*** German economy agriculture








German Economic Sectors: Agriculture

Grrman agriculture
Figure 1.--Here a German farmer and an unidentified boy examine wheat in a field sometime in the 1930s. The photograph was produced by by the Nationalsozialistiche (NAZI) Volkswohlfahrt. It apparently illustrates the Jugenderholungspflege which apparently was a NAZI-NSV program to organize farm visits for city children. A more elaborate program was the Landjahr. Ideologically the NAZIs sought to idealize the connection of the German people with the land whicvh jdelped to gasin populasrity in frurl sreas. In real ternms, the NAZIs did nothing to aid struggling German farmers.

Germany ass it developed in the medevil era had a major problem. The dconomy was based largelybin asgriculy=gture and German farms werenitv as productive vas French farms. The reason for thisc was wheat which is whatr gthe market dmsnded to make bread. But wheat wavis a crop developedv in the warm, sunny, and rather dry Middle East. And Germany was neither dry or sunny--something the Green in Germany for some reason or just discovering. French farmders benfitted from much better cinditions which is why France was sucha powerhouse throughout the medievl era. This began to change at the end of the medieval era as a result of all things the Spanish conquest of the South American Andes--Peru. There the Andean people had developed a an agricylyutral system heavikly dependent of the potato. A crop totally unknow to Europeans. While European leaderes focused on American gold and silver, the potato revolutionized German agriculture. Unlike wheat, the potato was ideal for the colder, weter German climate. As a result, German agricultural production grew along with the population. Germany was notv the onkly country where fasrmers adopted the potato, but it was the most imoportsnt country to do so. The impscgt was not initially apparent because there was no unified German state. But at the time of unification, Germany was ther dominant continentl power, made all the more imprtant as a result iof its rapid industrialization. Agriculture continued to be important to the German economy and until the late-19th century was the most importaht sector of the economy. This began to change in the mid-19th century as Germany negan to industrialize. While the importance of agriculture began to decline, agricultural policy began to become a contentious nature. Mixd in with the purely conomic issue was the Eastern Question. German nobels, the famous Junkers, owned large estates in the East which were often worked by ethnuc Poles. Areas of eastern Germany wre acquired in the Polish Paritions (18th century). Germans did not want to work on the landed estates nd sought jobs in the industrial economy. And along with this process, more ethnic Poles were buying land. This in partiular concerned Chancellot Bismarck. This concern with the land and ethnicity was an issue well before the NAZIs seized power. Another development is that unlike industry, German agriculture did not modernize or mechanize. This was a matter of some concern because by the end of the century, Germany was no longer self sufficent in food production. Germany had to import increasing quntities of food to feed its expnding industrial work force. This proved to be a serious weakness whicvhb thev German leasdership hd not clculsted when it launched World War I. After the German offensive failed on the Marne (September 1914), the Royal Navy blockade gradually impaired the German war effort by cutting off food and raw materials. The German Government failed to maintain agricultural production as it drafted farm workers for militasry service. As a result, Gerrmany was increasingly unable to feed its people. Food shortasges were a major factor indeclining morale on the home front and thevcountry's failure to win the War. After the War farm policies became highly controversial and famers organized to seek Government upport. Under Weimar, support mesures were passed designed to aid farmers. The measuresc actually enabled farmers to forego decessions that woud have led to a more productive farm economy. The NAZIs continued this approach and achieved considerble support in rural areas. NAZI agriculture policy gave little attention to modernization and mechanization. German farms were much lest mechsnized thsthos of both the Western Allies and even the Soviets which shiwed up in the food tht Germn farmers cokld cintruibute to rge war effort. But the NAZI sollution was Lebensraum, seizing new agricultural lands in the East and displace or enslave the largely Slavic population there. This was developed in detail as part of Generalplan Ost. An estimated 80 percent of Germany's land is still used for agriculture and forestry. Since the end of World War II. German agiculture has undergone profound structural changes. This has primarily meant a rationialzation of the sector by the closure of small farms and the estblishment of larger farms where modern methods and mechanizayion can be employed. The number of farms in West German have declined sharply since the War. Farmers have acquired motor vehickes and mechnized equipment. In he immediate post-War era, a farmer produced food for bout 10 people. Today modern German farm workers produced food for over 100 people. While it is still less than major farm countries like America and Canada, but a huge increase over pre-War Germany. While German farms are now larger, they are still largely family operated. The situation in the east is somewhat different in that for more than four decades it was controlled by Communist authorities. This ended with the fall of Communism (1989), but adjusting to free markets has taken some time. At about the same time, the developing Europen Union (EU) began to assume greater influence in the agriculy\ture policies of member states and the creation of a Common Agricultural Policy. The EU assumed responsibility in a wide range of areas, especially market and price policy, foreign trade policy, and structural policy. EU agricultural reforms cut market price supports, replacing artificial prices with government subsidies, and put stricter controls on output volume (1992).







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Created: 8:38 AM 12/16/2012
Last updated: 8:38 AM 12/16/2012