Written by: RAJS BITCH
Assess Albert Speer’s role in the Nazi War Machine
Albert Speer was appointed as minister for Armaments and munitions in February 1942. Speer played an invaluable role in the Nazi War Machine during the next three years of the Second World War. His effectiveness as minister for armaments and munitions led to phenomenal increases in the production of armaments, and ultimately prolonging the war for another one to two years which greatly impacted on the functioning of the War Machine. Speer’s major accomplishments as minister for armaments and munitions were, the standardization of weapons and specialization of factories. Implementing a Total War policy in Germany. The mobilization of the workforce in relation to the armament production.
It became clear to Speer that the war would not be over quickly and the German War machine needed a sustained domestic war production. When Speer was given the position of minister for armaments and munitions, he knew nothing of armaments, weapons and war but he was a genius at organization. He mobilized the German industry by introducing principles of mass production, “democratic” economic leadership, improvisation and a general anti-bureaucratic approach which resulted in a phenomenal increase in the German war production rate. In the first 6 months in office Speer was able to increase the production of guns by 27%, tanks by 25% and ammunition by 97%. This was significant for the war machine as by 1944 armament production in general increased by more than 300%, and it must be noted that this had been achieved by Speer in 1944 during the height of the allied Strategic bombing campaign. (Kaldor) “Speer’s administration in the course of the following two and a half years was the single great success within the German war economy can record…”. Due to the increase in armament and munitions production in general this meant that the Germany military would be able sustain battles as a result of more munitions and weapons available and its strong supply. “He (Speer) is usually credited…with prolonging the war for several months in Giving the German military a new lease of life by sharply raising the efficiency of the German arms industry” (Professor Winston Higins). Then is must be stated Speer’s had an important role in the Nazi War machine as he greatly contributed to the Nazi war effort as there was an increase in armaments and munitions, which greatly increased the fighting efficiency of the army and also prolonged the war for one to two years and thus Speer had a significant role in the Nazi war Machine.
There are several reasons which allowed Speer to increase the armament output, all of which are intrinsically linked with Speer’s ability to create an efficient war Machine. Speer ironically based many of his ideas around the works of a Jew, Walther Rathenau who was responsible for the economy and weapon production in the First World War.
The standardization and specialization of weapons played a major role in contributing to the increased efficiency of the German army. Speer was aware of the fact that there was a great deal of raw materials being misused by many different industrialists and as a result of this weapons were inefficiently manufactured. Speer countered this problem by greatly rationalizing the war production, having only a select number of weapons produced, “Speer personally went to the front to find out for himself the advantages or weaknesses of weapons and equipment used by the troops” (Joachim C Fest). This had significant outcomes on the war production of Germany. The standardization meant that 42 aircraft types were reduced to 5, motorbikes from 150 types down to 26, 38 tank types down to 8 types, lorry types from 151 to 23 and anti-tank weapons from 12 to 1 type. This brought increased efficiency and outputs. “At one stage in 1944 Speer had 1000 Messershmit-109 fighters being produced form just 3 plants, whereas before seven plants were producing over 180” (RJ Overy). Speer also ordered factories to specialize and produce only one type of vehicle, aircraft and weapon at a time and meant that those industrial firms could move onto mass production of that particular part of war equipment e.g. Porche which produced the Volkswagen was ordered to produce a certain tank type. The result was more efficient weapons and equipment was produced and there was less wastage of raw materials. Thus significantly helping the Nazi war Machine perform more efficiently and thus highlights Speer’s role as minister for armaments and munitions was very significant to the Nazi war Machine.
Speer recognized the parlous state of the Germany economy and knew that the German war machine was not prepared to fight a war on World War proportions. He instituted a policy of total war to assume full economic control of all industrial firms. On the 26th of June 1943 Speer position was expanded to the Minister of Armaments and War Production that covered all aspects of war production. Speer saw that the size of the traditional authoritarian bureaucracy as one of the Greatest causes of Germany’s industrial backwardness. Thus he reduced the size of the bureaucracy. Speer not only wanted the armed forces to be at their full potential when mobilized for war, but also the economy. The Zentrale Planung (Central Planning Board) was implemented in April 1942. The board was responsible for the coordination of armament production of all three branches of the armed forces, the army, navy and air force. The board essentially took away the power of the Gualeiters and also eliminated any rivalry between the military sectors. Thus the creation of the Central Planning Board, the implementation of a Total War policy created greater cohesion in the military, and made the Nazi War machine more efficient.
The largest contribution that Speer made to the Nazi war machine was his mobilization of the workforce in relation to armament production. “Historians generally explain the increase in armament production by a corresponding increase in labor productivity (Overy). The mobilization of the work force was a crucial element for factories to operate efficiently and to keep the Nazi war machine alive. Speer also began to realize by mid 1942 that it would be beneficial to use labour from occupied territories, concentration and camps and prisoners of war. German armament production tripled between January 1942 and July 1944 while the employees producing armament foods within the German borders grew by only 30% in the same period. “That this growth rate of labor productivity might be too high because of the increasing armament production in occupied countries” (Wagenfur). By implementing slave labour Speer insured that the German men could fight instead of working. Thus, the use of slave labour allowed German men to take part in the war while production continued and increased. There fore Speer was able to efficiently and effectively orchestrate slave labour, which in the end benefited the Nazi war Machine.
Therefore Albert Speer’s role in the Nazi war machine was highly significant as there was an increase in armaments and munitions, which greatly increased the fighting efficiency of the army and also prolonged the war for one to two years.
The implementation of the standardization and specialization of weapons played an important role in the production of efficient weapons and equipment and greatly reduced the amount of wastage of raw materials. Thus significantly helping the Nazi war Machine perform more efficiently. The creation of the Central Planning Board, the implementation of a Total War policy created greater cohesion in the military, and made the Nazi War machine more efficient. Speer was able to efficiently and effectively orchestrate slave labour, which in the end benefited the Nazi war Machine. Thus it must be stated Speer played an important role in the functioning of the Nazi War machine.