LEADER 03802cam a2200373Ia 4500001 23272 005 20240621143003.0 008 880914s1983 txu b 000 0 eng d 035 ocm18484263 035 USHOM 33424 035 23272 040 ICU |beng |erda |cICU |dOCL 090 DD256.5 |b.F36 1983 100 1 Fanning, William J., |d1945- 245 14 The German war economy in 1941 : |ba study of Germany's material and manpower problems in relation to the overall military effort / |cby William J. Fanning. 264 1 [Place of publication not identified] : |b[publisher not identified], |c1983. 300 iii, 398 leaves, bound ; |c22 cm 336 text |btxt |2rdacontent 337 unmediated |bn |2rdamedia 338 volume |bnc |2rdacarrier 502 Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas Christian University, 1983. 504 Bibliography: leaves 317-398. 520 This study focuses on the German War economy in 1941 in an attempt to evaluate the significance of Germany's material and manpower problems and their impact on the overall military effort. On the basis of the documentation, Germany suffered from genuine shortages of such items as coal, aluminum, and fuel, whereas temporary deficiencies of materials like iron and steel could be attributed to indirect causes. An insufficient number of skilled workers also plagued the armaments industries, all the more so as high casualty rates on the Russian Front induced the German High Command to draft these men without replacing them with qualified substitutes. In addition to examining Germany's utilization of her own material and manpower resources during 1941, other aspects of her war machine are considered: organizational problems which led to overlapping jurisdictions and intense competition among the various agencies; the inadequate transport system; and the difficulties encountered by Germany in her attempt to exploit the occupied countries and to acquire strategic materials through foreign trade. Of considerable importance was Italy's almost total dependence on Germany for raw materials and fuel. This dissertation also offers an account of the Russian Campaign of 1941, pointing out its significance as a major turning point in the conflict. A discussion of the material and manpower shortages of the individual branches of the armed forces reveals the inadequate preparations taken by Germany to fight a sustained war on more than one front. Finally, the debilitating influence of the blitzkrieg philosophy constitutes the leitmotiv of this study. Hitler sought to avoid long conflicts that might impinge on the material well-being of the civilian population, and blitzkrieg offered him a means of achieving his military objectives without resorting to total mobilization. But it failed. By not devoting more of the nation's energies to the armed forces, German leaders, ironically, contributed to the defeats in Russia which plunged Germany into a costly war of attrition on several fronts. Despite this turn of events in late 1941, Hitler remained confident that the blitzkrieg would prevail and, consequently, took only token steps to gear for total war. 530 Electronic version(s) |bavailable internally at USHMM. 533 Photocopy. |bAnn Arbor, Mich. : |cUMI Dissertation Services, |d1995. |e22 cm. 590 Dissertations and Theses 591 Record updated by Marcive processing 21 June 2024 650 0 World War, 1939-1945 |vCongresses. 650 0 World War, 1939-1945 |xEconomic aspects |zGermany. 651 0 Germany |xEconomic conditions |y1918-1945. 655 7 Conference papers and proceedings. |2lcgft 956 41 |u http://dc.ushmm.org/library/bib23272/8321718.pdf |z Hosted by USHMM. 852 0 |bstacks |hDD256.5 |i.F36 1983 852 |bebook