The transport policy of Nazi Germany in the years 1933-1939

This thesis examines the employment policies of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939. The main emphasis is on the development of transport infrastructure and the automotive industry. These were chosen as "appropriate" to restore economic growth and tackle unemployment. A positive effect on the labor market is confirmed, due to a shortage of workers in the late thirties. Simple calculations and analysis of available statistical data show that the production of motor vehicles and roads and highways construction were not the main "drivers" of economic growth in and of themselves. However, their advantage was the binding of an additional industry and the resulting multiplier effect. After considering the economical results of the automotive industry and the subsequent international comparison, it is refuted that there was a mass motorization in Germany during the thirties. The military importance of transport policy was also very low, because the army preferred to other types of transportation. By comparing the selected measures of previous governments, it is demonstrated that the Nazi economic policy was not nearly as innovative, but rather followed and expanded the previous one