1. NatioNal
SocialiSm aNd the
peaSaNtS
Nazi policy towards
peasants and agriculture
aimed to reverse the drift
of the population from the
countryside to the cities, to
relieve the farmers of the
burden of debts they had
incurred and to establish a
harmonious and
prosperous
Volksgemeinschaft in the
countryside

2. peaSaNtS
• Why did the Nazis view the peasants as special? Racially pure
group who had retained their traditional attachment to the German soil –
free from the moral decline of the Weimar years. They’d be the nucleus of
the Volksgemeinschaft
• What were the aims and policies of Richard Darre, Nazi
Agriculture Minister? 1). Restore the role and values of the countryside,
so reversing the drive towards urbanisation by promoting the concept of
‘Blood and Soil’ 2). Support expansionist policy of Lebensraum and to
create a German racial aristocracy based on selective breeding
• What was the Reich Food Estate? The vehicle to ensure the
‘coordination’ of peasants into the Volksgemeinschaft . Very bureaucratic –
aim was that producers, wholesalers and retailers of agricultural products
would be linked in a single chain, under the direction of his organisation.
This would eliminate profiteering by ‘middle men’ and ensure a fair deal for
farmers

3. peasants
• What was the Entailed Farm Law? All farms between 7.5
– 125 hectares were declared hereditary estates which were
entailed (subject to legal limitation which prevents future heirs
selling or dividing the property) and therefore could not be sold
or closed due to indebtedness on the part of the farmer. Also,
only ‘Aryan German citizens’ could own farms
• How effective were Nazi policies towards the
peasants – successes/failures? Who benefitted/lost
out? Summarise your findings to the last 2 questions on a
balance sheet

4. How effective?
• Many policies highly unpopular and resulted in
growing hostility towards the regime
• Economic realities meant that in practice the impact of
Nazi agricultural policy was rather mixed. When
military and economic interests of the Nazi regime
clashed with its social objectives, the former took
priority
• Darre increasingly fell out with the Nazi leadership –
his idealistic vision of a rural utopia was at odds with
the economic demands of war production and in 1942
he was forced to resign by Hitler

5. Landowners, the
mitteLstand and big
business
• Using p.58-59 Layton, make notes on:
1. Landowners
2. The Mittelstand
3. Big business
• Did they benefit or lose out under the Third Reich?

6. source work
• What evidence do sources 12.31 and 12.32 provide of
how the regime viewed peasants?
• Referring to the provenance and content of sources
12.30, 12.31 and 12.33, assess their value as sources of
evidence on the effects of Nazi economic policies on
the Mittelstand
• ‘For all its rhetoric favouring the petty bourgeoisie, the
Nazi regime betrayed its greatest original supporters.’
How far would you agree with this statement in light of
these sources?

7. Source work
• What evidence do sources 12.31 and 12.32 provide of
how the regime viewed peasants?
• Referring to the provenance and content of sources
12.30, 12.31 and 12.33, assess their value as sources of
evidence on the effects of Nazi economic policies on
the Mittelstand
• ‘For all its rhetoric favouring the petty bourgeoisie, the
Nazi regime betrayed its greatest original supporters.’
How far would you agree with this statement in light of
these sources?