[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime”.)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Winston S. Churchill, The Gathering Storm

[beebuster2000]

did you check out the german menu? the nazis never did solve the food problem in germany either before or during the war. hard to believe that food was a major issue for the germans from the 1920’s forward.

[beebuster2000]

the food issue is interesting as it highlights the major failing of the Nazi’s to have the German economy run smoothly. for the following i am quoting from “the third Reich in power” by Richard Evans. It's the second in a three part series that is by far the best books on the subject i have read.

the Nazi’s announced a policy of “autarky” which means self sufficiency. they did this for all stuffs, but especially for food which was a huge issue upon their coming to power. to achieve this end they did the usual: merging farms, subsidizing clearing and planting, providing fertilizer, providing cheap loans to farmers, etc.
manpower remained the key issue. the Nazis drafted city workers onto the land, but they were never effective. combined with sending “foreign” workers home, rising industrial and military employment all meant that “autarky” was never achieved. agricultural employment actually dropped by 1.3 mm from 1933-1939 and the difference was not made up by rising productivity.

Germany entered WWII woefully dependent on imports for basic food stuffs:

-30% of fodder for horses (in 1939 still the major transport of the army) was imported
-15% of all food had to be imported, especially grains
-butter and fat severely rationed
-in 1939 coffee and apples rationed
-the 1939 Apple crop went largely unpicked due to labor shortage
-shortages of wheat and rye led the government to outlaw baking bread unless it was a mix of inferior grains
-illegal to buy milk from farmer, all milk had to be sold thru government markets
-in the ruhr, meat was available only once a week

and this was at the beginning of the war. the food issue only intensified.

Hitler had told his generals and his ministers they would have until 1945 to get ready for war, then the French and Brits surprised him, and he went to war way unprepared.

[GeronL]

Love the German menu

substitute coffee, roll, some kind of fat..... for breakfast

lol

[tcrlaf]

October 14, 1939
3 US Freighters detained:

US freighter SS Nashaba is detained at Le Havre by French authorities
In Gibraltar, the US freighter SS Exporter is detained by the British
US freighter SS Scanstates is detained at Kirkwall, Orkneys, by British authorities