Der Fuehrer - Hitler's Rise to Power (1944) - Heiden

658 DER FUEHRERhad been an average of 1,400,000 unemployed. In the same period, from1928 to 1932, while the index of German industrial production fell from100 to 58.7, that of the 'world' — that is, those industrial countries ofwhich statistics were available (exclusive of Soviet Russia) — fell onlyto 65.1, or, if the United States, especially hard hit by the crisis, weredisregarded, only 73.4. Of all the large countries, Germany and theUnited States had, at the depth of the crisis, suffered the greatest loss inproduction; that is, they disposed of the greatest reserves in unusedeconomic power. Both countries put a part of this unused power to workby great government projects.In these efforts, National Socialist Germany possessed one resourceof government orders which the United States lacked: she planned tobuild a new army. But to revive 41 per cent of Germany's productivepower, to re-employ 6,000,000 people, the planned army of 300,000with all its needs was far from enough. In Seeckt's view, the armyshould in peacetime not make full use of industry's power of armamentproduction; for a premature mass armament was in danger of soonbecoming obsolete; and by keeping industry too busy, it discouragedexperiments with newer and better weapons. It may be assumed thatSeeckt's view, despite possible modifications, had remained that of theHigh Command. Consequently, no 'war economy' was built up inGermany in 1933, as has been maintained abroad; what happened wasmerely that an economy capable of war was better utilized and to someextent speeded up; for the economy of the modern industrial state is initself the strongest war machine, as soon as it comes into warlike hands,the hands of the armed intellectual.In Germany this was the case, and the German army that was nowbeing built with the help of German industry was the army of Seeckt,not of Rohm; no monster army with which the world could beconquered, but a weapon easy to handle, mobile and sharp enough toprotect Germany effectively against all possible military threats.Germany's situation in the heart of the continent, in itself a weakness forthe defensive on all fronts, became, through the presence of a relativelysmall army, an incomparable strength for the offensive on one front. Ofthe four great armies which had