Information AboutWirtschaftswunder |
|
WEST GERMANY The West German Wirtschaftswunder was partly due to the economic aid provided by the United States and the Marshall Plan and through the Currency Reform of 1948 , which replaced Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark as legal tender. Contrary to popular belief, the Marshall Plan was not the main force behind the Wirtschaftswunder. Had that been the case, other countries such as Great Britain and France (which both received higher Reparations than Germany) should have experienced the same phenomenon. Apart from these factors, hard work and long hours at full capacity among the population and extra labour supplied by thousands of Gastarbeiter ("guest workers") provided a vital base for the economic upturn. From the late 1950s onwards, West Germany had one of the strongest economies in the world, almost as strong as before The Second World War . The East German economy showed strong growth, but not as much as in West Germany, due in part to reparations to the USSR in terms of resources. Ludwig Erhard , who served as the Minister of the Economy in Adenauer 's cabinet from 1949 until 1963 and later became Chancellor , is often associated with the German Wirtschaftswunder. AUSTRIA Austria was also included in the Marshall Plan and can thus be included in any consideration of the Wirtschaftswunder. Through the nationalisation of some industries ( VOEST , AMAG ) and yet more long working hours, full economic capacity was reached. Using West Germany as a guide, the currency was stabilised when the Austrian Schilling was introduced in place of the Reichsmark . This economic policy was known in journalistic circles as the Raab-Kamitz-Kurs , named after Chancellor Julius Raab and his Finance Minister Reinhard Kamitz and aping the German Adenauer-Erhard-Kurs . In the 1960s the first Gastarbeiter from Southern Italy and Greece arrived in the country, as more manual labour was required to maintain the economic upswing. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|