Chapter 19: Mobilization of resources:
A major priority for Hitler was the capacity to supply the army as this had failed in the 1918 WW1 offensive in which he took part, and to prevent domestic shortages of resources as he saw as the reason for the break-down of domestic morale and which he had experienced on the home front during recovery from his injuries at Havrincourt. At the same time, he knew the economy was in for a massive expansion, and most of the purchases would be used by the Wehrmacht. Consequently, every available resource had to be mobilized for self-sufficiency.
The iconic investments in transportation was in the Autobahn, the railways and the transportation waterways. With an investment of two Billion Reichsmark in the autobahn, 1½ billion in the railways including a massive expansion of rolling stock and ½ billion in the waterways over the next 4 years, and half as much for the following 3 years, the German landscape was to be transformed*. The massive investments were deliberately used to also cover harbor drenching and shipyard renovations and thus setting the stage for the later naval expansions.
The waterway expansions was crucial for the German industrial expansion which was in turn set to exhaust domestic steel and coal production. Consequently, steel and coal production had to be rapidly expanded and cheap loans were provided for the mining sector. In the next 5 years half a million jobs were created in these sectors**.
This was in excess of expected requirement for the industry, but Hitler ordered maximum expansion as synthetic fuel plants, increased fertilizer production and coal powered steam trucks*** for the agricultural sector would absorb any coal surplus, and any excess steel would be used for ammunition, fortifications, and stored rails for the railways. Excess oil would be stored in massive quantities.
Labor: Despite a booming industry the Third Reich kicked off with 5 million unemployed because of 2.5 million workers had migrated to the city from the agricultural sector. Germany would continue to promote this expansion by subsidizing mechanization and transport and thus allow for a further liberation of 2.5 million hands by the end of the decade. With the task awaiting Germany, Hitler knew it would not be enough, and started the drive to mobilize the largest latent labor source: Women. The Hitler Jugend and Bund deutscher mädel and started to integrate kindergardens in conjunction with these after school organizations. Similarly, the larger plants to serve the German armaments industry was tasked to organize day care and to experiment in integrating women into the work force. With the initially high male unemployment, this would have little quantitative impact before 1935-37 when the available male work force started to dwindle, but it would set the stage for a massive enrolment of women in the work-force. Particular as external threats started to materialize from 1938 and onwards..
Vehichles: A major change was a decision to subsidise steam tractors and trucks which could run on wood or coal*** and penalize purchase of diesel tractors, with all private gasoline vehicles fitted for possible “gasogen conversion”. Later on from 1936 and onwards there would be additional increased taxes on domestic diesel which enabled the Wehrmacht to purchase cheap diesel tractors from the agricultural sector in the tens of thousands.
Rare materials mining: A few oil fields were active in Germany and saw active expansion with the stated objective to produce more, irrespectively of the eventual durability of the fields. The German domestic production of minerals had been supported in the exploratory phase in the preceding 6 years, now resulting in the identification of a massive copper deposit in Lubin in lower Silesia for which massive investments would be forthcoming.
The explorations now also started to include other countries with an emphasis on Poland and Austria. In Austria, oil yielding wells had been discovered by the Geologist Dr. Friedl in 1930 and with lavish investments and exploration, the German owned company Austrian Oil teamed up with Shell to secure expertise and began setting up explorative oil rigs throughout the Vienna basin.
*4 billion Reichsmark for the autobahn IOTL. 6 billion total ITTL, but spread out over a longer period.
**for individuals without tradition for mining, these were not popular jobs and would be taken up by immigrants (and later foreign conscripted labor) as unemployment declined.
Edit: ***The introduction of steam tractors had been facilitated by the purchase of the Doble steam motors Company in 1930 which by then were nearly bankcrupt. These featured closed cycle engines for increased efficiency and practicality.
