Chief of the Military Economy Staff in the Wehrmacht Office Berlin W 35 Tirpitzufer 72-76
Telephones Local )
Long Distance) Switchboard No. 218191
SPEECH BY MAJOR GENERAL THOMAS BEFORE THE WEHRMACHT WAR COLLEGE DELIVERED ON 1 NOVEMBER 1937
Introduction to Military Economy, with Consideration of the Present Economic Situation of the Reich
When, two years ago, the Wehrmacht War College was founded, a great number of lecture hours in the curriculum were to my satisfaction assigned to Military Economy. It has become a tradition that the Chief of the Military Economy Staff, at the beginning of these lectures, which are for the greater part given by professional experts, delivers an introductory speech, in which is taken up also the subject of the military economic situation as it presents itself to us in Germany today. I therefore would like to divide my speech, this year also, into two parts. In the first part, I will attempt to explain to you briefly the theory of military economy, while, in the second part, I will take up the practical tasks of military economy and, in particular, the situation in Germany.
What we understand by military economy I need not explain to you today any more in detail, for in various newspapers and magazines the meaning of military economy, as we want to have it interpreted, has been thoroughly discussed. I should like to point out only that by military economy we understand no system Of economy, also no doctrine of economy, but that by military economy we want to have understood the conversion of the entire economic thinking and acting in accordance with the idea of national defense.
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Major Beutler, who, until recently, worked in my office, has written on Military Economy in the German Volkswirt [political Economist] Periodical No. 42. In this article, he has thoroughly discussed the concept of military economy. He has expressed the fact that there exist three viewpoints on the concept of military economy. The first interpretation understands by military economy the preparation and carrying out of the defense of the nation in the domain of peace-time economy. The second opinion sees in military economy simply a new form of controlling the economy and demands that political economy and military economy become the same.
The third view, which I follow, is of the opinion that military economy is a task and a task with regard to war at that; it is the task, in war, of placing all economic forces at the service of the conduct of the war. The economy, therefore, is the intellectual principle of the influence of national defense on economy. Just as strategy puts the military forces into operation, so military economy directs the economic forces. Therefore, political economy and military economy can never be considered the same. These few words may suffice to explain the concept of military economy.
The connections, which exist between the military forces of a country and its economy have really, up to now, been sought only in the material sphere and I must state that they are just as strong in the realm of the ideal especially the principles of military economy, which have been established by us have attached great importance to the clarification of ideal connections.
Those gentlemen who, before 1933, worked in the mobilization, will know how difficult it was, at that time, to find understanding for the defense of the country even in the Reich and State Ministries. It was still more difficult in economy, for economy, as such, found all measures for the defense of the country to be a burden from the economic viewpoint and the idea of military forces was, in most cases, just as remote to the employer as it was to the employee. The economy, as a whole, was just adapted to purely economic conditions and not to military ones and the task then was to reshape the inner attitude of the leaders of the economy and their personnel, because we believed that a military economy could be operated only by military persons. And here we may state, that it was two ponderables which helped us in the mental conversion, namely the World War and the national revolution. In evaluating the experiences of the World War and demonstrating them to the economy, we increased our under-
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standing of our work and we proved that the economic preparation for mobilization is for the benefit of the economy itself and the prerequisite for a modern national defense. The national revolution brought about the intellectual conversion of the entire people which was the prerequisite for a military economic arrangement of the economy. The economy today realizes that it can be successful in the long run only if it is protected by a sharp sword. And, on the other hand, the military authorities today know that an army has no striking power unless it is backed up by a powerful economy.
For the conversion of the economy to military economy organization measures were necessary. The reorganization of the entire economy, especially the establishing of the Reich Groups Industry, Trade and Handicraft have made the economy ready for national defense and armed it with striking power. Furthermore, the establishment of the Reich Food Estate must be interpreted along these lines. The appointment of labor trustees and the creation of the Management and Labor Communities [Betriebsgemeinschaften] must be viewed as a considerable strengthening of the national defense, because social peace forms the basis for our reconstruction. Let us remember how harmful strikes and other social struggles have been for our supply efforts during wartime and how different the course of the last months of the war could have been if social peace had been maintained at home. The Labor Front with its organization "Strength Through Joy" might also have favorable effects in that respect, provided, that the "Strength Through Joy" movement is directed along the line of: Joy through vigorous work and joy from work through health of body and soul. Thus, there is a great number of organizational measures which have been carried out in the Third Reich and which are accomplishing outstanding results for the binding of the economy and the military power in an ideal relationship and which give us the foundation for a real military-economic preparation for war.
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If you consider that one will need during the war considerable means in order to organize the necessary propaganda, in order to pay for the espionage service, and for similar purposes, then one should be clear that our internal Mark would be of no use therefor, and that foreign exchange will be needed.
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