Four Year Plan

The Four Year Plan was a series of economic measures initiated by Adolf Hitler, who put Hermann Göring in charge of it. Göring was made a Reich Plenipotentiary whose jurisdiction cut across the responsibilities of various cabinet ministries, including that of the Minister of Economics, the Defense Minister and the Minister of Agriculture. The Plan was part of the alternative governmental structure created by Hitler and the Nazi Party, which included entities such as Organization Todt and the unification of the SS and the German police forces, including the Gestapo, under Heinrich Himmler.

The primary purpose of the Four Year Plan was to provide for the rearmament of Germany, and to prepare the country for self-sufficiency in four years, from 1936–1940. Aside from emphasizing the re-building of the nation's military defenses, in disregard of the restrictions imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles after the German defeat in World War I, the Four Year Plan sought to reduce unemployment; increase synthetic fibre production; undertake public works projects under the direction of Fritz Todt; increase automobile production; initiate numerous building and architectural projects; and further develop the Autobahn system.

Fearful of the reaction by industrialists and financiers over the increasing nationalization of Germany’s economy, Hitler's 1936 “Four-Year Plan Memorandum,” also called for the Reichstag to enact “A law providing the death penalty for economic sabotage.”

Hitler extended to Göring the power to make law simply by publishing decrees, which enabled him to create other plenipotentiaries in overall charge of various industries. Göring constantly expanded the scope of the plan, until he became the de facto master of the German economy, and the Office of the Four Year Plan became, along with his control of the Luftwaffe as an independent armed service, the power base that he had lacked since the weakening of the other government positions he held. Göring held no significant position in the Nazi Party, and his influence before he took on the Four Year Plan has been based primarily on his public popularity as a war hero and his easy access to Hitler. Although the appointment of Göring as head of the plan had short-term benefits to Hitler, in the long term it was a disaster, as Göring knew next to nothing about economics, a factor that Hitler cited as one of the reasons for the choice.

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