ia_2011_d_gadd

=D. Analysis (500-650 words) Tips]=

RJT General Point - you're really thin on sources here. As well as the links I recommended on the "discussion" tab on the front page of your wiki, here's some of my classroom notes I developed when I used to teach this topic back in the UK - make full use of them!

The two main debates between historians when it comes the the Nazi economic miracle is whether or not it actually was a miracle. On one side, there are the historians who think that the recovery of the German economy wasn't a miracle, and it was in fact down to Hitler, his men and the different plans that he used in order to get it back to the state that he needed it in so that he could rearm the country. However, there are plenty of historians who believe that the economic recovery was actually a miracle, and it didn't actually have anything to do with the plans Hitler put in place or the ideas he had. One main example of this disagreement is an dispute between Richard J. Overy and Timothy Mason. Mason believed that a "flight into war" had been pushed onto Hitler [1], and not planned. On the other hand, Overy believes that the recovery, and the war (which followed) was completely planned, and nothing was left down to chance.

EVIDENCE OF A MIRACLE - Although there were Hitler's plans to improve the economy, these alone would not have allowed such a major increase and improvement in the quality of the economy. It could be said that the miracle was in fact what made the recovery so quick, yet to such a high quality. Without the miracle, it would have been impossible for the economy to improve as it did.

RJT Note - Focus here on the NEW PLAN of Schacht, and find some evidence of its success (e.g. autobahns, work creation schemes, whatever). At the moment this "paragraph" is obviously insufficient! you don't use any facts, statistics, quotes of examples to "prove" there was a miracle whatsoever! You must expand this using (a) Evidence you mentioned in Section B and C; (b) Comments about whether those sources are reliable, or not, and why....

RESERVATIONS AND WEAKNESSES - One major weakness against the idea of the miracle is the plans that Hitler used to try and recover the economy. The Four-Year plan and the New plan were both very important to the recovery of the economy. One of the many things that the New Plan aimed to do was "reduce Germany's dependance" on the raw materials that came from "far-flung parts of the globe." [2] The Four-Year plan focused a lot on the rearmament of the country, and getting them ready for war. "We are already at the threshold of mobilization and we are already at war. All that is lacking is the actual shooting."[3] is a quote by Georing, as he speaks about his plans for Germany. Without these two plans it is debatable that the Nazi economy wouldn't have gotten anywhere.

RJT Note - Focus here on the FOUR YEAR PLAN of Goering. This section is currently not a reservation / weakness as such. You need to stress that the Four Year Plan tied the German economy to a war-footing - in other words the "miracle" was only achieved by massive state borrowing, which was used to build armaments, which could only be turned to a profit if the country then went to war to gain fresh resources, and then the cycle would start again - which is completely unsustainable....

One major strength for the sources I have used in section B is that there is a lot of information in these books. I was able to find information quickly and easily about the New Plan and the Four-Year Plan. The books and internet sites that were used were reliable, and have been checked thoroughly in order to make them reliable and to make sure there there is no important information missing. One limitation to these sources however, is that there is barely any information on the idea of the miracle. Although there is a belief that there was actually a miracle, the majority of people and historian's believe it was in fact down to the plans that were put in place. The lack of information on the miracle, and people's opinions on it makes it more difficult for me to construct my research on it. This paragraph is not making much of a point. If you use some specific sources then you can comment on them more. As it is, all you're saying is "they weren't very detailed or much use" which is effectively saying that your IA isn't much use either....and obviously you really don't want to be saying that!!!

[1] [] [2] Richard J. Evans (2006). The Third Reich in Power, 1933-1939. London: Penguin Press (ISBN: 1594200742), Page 355 [3] Mein Kampf, Page 34 []

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