How to Tank the Economy for War - Death of Democracy 12 - Q4 1935

Nazi Germany in late 1935 was becoming more ruthless, more militarized, and more dangerous. In this episode, Spartacus Olsson reports from Berlin on the final months of 1935, when Hitler’s regime tightened its grip through food shortages, propaganda, rearmament, and the continued implementation of the Nuremberg Laws. As ordinary Germans faced rising prices, scarce meat and butter, and mounting pressure to sacrifice for the Reich, the Nazi state pushed its “guns before butter” economy even further. We examine the “fat gap,” Winter Relief, Eintopfsonntag, and the growing burden placed on German families while resources were diverted to war preparation. At the same time, the First Supplementary Decree to the Reich Citizenship Law gave the regime a bureaucratic definition of who counted as a Jew, accelerating exclusion, dismissal, and persecution. Courts, police, and the Gestapo increasingly enforced the racist order, while Goebbels’ propaganda machine worked to normalize hardship, suppress criticism, and intensify antisemitism. Against the backdrop of Mussolini’s invasion of Abyssinia and the paralysis of the League of Nations, Hitler found new room to maneuver internationally while consolidating dictatorship at home. This episode explores how the Third Reich turned scarcity into discipline, prejudice into law, and national pride into obedience — bringing Germany one step closer to catastrophe. Never Forget. Join the TimeGhost Army and support the project on TimeGhost.tv or Patreon.com Hashtags #NaziGermany #History #WW2 #ThirdReich #Hitler #NurembergLaws #AbyssiniaCrisis #TimeGhost #GermanHistory #HistoryDocumentary Join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TimeGhostHistory Or join the TimeGhost Army directly at: https://timeghost.tv/signup/ Check out our TimeGhost History YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/timeghost Between 2 Wars: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrG5J-K5AYAU1R-HeWSfY2D1jy_sEssNG Follow WW2 Day by Day on Instagram: @ww2_day_by_day Follow TimeGhost History on Instagram: @timeghosthistory Follow our Moderators on Instagram! Spartacus Olsson: https://www.instagram.com/spartacusolsson/ Indiana Neidell: https://www.instagram.com/indy_neidell/ Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimeGhostHistory/ Hosted by: Spartacus Olsson Director: Astrid Deinhard Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson Creative Director: Iryna Dulka Community Management: Anna Deinhard & Tom Aldis Research and writing by: Spartacus Olsson Edited by: Iryna Dulka Artwork by: Spartacus Olsson Sound design by: Marek Kamiński Colorizations by: Daniel Weiss Source literature list: https://bit.ly/SourcesWW2 Archive footage: https://www.screenocean.com Image sources: Library of Congress Yad Vashem Archiv der Stadsstelle Presse- und Oeffentlichkeitarbeit der Stadt Marburg Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound: Deepstar - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen The Only Way Out - Dian Shuai Life Out There - Christian Andersen Estimations - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen Rivers Run Red - Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen Firebreak - Edward Karl Hanson Soft Touch - Edward Karl Hanson The Battle of the Forgotten People - Christian Andersen A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.