NatioNal SocialiSm aNd the

peaSaNtSNazi policy towards

peasants and agriculture aimed to reverse the drift of the population from the countryside to the cities, to relieve the farmers of the burden of debts they had

incurred and to establish a harmonious and

prosperous Volksgemeinschaft in the

countryside

peaSaNtS• Why did the Nazis view the peasants as special? Racially pure

group who had retained their traditional attachment to the German soil – free from the moral decline of the Weimar years. They’d be the nucleus of the Volksgemeinschaft

• What were the aims and policies of Richard Darre, Nazi Agriculture Minister? 1). Restore the role and values of the countryside, so reversing the drive towards urbanisation by promoting the concept of ‘Blood and Soil’ 2). Support expansionist policy of Lebensraum and to create a German racial aristocracy based on selective breeding

• What was the Reich Food Estate? The vehicle to ensure the ‘coordination’ of peasants into the Volksgemeinschaft . Very bureaucratic – aim was that producers, wholesalers and retailers of agricultural products would be linked in a single chain, under the direction of his organisation. This would eliminate profiteering by ‘middle men’ and ensure a fair deal for farmers

peasants

• What was the Entailed Farm Law? All farms between 7.5 – 125 hectares were declared hereditary estates which were entailed (subject to legal limitation which prevents future heirs selling or dividing the property) and therefore could not be sold or closed due to indebtedness on the part of the farmer. Also, only ‘Aryan German citizens’ could own farms

• How effect ive were Nazi policies towards the peasants – successes/fai lures? Who benefit ted/lost out? Summarise your findings to the last 2 questions on a balance sheet

How effective?• Many policies highly unpopular and resulted in

growing hostility towards the regime• Economic realities meant that in practice the impact of

Nazi agricultural policy was rather mixed. When military and economic interests of the Nazi regime clashed with its social objectives, the former took priority

• Darre increasingly fell out with the Nazi leadership – his idealistic vision of a rural utopia was at odds with the economic demands of war production and in 1942 he was forced to resign by Hitler

Landowners, the mitteLstand and big

business

• Using p.58-59 Layton, make notes on:

1. Landowners

2. The Mittelstand

3. Big business• Did they benefit or lose out under the Third Reich?

source work

• What evidence do sources 12.31 and 12.32 provide of how the regime viewed peasants?

• Referring to the provenance and content of sources 12.30, 12.31 and 12.33, assess their value as sources of evidence on the effects of Nazi economic policies on

the Mittelstand• ‘For all its rhetoric favouring the petty bourgeoisie, the

Nazi regime betrayed its greatest original supporters.’ How far would you agree with this statement in light of

these sources?

Source work

• What evidence do sources 12.31 and 12.32 provide of how the regime viewed peasants?

• Referring to the provenance and content of sources 12.30, 12.31 and 12.33, assess their value as sources of evidence on the effects of Nazi economic policies on

the Mittelstand• ‘For all its rhetoric favouring the petty bourgeoisie, the

Nazi regime betrayed its greatest original supporters.’ How far would you agree with this statement in light of

these sources?