EH.N: CfP: Workshop on the Short- and Long-term Economic Effects of German Exploitation in Occupied Countries during World War II

[scherner at ghi-dc.org]

Workshop: The Short- and Long-term Economic Effects of German 
Exploitation in Occupied Countries during World War II


In spite of the importance of World War II for German and European 
history, some important economic questions have still not been fully 
answered. For instance, we do not know the extent of the exploitation of 
occupied Europe – and hence the contribution of Europe to Nazi Germany’s 
war effort – in real numbers. There also is only fragmentary information 
on how Germany used the financial levies it imposed on occupied 
countries. And, above all, we do not know exactly what short- and 
long-term economic effects the German occupation had on different countries.

The planned workshop will consider the economic consequences of German 
occupation policies from a variety of perspectives. First, we want to 
compare the immediate economic effects of German occupation during the 
war. While German policies surely had many negative effects upon the 
occupied nations, we want to consider also possible short-term economic 
benefits, for example reductions in unemployment.

Secondly, the long-term effects of the occupation will be examined. 
After the war, for example, how did occupied countries handle the 
inflation of their currencies caused by German occupation policies? What 
welfare losses can be attributed to this inflation? What economic and 
social problems did formerly occupied countries experience in 
reintegrating onetime forced laborers upon their return home from Germany?

The long-term economic effects of German occupation might not all have 
been negative, however. For example, many infrastructure projects were 
carried out during the German occupation. Did these new roads, railways 
or bridges contribute toward the economic integration of the formerly 
occupied countries? We know that during World War II German and foreign 
industrial companies often cooperated in production for German purposes. 
It seems that the quantities of goods produced for the Germans were 
larger than previously assumed. Germany’s import structure changed 
dramatically during the war: Germany became primarily an importer of 
manufactured goods. The structure of wartime imports, in other words, 
was more similar to that of West Germany in the 1950s than to the Weimar 
Republic’s. This raises the question whether West German and foreign 
companies in Western Europe re-activated contacts and networks 
established during the war, especially given the often high continuity 
in firms’ personnel from the war years into the 1950s. And these 
networks in turn could have fostered the economic integration of West 
Europe from the 1950s on. The more or less forced cooperation between 
German and foreign companies during the war seems at least in some cases 
to have been accompanied by knowledge transfer from Germany to firms in 
occupied countries. Did foreign firms benefit from this knowledge and 
technology after the war? The Germans implemented or at least spurred 
institutional reforms in some occupied countries in order to exploit 
them more efficiently – such as reforms of the tax system to contain the 
inflationary tendencies generated by the huge German excess demand. In 
the case of these reforms the question is whether some of these reforms 
“survived” the German occupation, and if so, why was that the case?
The organizer, who will present his research on the impact exploitation 
of occupied Europe had on the German war economy, is especially 
interested in proposals from scholars working on the countries that were 
occupied by the Germans.

The workshop will take place between June 18 and June 20, 2009, at the 
German Historical Institute (GHI), Washington DC. The GHI will cover 
expenses for travel and accommodation. Deadline for submissions is 
February 1, 2009. If you have any questions, please contact me 
(scherner at ghi-dc.org).