Weimar Germany overview - OCR BThe economy in Nazi Germany
The Nazi dictatorship was a totalitarian regime that aimed to control all aspects of its citizen鈥檚 lives, whilst persecuting its enemies, before war brought ultimate disaster for the German people.
Hitler achieved virtually full employment through rearmamentManufacturing arms and increasing the army., National Service and marginalising groups like the Jews (who lost their jobs and were not included in unemployment figures). However, living standards for working class Germans did not really improve and workers were expected to take part in Nazi Party schemes like Strength Through Joy, which gave them cheap holidays, in return for giving up their trade union rights.
The Nazis aspired to achieve autarkyA closed economy. Hitler's ideology that wanted Germany to cease trade with the outside world and rely entirely on its own resources., or economic self-sufficiency, but in general the economy was geared towards preparing for a future war. As such, workers were expected to work long hours for modest pay and to toe the line.