German utilization of French factories

[pugsville]

One factor the seriously limited the Germans ability to utilize the French Industrial base was lack of resources, before the war the French economy imported virtually all it's coal and oil, resources Germany was short of, they struggled to fuel their factories, did not have the resources to fuel the french factories. Toozer mentions the french economy was getting 8% of it's pre-war oil. The Germans also pinched most of the french rolling stock. Thus extreme crisis in the french transportation sector. Resources were a bottleneck in the German economy , a lot of the territories German occupied had were short in the same resources, Italy was also critically short of resources. The Nazi-Soviet pact while in operation was a major source of resources, but once Barabarossa started that finished.

[Jon G.]

You are broadly correct regarding the raw material situation - it wasn't very bright for the Germans themselves in the first place, and the addition of conquered western countries to the mix actually exacerbated the problem. However, one thing the Germans did have in abundance was coal (and even more after the conquest of Poland), in fact a good deal of pre-WW2 French coal imports came from the Ruhr.

You are also correct that the Germans took a lot of French rolling stock (and even more Belgian rolling stock if memory serves, measured as a percentage), but I'll bet you that the Germans had no problems finding enough locomotives and wagons to serve their own needs insofar as plundering France went. The raw material/oil/coal/rolling stock drought was felt first and foremost by the French.

[Exlurker]

I picked up Tooze. It appears to be an Epic. I suspect it will take me a month to get through it... <snip>

I haven't been around here for a while...glad to see you picked it up.

Welcome to the reality of the actual situation...welcome to the futility of "Hitler's War".

If your knowledge of economic theory/terminology is weak (as was mine when I first bought "Wages") then some of the early sections will be a "challenge" to understand. Resist the temptation to "skim" through them so you can get to the "good stuff". Understanding the situation that the Nazis inherited (and how they (Schacht) manipulated it), is critical to properly understanding Tooze's thesis.

Cheers, Ron