Question

Who among the following was assigned the responsibility of economic recovery by Hitler?
A) Goebbels
B) Hindenburg
C) Hjalmar Schacht
D) Adam smith
E) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was a German politician born in Austria who served as the country's dictator from 1933 to 1945. He rose to prominence as the Nazi Party's leader, becoming Chancellor in 1933 and subsequently Führer und Reichskanzler in 1934. He began World War II in Europe by invading Poland on September 1, 1939, during his reign from 1933 to 1945.

Complete answer:
Hjalmar Schacht was a German economist, banker, and centrist politician who helped found the German Democratic Party in 1918. During the Weimar Republic, he was the Currency Commissioner and President of the Reichsbank. He was an outspoken opponent of his country's post-WWII reparations responsibilities. In the summer of 1944, he was apprehended by the Gestapo.

Hitler entrusted economic recovery to Hjalmar Schacht, an economist who sought full production and full employment through a government-funded work-creation programme. This concept gave birth to the famed German autobahns and the Volkswagen, the people's automobile.

While Schacht was lauded for his part in Germany's "economic miracle," he opposed Hitler's rearmament policy insofar as it violated the Treaty of Versailles and, in his opinion, destroyed the German economy. In this aspect, Schacht's beliefs brought him into conflict with Hitler. In January 1939, he was fired as President of the Reichsbank. He remained a minister without responsibility with the same salary until January 1943, when he was entirely ousted from the government.

Hjalmar Schacht was assigned the responsibility of economic recovery by Hitler. Thus the correct answer is option ‘C’.

Note: Schacht argued that, despite the limits imposed by Germany's treaty responsibilities, the German government would have to begin a massive deindustrialization and rearmament during a period when there was no clear worldwide agreement among the Great Powers.