were also given considerable financial inducement to stay on the land – for instance agricultural workers were exempt from National insurance and health insurance Evaluation – Success or Failure? Half a million farms protected by hereditary status Farmers income increased 41% between 1933-36 ‘Command’ structure reduced farmers ability to innovate and invest – resented by many older peasants Agricultural wages remained significantly lower than industrial wages and with the return of full employmen