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The large-scale steel war in World War I pushed the national strength contest among big countries to the extreme. While Germany painstakingly rearmed itself to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles, the idea of "total war" gradually took shape. Ludendorff, German Deputy Chief of Staff, published Total War in 1935, which summarized the economic theory of war originated from World War I and emphasized that war needs to transform the country in all aspects of political, economic and social life. It is necessary to mobilize all people's forces, including spirit and economy, to participate in the war, and do not hesitate to take any means to destroy the enemy and civilians. At the same time, in view of Germany's national conditions, it is necessary to expand the self-sufficiency of war resources, reserve strategic raw materials in advance and ensure overseas sources. These thoughts are undoubtedly an important reference for the later Nazi war practice.

Hitler was not an orthodox successor to the undercurrent of German militarism after World War I, but was born in the economic crisis. In 1920, the "twenty-five-point program" put forward as the Nazi Party's program during the "Beer Hall Riot" in Munich, this little guy lashed out at capitalism, trusts, big industrialists and big landlords with national revenge and catering to the middle and small bourgeoisie as the core, and advocated "banning unearned gains, banning and confiscating all illegal gains from war, sharing big industrial profits, and nationalizing big department stores." Subsequently, the Nazi party constantly advocated to win over small and medium-sized enterprises, craftsmen, small and medium-sized farmers and the lower classes with policies such as ordering goods, solving employment and prohibiting land speculation. Hitler's theory is, "National socialism is to safeguard private property. It is nationalism that individuals sacrifice for society; Society serves individuals, which is socialism. The combination of these two points is national socialism. "

Hitler had no intention of competing with Britain and France for overseas colonies, but established the expansion order of "Central Europe-Continental Europe-Global". Therefore, the first thing that makes him angry is the current situation in Europe. In Mein Kampf, he proposed: "The national socialist movement must strive to eliminate the imbalance between the population of China and the area of China, and regard the latter not only as the source of food, but also as the basis of power politics." "Territorial policy cannot be realized in Cameroon, and today it can only be realized almost completely in Europe. To gain territory in Europe, we can only sacrifice Russia. The new empire must ... use the German sword to obtain the land plowed by Germany and the daily bread of the German people. " "We should look to the land of the East, which exists for those who have the ability to occupy it."

1933 On February 3rd, Hitler, who had just been in office for five days, said in his speech to senior generals: "The only survival in Germany may be immigration, but the living space of the German people is too small ... Therefore, the first task is to establish and rely on national defense forces."

The premise of rearmament is that the economy turns to the track of war. 1933 In July, the Nazis ordered all industrial organizations to set up syndicates to control the domestic market and prices. The German Economic Association, established on the same day, requires all private enterprises to join one of the six major groups of industry, commerce, energy, banking, insurance and handicrafts, and divides the whole country into 18 economic provinces. 1934, the Nazis stipulated that the Ministry of Economic Affairs had the right to establish, dissolve or merge all industrial organizations, and sent leaders to enterprises to implement the "leader principle" in the economic sector.

In the process of military expansion, the German central finance can only afford 2/3 of the military expenditure. For this reason, the Nazis confiscated the property of "national enemies" (6 billion to 8 billion marks were obtained only by depriving Jews of their capital), and they also used all financial means: controlling Deutsche Bank, Dresden Bank and commercial banks, and the government had the right to dispose of large-scale public capital such as pension funds and social insurance funds in all public capital storage centers in an emergency; Cut welfare expenditure; Issue treasury bills, special bills of exchange and tax stamps.

In the income of the German government from September 1933 to September/939, domestic taxes and tariffs accounted for 81800 million Deutsche Mark, metallurgical research institute credit 105 million Deutsche Mark, tax bill 3 1 00 million Deutsche Mark, plus short-term credit of 6.9 billion Deutsche Mark and long-term credit. During the war between1September 1939 and1May 1945, the total German military expenditure reached 622 billion marks, accounting for 92% of the national budget in the same period. The total tax revenue is182.7 billion marks, and the national budget deficit is 34% on average every year. 1in the spring of 945, the total national debt reached 379.3 billion marks. Although the government is heavily in debt, it can still obtain all the materials through expropriation at the expense of the near collapse of the monetary system at the end of the war. However, the Nazis did not rely on high tax rates because it could give the public an illusion of stability. 194 1 year, the income tax rate of 1 million marks is 13.7%.

Another source of income for Germany is the policy of "cannon instead of butter". "Skilled workers enter arsenals, while unskilled people build highways", the prosperity of military industry and related industries solved the serious unemployment problem in Germany, and the overall purchasing power of society increased, which became one of the achievements advertised by the Third Reich. Of course, the Nazi's primary goal was not to improve life, and food production was controlled by the state. The reason why the Germans are willing to accept the peasant-style simple living advocated by the Nazis is largely due to the comparison with the Great Depression and the expectation of the bright future of the powerful empire outlined by the Nazis.

From 1932 to 1938, German pig iron output increased from 3.9 million tons to18.6 million tons, and steel output increased from 5.6 million tons to 23.2 million tons. At the beginning of 1934, the German Defence Working Committee approved the plan to mobilize 240,000 factories to supply war orders. From 1933 to 1936, more than 300 arsenals were built in Germany, including 55 aircraft factories, 40 automobile and tank factories, 70 chemical plants, 15 shipyards and 80 artillery factories. By the eve of 1939' s invasion of Poland, Germany's industrial output value had surpassed that of Britain, second only to the United States and the Soviet Union.

Drawing lessons from the instability of the rear area caused by the serious shortage of grain during World War I, Germany achieved self-sufficiency in grain by 1938, and its grain reserve soared from 3.08 million tons in the previous year to 91300,000 tons, enough for the whole country to eat for more than two years. Oil reserves also increased from1300,000 tons to 470,000 tons, and potato reserves reached15.46 million tons.

However, expanding the army to prepare for war cannot really solve the crisis. On the contrary, 1939 Germany's exports declined and its finances deteriorated. Foreign exchange and gold reserves are only 500 million marks, while national debt is as high as 60 billion marks. Hitler said in1October 5 1937+065438: "For Germany, economic distress has also become a driving force. Stimulating the world economy through weapons production must not be the basis of long-term economic arrangements ... For us, the only remedy worth dreaming may be to strive for greater living space. " War is not only a temptation, but also a necessity.

On July 3, 940, 1,1,when the Germans began to prepare for the invasion of the Soviet Union, it was estimated that they needed 120 divisions. On August 2nd, keitel, Chief of General Staff, asked the Bureau of Wartime Economy and Armament to draw up an armament plan of 180 Army Division. By February of 194 1 year, German arms production increased by nearly 60% in half a year, including ammunition 100% and tanks/25%. The country and occupied areas produced 365,438+800,000 tons of steel, 4.8 million tons of oil and 439 million tons of coal, and 4,876 factories produced arms for Germany. In the same year, Germany obtained 810.2 million tons of fuel, which basically met the needs of the military. Together with the 8.8 million tons of oil reserves of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and other countries, the war can last for seven months.

Before the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, Germany had controlled 2.47 million square kilometers of land, three times its own territory and a population of 270 million. Its European allies also have a territory of 800,000 square kilometers and a population of 78 million. In terms of manpower, although there are 310.5 million men aged 20-39 in the Soviet Union, and only10.5 million men of the same age in Germany, Germany can make use of the army of the servant country and the industrial labor force replaced by foreign workers and prisoners of war.

Soviet Union's War Preparation

The preparation of the Soviet Union can be traced back to 1926 industrialization. As the only successful socialist country in the chaotic revolution of World War I, the peaceful construction of the Soviet Union has a strong color of preparing for war.

The first five-year plan, which began at 1928, marked the full industrialization of the Soviet Union. 193 1 year, 1/3 of the world's total export of machinery and equipment was purchased by the Soviet Union, and reached 50% in the following year, and the proportion of industry in the total output value also rose to 70.7% in this year. The second five-year plan from 1933 has built 4,500 industrial enterprises, and the total industrial output value has increased by 1.2 times, ranking first in Europe and second in the world. Before the war 13 years, the accumulated defense expenditure of the Soviet Union was 170 100 billion rubles, only slightly lower than the total industrial investment18.5 billion rubles.

The industrial layout of the Soviet Union also fully considered the strategic depth. The first five-year plan established new industrial bases in Ukraine, Caucasus, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the second five-year plan invested half of the heavy industry in the east, and the third five-year plan focused on the Volga River basin, Urals and Siberia.

1927, Stalin asserted in his speech: "There is almost no doubt that the new imperialist war is the basic problem at present." The Soviet Union will face "a long and cruel competition, in which all the economic and political foundations of the warring parties will be tested". In 1933, he also said that the enemy "can take advantage of our technical and economic weaknesses and attack us at any time". One month before the war, Stalin clearly pointed out in his speech at the graduation ceremony of the Red Army commanding students: "Germany will be the enemy."

The Soviet combat readiness, especially the planned mechanized equipment, is unprecedented in human history and has reached the point of being divorced from reality. The number of Soviet troops increased from 855,000 in 1933 to 1943 at the beginning of 1939, and then increased to more than 5 million in June of 194 1 year. The Army plans to increase from 98 divisions to 303 divisions. 194 1 in March, the general staff of the Soviet Union drew up a plan to transform industry into wartime production, but the equipment production was seriously lagging behind. The adaptation requires that the tank force be expanded to 6 1 tank division and 3 1 motorized infantry division. Each division should be equipped with 375 and 275 tanks respectively, accounting for more than 365,438+0,400. Only more than 7,000 tanks were acquired before the war, of which only 26% were new tanks. The reorganization requires that 25 aviation divisions and 106 aviation corps be built within one year, half of which are equipped with new aircraft. But by the summer of 194 1, the production capacity of the Soviet aviation industry was about 50% higher than that of Germany, and the total output, especially the output of new models, was far behind the needs. Until the German invasion, only the 19 regiment was reorganized. At the beginning of the year, five airborne troops were seriously short of technical weapons, and the new air defense system has not really been built. As a result, a month after the war broke out, the original plan of the Soviet army was forced to be greatly reduced. The aviation division has been reduced from 4-6 regiments to 2 regiments, and the number of aircraft in each regiment has been reduced from 6/kloc-0 to 22-32. The infantry establishment was reduced by 25%, the artillery was reduced by 52%, the cars were reduced by 64%, and all the mechanized troops being explored were cancelled.

1in March, 940, the barely won Sufen War exposed the weakness and chaos of the Soviet Union after the purge. A large number of officers promoted after the "counter-revolution" lacked training and combat experience, which led to a decline in the training level of many troops. The youngest soldier in the German combat troops enlisted in the autumn of 1940, and was sent to the reserve corps in the spring of 194 1. Soviet soldiers were enriched to the front as soon as they joined the army. Before the war, more than two-thirds of the soldiers in the border military region served in the first year, and half of them joined the army that year.

In the words of a British historian, the Soviet army on the eve of the war was a powerful machine, but it was not assembled yet. This is why Hitler was eager to start work, and Stalin tried his best to avoid going to war at 194 1.

The strength of both sides after the Soviet-German war

"Kick open the old door panels and the whole house will collapse."

-Hitler's prediction of the war of aggression against the Soviet Union

It is precisely because a total war needs to mobilize the strength of the whole people that ludendorff, who is well aware of German national strength, particularly emphasized the importance of a quick decision in a total war: "We must devote ourselves to the' last soldier and single soldier' without scruple from the beginning. Ignore many known and possible threats and listen to the arrangements of war. "

Hitler also knew the strength of the Soviet Union. Two months before the war, the German Air Force delegation visited several Soviet aviation bearing, alloy and engine factories. In their report to Goering, they admitted that the Soviet aircraft manufacturing industry was the largest and most advanced in Europe.

There is only less than a year left from the decision to invade the Soviet Union to the spring of 194 1. Overestimated his Hitler and the German high command, betting on a quick victory, thinking that the war of invading the Soviet Union only took five months, and it was unnecessary and impossible to completely change clothes and mobilize, just continuing to implement the "four-year plan" and "wide armament" (that is, the military industry spread widely, but the scale was not very large)

Hitler's bigger bet is that "if he wins, it may force Britain to make peace", and at the same time, "Japan's power in the Far East will increase greatly after the elimination of Russia", and the whole world will "hold its breath" because of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

1941When the war broke out on June 22nd, the Soviet Union suffered heavy losses in all aspects. In September of that year, 6.5438+0.5 million square kilometers of land was lost, and about 75 million people fell behind enemy lines. In one year, the Soviet army lost 8.04 million people, including 2.5 million dead, 4.34 million captured and 6.5438+200,000 disabled. Half a year after the war, the total industrial output value dropped to 48% before the war, and the production of key weapons materials such as ferrous/non-ferrous metal plates and bearings once stopped. By 1942, the output of coal, pig iron and steel decreased from1660,000 tons,150,000 tons and180,000 tons to 75 million tons, 5 million tons and 4.8 million tons respectively.

However, the Soviet Union's rear mobilization mechanism soon began to operate. Two hours after the war broke out, the Supreme Soviet issued a "state of war" order, which stipulated measures such as citizens' labor obligations, requisition of transportation, and quantitative supply of daily necessities. On the 26th, an order on "Working Hours System for Wartime Workers" was issued. On June 30th, the Soviet Union established the National Defense Commission as the highest authority in wartime. In July, the National Defense Industry General People's Committee was reorganized into four special people's committees for aviation, shipbuilding, ordnance and ammunition, and a special people's committee for tank manufacturing was separated from the people's committee for medium-sized machinery manufacturing. In June 5438 +065438+10, the People's Committee of General Machine Manufacturing was transformed into the People's Committee of Rocket Equipment, which was responsible for the production of rockets and mortars.

The eastward movement of industry is an important measure of Soviet wartime mobilization. The evacuation committee established on June 24th began to arrange the relocation plan of 1 1 aviation factory on June 29th, and moved the equipment and a large amount of materials of 2,593 industrial enterprises from the west in the second half of June. 1942 In May, enterprises in Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic Sea were basically transferred. In the second stage, enterprises in southern areas such as Stalingrad and North Caucasus were evacuated. In the whole process of moving eastward, the railway transported 6.5438+0.5 million wagons of industrial equipment and 6.5438+0.5 million workers, among which trans-siberian railway, which was built after the Russo-Japanese War and perfected in industrialization, played an important role. Many enterprises that have moved in have started to operate in their new locations in less than two months on average, and some even started to work in the middle or in the open air.

In the third quarter national economic mobilization plan of 194 1, the Soviet Union rapidly increased the production of coal, oil and metals, and adjusted the distribution of raw materials, electricity and equipment in the military industry. By the second half of 194 1, the output of tanks increased by 1.8 times compared with the first half, aircraft increased by 60%, and artillery increased by 3 times, which was passed in August. 194 1 ~ 1945, 440,000 guns,136,000 aircraft, 65,438+/kloc-0,000 tanks and self-propelled guns were produced in the Urals alone.

Rise and fall of strength

"We used to estimate that the enemy had about 200 divisions, but now we find that there are 360 titles ... If we destroy more than a dozen divisions, the Russians will invest more than a dozen. Time ... is good for them. They are close to their own resources, while we are moving away from our own resources step by step. "

-1941August, the diary of Hald, the German Chief of Staff.

Half a year after the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, the Germans were blocked at the gates of Moscow, with nearly 750,000 casualties and 2,750 tanks lost. By the end of March, 1942, the number of casualties had increased to more than1000000, accounting for13 of the total strength of the Eastern Front, among which there were at least 15000 officers, with a large number. 194 1 400,000 "reserve troops" will be deployed in August, and the front line still needs132,000 people. Before the spring of 1942, the Germans did not hesitate to deploy workers, rear personnel and troops on the western front to supplement more than 40 divisions on the eastern front, but by July of that year, the troops were still only 2.847 million. At the beginning of the summer offensive, only eight divisions were fully prepared for the attack, and the main force was only half of the troops. By the end of the year, although the number of troops in the German vassal countries had increased to 72.5 divisions, bringing the total strength to 266 divisions with 6.2 million troops, it was still lower than the Soviet army's 6.5938+0 million troops. Moreover, the Soviet army never had the pressure to fight on two fronts. 1942+065438+ 10 Only 47 of the 390 divisions were deployed in the Far East, while 7/kloc-0 of the 264 divisions in Germany had to be stationed in Western Europe, Southern Europe and North Africa.

Due to the arms policy of years of consumption and quick success, poor organization and management, and the constraints of labor and raw materials, Germany's war economy has not reached the expected level, ammunition production has been greatly reduced, artillery and anti-tank weapons are insufficient, infantry firepower has been weakened, the air force lacks long-range weapons for strategic bombing, and the gap between naval equipment is even greater.

The Soviet Union is also under great pressure. First of all, food supply is extremely difficult, and secondly, there is a shortage of labor. To this end, the Supreme Soviet adopted the rationing system, adopted the Decree on Mobilizing Urban Residents with Working Ability to Participate in Production and Construction in wartime, and established the Labor Registration and Distribution Committee. By the summer of 1942, the Soviet Union had completed the transition of the national economic war, 1200 factories moved eastward and 850 new factories were put into production. The proportion of industrial output value in the eastern region rose from 28.4% in 1940 to 70%, and the military output in the eastern region alone reached the national level before the war, and the output of major military products surpassed that of Germany. 1944, the annual output of Soviet aircraft reached 40,300, tanks 28,983 and artillery122,500, all several times that of Germany.

Dusk of the Third Reich

At the beginning of 1942, Hitler had to admit that Blitzkrieg failed to defeat the Soviet Union. At the same time, the occupied area of Germany began to shrink, the available strategic resources reached the limit, the succession of "fighting to support wars" was weak, and the shortage of raw materials and human resources in heavy industry was serious, so the national economy had to be mobilized, and the "war economy" really began.

1942 In February, speer was appointed as Minister of Armament and Quartermaster (1943 was reorganized into the Ministry of Armament and Wartime Production in September), which started the great reorganization of German industry. While centralizing power, speer also encourages the autonomy, agency and joint venture of private enterprises. These measures overcame all kinds of struggles and arbitrariness in the management of the German army and standardized the mass production system. Krupp's large arsenal and Silesia's small family factory with only a dozen people can cooperate, which is of special significance for maintaining production in the case of increasing allied bombing. On the other hand, Germany stepped up its plunder. 1942 obtained 2.008 billion marks from vassal States, and 1943 transported 4.23 billion marks from occupied countries in western Europe.

It should be said that during this period, the German arms industry showed amazing adaptability and viability, and kept growing at 1944. The output of weapons reached its peak in July, which was 5.3 times higher than that of 1939. In this year, the number of aircraft factories increased from 80 in 1943 to 550. In the first half of the year, the aircraft output increased by 19.4%, and the annual aircraft output was 39,870, including 305 1 1 frame, which were 3.4 times and 6.6 times of1frame respectively.

However, this result is also the abnormal development of the war economy. 1943, 4/5 of German products were military materials, and the production of agriculture and animal husbandry continued to decline. After 1943 briefly reached its peak, industrial production began to decline, and important basic industries such as steel, coal and electricity stagnated. By the first half of 1944, except electricity, steel and aluminum,

1944 In April, the Soviet Union broke the pre-war border, and in June, the Allied forces landed in Western Europe, and Germany, which was attacked on two fronts, was further in trouble, and the war soon entered Germany. The war economic strength of the two countries is rapidly tilting. 1944, the ratio of arms production of the Soviet Union, the United States and Britain to that of Germany was 9: 2. Take the air force as an example. 1943 in the second half of the year, Germany produced 1 1395 combat aircraft and repaired 5 144. In the first half of the year, it was 15299 and 549 1 respectively, but the actual number of aircraft decreased compared with 65968+0 due to battlefield losses. The escalating strategic bombing of the Allied Forces took submarine factory, aircraft factory, ball bearing factory, oil refinery, synthetic rubber factory and automobile factory as the six most important targets in turn. Speer later admitted: "Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were used to rescue the losses caused by air strikes." After a relatively quiet night, Goebbels wrote: "It's ridiculous. Only ten noisy bombers are enough to drive150,000 to180,000 Germans out of bed. " Before the war, the average daily food ration in Germany was about 3,000 calories, which was reduced to 2,500 calories and 2,200 calories in 1.942 and 1.944 respectively. By March 1945, on the eve of the Berlin campaign, the average monthly output of German steel was only 15% of that of 1944, coal was 16%, and the average monthly output of tanks also dropped from 705 to 333. At this point, Germany can no longer talk about wartime economic problems.

Enlightenment from the Soviet-German War

During the entire Soviet-German war, the Soviet army did not have any particularly brilliant strategies, tactics and adventures. The decisive factors are their huge human and material resources, as big as polar bears, and their super will and patience. In the first few months of the war, the Germans captured 3.6 million Soviet troops. To their great surprise, they thought that there were not many reserve forces in the Soviet Union. Popok, commander-in-chief of the exhausted Central Army Group at the gates of Moscow, said: "Whoever puts in the last battalion at this time will win!" Unexpectedly, the Soviet high command mobilized the reserves of nine group armies. Shortly after the war, Hitler was also deeply shocked by the strength of the Soviet Union. He once said to guderian, "If I had known your book, go ahead!" The number of Soviet tanks listed is true, maybe this war will not start! "During the Nuremberg trial, Nazi Foreign Minister von ribbentrop listed" the unexpected strength of the Red Army "as one of the three major factors of German failure.

Germany can't stand not only the equal consumption of combat forces, but also the unequal consumption. Soviet troops lost more than 300,000 people on the Eastern Front more than once, but they mobilized more troops. The Germans were unable to attack on all fronts in Moscow, and the battle of Stalingrad was passive. If the estimation of the mobilization potential of the Soviet Union is limited by the absolute secrecy of Soviet military construction, then Hitler and German generals think that the people of the Soviet Union will soon collapse, which can only be said to be racist arrogance and ignorance of the national conditions of the Soviet Union.

When talking about the cost of industrialization, Stalin once said: "If Germany is a country that has established the dictatorship of the proletariat, then the industrialization of the Soviet Union can certainly start with light industry." Dzerzhinsky, who is famous for the strict cheka work law in economic management, also has a famous saying: "What can Russia be like as a worker and a farmer? It can only be metal. " Thus, the heavy lessons and great victories of the Soviet-German war became specimens, "the inevitability of imperialist war" became truth, and industrialization, agricultural collectivization and "the layout of military productive forces" became red bibles.

The two different technical philosophies embodied by the Soviet Union and Germany in weapons and equipment also have an important impact on wartime production. Soviet designers have always adhered to the simplest truth-weapons must be simple and reliable, easy to mass production, training and maintenance, in order to meet the needs of war. Weapons production must pay attention to the highest total operational efficiency produced by unit input, rather than simply pursuing performance, which is the reason for the number advantage of Soviet tanks and aircraft. Of course, Germany has also invested in the thickness of armor and the number of artillery powers. In order to compete with T-34 medium tanks and KB- 1 heavy tanks, more and more heavy tanks such as Leopard, Tiger and Tiger King have been developed. However, the national strength is not as good as the reality of the Soviet Union, and the idea of winning by quality has always run through the development of German armaments. There are even "advanced" designs such as 188 ton "rat" super heavy tank. Nazi racism drove away a large number of scientists, but the new weapons produced or about to come out in Germany at the end of World War II still stunned future generations. The rudiments of jet planes, guided bombs, air defense missiles, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles all originated in Germany, and there are a lot of incredible schemes, all related to that crazy party leader. Although these weapons are generally not used against the Soviet Union, in contrast, the Soviet Union basically did not pursue relatively new weapons in the war.