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| Reichswirtschaftsführung | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reichswirtschaftsführung |
| Formation | 1930s |
| Dissolution | 1945 |
| Type | State economic administration |
| Headquarters | Berlin |
| Region served | Germany |
| Leader title | Director |
| Parent organization | Reichsregierung |
Reichswirtschaftsführung
The Reichswirtschaftsführung was a central institution of economic coordination in Nazi Germany, established to integrate industrial policy, resource allocation, and wartime mobilization under the authority of the Reich. It interacted with leading figures and institutions across the Third Reich, shaping relationships among corporations, ministries, and military agencies. Its actions influenced the policies of industry leaders and state bodies involved in rearmament, labor sourcing, and territorial economic planning.
The office emerged during the consolidation of power by Adolf Hitler, drawing on precedents set by Hjalmar Schacht, Franz Seldte, and Hermann Göring as the regime centralized economic direction. Influences included earlier initiatives from the Weimar Republic and the policy environment shaped by the Young Plan, Treaty of Versailles, and the economic crises of the Great Depression that affected institutions such as the Reichsbank and the Reich Ministry of Trade and Industry. Corporate elites including Gustav Krupp, Fritz Thyssen, and representatives of IG Farben and Daimler-Benz interfaced with the office during its formative phase.
The evolution of the Reichswirtschaftsführung must be seen alongside policy programs like Four Year Plan overseen by Hermann Göring and rearmament initiatives associated with the Reichswehr and later the Wehrmacht. It developed in parallel with administrative bodies such as the Reichstag-backed ministries, the Prussian State Ministry, and the Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture under figures like Walther Darré. The institution adapted during crises influenced by events including the Spanish Civil War, the Anschluss, the Munich Agreement, and later the Invasion of Poland and Operation Barbarossa, coordinating with organizations such as the Four Year Plan Office, the Reich Ministry of Economics, and the Todt Organisation.
Leadership drew personnel from networks connected to Joseph Goebbels's propaganda apparatus, corporate boards like Siemens, Krupp, and BASF, and bureaucratic elites from the Reich Chancellery and Prussian Ministry of Commerce. The structure featured liaison roles with the SS, the SA, and the OKW; coordination cells interfaced with labor agencies including the German Labour Front (Deutsche Arbeitsfront) and employment offices influenced by Robert Ley. Technical planning units consulted engineers and planners connected to Albert Speer, Karl Dönitz, and industrial planners from firms like Rheinmetall and Messerschmitt. Legal oversight referenced statutes enacted by the Reichstag and decrees from the Führerprinzip leadership model.
Policy objectives aligned with autarkic and militarized priorities articulated by proponents such as Hermann Göring and technocrats like Hjalmar Schacht before his fall from favor. The office promoted initiatives in synthetic fuel production pioneered by IG Farben, raw materials procurement tied to ventures in Austria and Sudetenland, and labor allocation consistent with directives from the German Labour Front and the Reich Employment Service. It pursued trade arrangements with states and entities including Soviet Union (via the German–Soviet Commercial Agreement), Romania, Hungary, and occupied territories administered through offices like the Reichskommissariat Ostland and Reichskommissariat Ukraine.
Implementation used instruments such as centralized procurement, production quotas, price controls, and allocation boards that coordinated with corporations like Volkswagen, Bayer, Continental AG, and Krupp. The office worked with military supply chains managed by the Heereswaffenamt and naval procurement units in the Kriegsmarine, and with transport logistics of the Reichsbahn. It also utilized forced labor sources from occupied regions, tied to institutions like the SS, the Gestapo, and concentration camp administration overseen by figures such as Heinrich Himmler, and coordinated with occupation administrations like the General Government.
The policies driven or coordinated by the Reichswirtschaftsführung affected industrial output in sectors dominated by firms including IG Farben, Krupp, Siemens', Daimler-Benz, BMW, and Rheinmetall. Its direction contributed to resource flows that sustained campaigns in the Western Front, the Battle of France, the North African Campaign, and the Eastern Front, influencing material conditions encountered by commanders like Erwin Rommel and Friedrich Paulus. Economic arrangements with satellite states including Vichy France, Italy, Bulgaria, and Finland altered regional production and extraction. The reliance on coerced labor and expropriation generated legal and moral consequences addressed in postwar trials such as the Nuremberg Trials and the allied occupation policies orchestrated by authorities including Dwight D. Eisenhower and institutions like the Allied Control Council.
Historians debate the office’s role in the nexus of state and industry, with analyses by scholars referencing archives from the Bundesarchiv, works by A.J.P. Taylor, Ian Kershaw, Richard J. Evans, and investigations into corporate complicity involving John Gimbel and Adam Tooze. Postwar processes including denazification overseen by the International Military Tribunal and economic restructuring under the Marshall Plan engaged personnel and assets linked to its activities. The legacy continues to inform debates in legal, economic, and ethical histories concerning businesses like Siemens, Krupp', BASF', and the role of technocrats such as Albert Speer in modern industrial policy and historical memory initiatives in institutions like the German Historical Museum and the Topography of Terror documentation center.
Category:Historical economic institutions