The ''Reichsnährstand'' or 'State Food Society', was a government body set up in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to regulate food production.
Foundation
The Reichsnährstand was founded by the Reichsnährstandsgesetz (decree) of 13 September 1933;
it was led by
R. Walther Darré.
Policies and consequences
The Reichsnährstand had legal authority over everyone involved in agricultural production and distribution. It attempted to interfere in the market for agricultural goods, using a complex system of orders, price controls, and prohibitions, through regional marketing associations.
Under the “Hereditary Farm Law of 1933” (''Reichsnährstandsgesetz''), farmers were bound to their land since most agricultural land could not be sold. The law was enacted to protect and preserve Germany's smaller hereditary estates that were no larger than 308 acres. Below that acreage, farmlands could “not be sold, divided, mortgaged or foreclosed on for debt.” Cartel-like marketing boards fixed prices, regulated supplies and oversaw almost every facet in directing agricultural production on farmlands.
Sheri Berman
Sheri is a female given name, from the French for ''beloved'', and may refer to:
* Sheri Anderson, American TV writer
* Sheri Everts, American academic
* Sheri Forde, Canadian reporter
* Sheri Graner Ray, video game specialist
* Sheri L. Dew (b ...
, ''The Primacy of Politics: Social Democracy and the Making of Europe’s Twentieth Century'', Cambridge University Press, 2006, p. 146 Besides deciding what seeds and fertilizers were to be applied to farmlands, the Reichsnährstand secured protection from selling foreign food imports inside Germany, and placed a “moratorium on debt payments.”
As the scope and depth of the National Socialists command economy escalated, food production and rural standard of living declined. By autumn of 1936, Germany began to experience critical shortages of food and consumer goods, despite the spending of billions of Reichsmarks on price subsidies to farmers. Germans were even subjected to rationing of many major consumer goods, including “produce, butter and other consumables.” Besides food shortages, Germany began to encounter a loss of farm laborers, where up to 440,000 farmers had abandoned agriculture between 1933 and 1939.
The Reichsnährstand's argument that Germany "needed" an additional 7-8 million hectares of farmland, and that consolidation of existing farms would displace many existing farmers who would need to work new land, influenced
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
's decision to invade the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
See also
*
Blood and Soil
*
Reich Harvest Thanksgiving Festival
The Reich Harvest Thanksgiving Festival (german: Das Reichserntedankfest, links=no) was a monumental Nazi German celebration of the peasantry and the German farmers. The festivals ran from 1933 to 1937 on the Bückeberg, a hill near the town of ...
External links
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichsnahrstand
Agriculture in Germany
Government of Nazi Germany
Organizations established in 1933
1933 establishments in Germany
Organizations disestablished in 1945
1945 establishments in Germany
Farmers' organizations