German trade with Neutral countries

Discussions on the economic history of the nations taking part in WW2, from the recovery after the depression until the economy at war.
Post Reply
Damper
Member
Posts: 63
Joined: 22 Dec 2009, 14:18

German trade with Neutral countries

#1

Post by Damper » 08 Jan 2012, 20:00

Did Germany make the most out of opportunities for trade with Neutral countries during the war? Or did the Autarky it tried to develop prior to the war hold it back?

I know they had a difficult relationship with neutral countries when it came to sourcing raw materials but I'm particularly interested in manufactured goods that they might have sourced abroad.

User avatar
LWD
Member
Posts: 8618
Joined: 21 Sep 2005, 22:46
Location: Michigan

Re: German trade with Neutral countries

#2

Post by LWD » 08 Jan 2012, 20:31

They had a problem with lack of foreign exchange dating from before the war. I doubt it would have helped them much to trade a great deal in manufactured goods. They did import a few things such as Swedish ball bearings.


User avatar
phylo_roadking
Member
Posts: 17488
Joined: 01 May 2006, 00:31
Location: Belfast

Re: German trade with Neutral countries

#3

Post by phylo_roadking » 08 Jan 2012, 21:30

By the end of 1940 there weren't that many Neutral countries left within practical reach :lol: During WWI, Denmark and Holland had been HUGE exporters of agricultural produce, meat animals (both on the hoof and as carcasses) and animal fooder to the Kaiser's Germany. They were also through-exporters of material from the rest of the world...until the Quota System took hold on this trade. Metal ores and rare metals were imported from Norway and Sweden, ditto until the Quota System took hold...

During WWII...

There are others on here who can produce figures better for Turkey and Spain and Portugal and Sweden...but they were getting chromium and other metals from Turkey, wolfram/tungsten from Portuguese sources via Spain - until the Allies managed to force these nations not to supply, after some years of them simply buying up as much as they could to stop the Germans getting it on the open markets there (there's a thead on AHF on this trade). And of course - after the voerland route was cut through 1944 - no more from either country at all.

Sweden was supplying iron ore (and coal?), industrial forgings etc, and components and major assemblies from Landsverk...at sliding scales of duty and exchange rates that miraculously mirrored how Germany did in the war; when it was in the ascendant, the Swedes traded cheaply...when they weren't doing well at all from 1943-on, trade with them became more expensive :wink: While the Swedes thought they were at some risk of Germany invading or otherwise bringing the war to them they played ball, but understandably got a lot more hardnosed when the threat waned.

The example I know most about is Switzerland; the Swiss adopted a specific policy of "Disuassion" - trade as much as you can with t'buggers...but ALSO let them see that you're prepared to defend yourself to the death - and thus t'said buggers get to KNOW what they'll loose if they invade and the country is laid waste. They got armaments, munitions, optics, light industrial castings and forgings, even aircraft from Dornier AG....and a HUGE amount of agricultural produce from Switzerland. The Swiss actually sufered very badly from rationing during the war because of this trade, given that Switzerland always was and has been since a net importer of foodstuffs. On top of this - due to the exigencies of the Swiss keeping half their field army in uniform on a rolling basis after 1941 - agricultural output had plummeted anyway; at the end of the war, Swiss agricultural production was only 30% of what it had been at the start.
Twenty years ago we had Johnny Cash, Bob Hope and Steve Jobs. Now we have no Cash, no Hope and no Jobs....
Lord, please keep Kevin Bacon alive...

Jon G.
Member
Posts: 6647
Joined: 17 Feb 2004, 02:12
Location: Europe

Re: German trade with Neutral countries

#4

Post by Jon G. » 09 Jan 2012, 05:26

Coal *from* Sweden would be surprising. Usually, the flow went in the other direction, for the one commodity which the Germans had in abundance was coal, whereas most European countries had a coal deficit.
Damper wrote:Did Germany make the most out of opportunities for trade with Neutral countries during the war? Or did the Autarky it tried to develop prior to the war hold it back?
Question: do you consider occupied countries (or maybe just some of them) neutral? If you don't, I think you already got a fair list of what was traded and with whom, plus perhaps chrome and bauxite from Yugoslavia early war, and of course (!!) also oil from Romania + various raw materials from the Soviet Union, while that lasted.
I know they had a difficult relationship with neutral countries when it came to sourcing raw materials but I'm particularly interested in manufactured goods that they might have sourced abroad.
I think the flow in general was raw materials imports in return for various manufactured goods, plus coal, exported, but there were some exceptions, such as the ball bearings from Sweden which phylo mentioned.

The foreign currency problem mentioned above was addressed by instigating a barter trade system. Not by paying eg. coal for eg. ball bearings, but rather by buying (for example) 100,000 RM worth of Swedish goods, and then entitling the Swedes to buy 100,000 RM worth of German goods and services via a so-called 'clearing account'; a system which offers plenty of scope for manipulation - for example by fiddling with exchange rates - and which also, more or less, forces its participants into a more state-planned economy than you would otherwise see in open economies.

User avatar
Ironmachine
Member
Posts: 5821
Joined: 07 Jul 2005, 11:50
Location: Spain

Re: German trade with Neutral countries

#5

Post by Ironmachine » 09 Jan 2012, 09:24

With respect to Spain, between 1941 and 1944 about 30-40% of Spanish exports went to Germany, mainly foodstuff, minerals and other raw materials. Exports of manufactured goods (mainly iron/steel and wool fabrics) were much less significant, which is not surprising given the situation of Spanish industry at that time. In fact, during World War II Germany remained the main supplier of industrial goods for Spain, just as during the SCW, but now the trade balance recorded a substantial surplus for Spain.

steverodgers801
Member
Posts: 1147
Joined: 13 Aug 2011, 19:02

Re: German trade with Neutral countries

#6

Post by steverodgers801 » 23 Feb 2012, 01:47

The allies began buying up materials on the open market and restricted sales to Sweden to what it needed for its own use. Im not as familiar with Spain, but I believe Spain was pressured in a similar way. Turkey openly traded with Germany until late 44 and then turned to the allied side.

Post Reply

Return to “Economy”