The Wages of Destruction summary

In the early twentieth century, the United States had already established itself as an economic colossus, far surpassing the economic outputs of European powers. By the 1920s, for instance, national income per capita in the US was three times higher than that of the British empire and nearly four times that of Germany. These disparities did not escape the notice of European leaders, particularly Adolf Hitler, who viewed America’s economic prowess as a benchmark. 

Hitler was particularly influenced by America’s history of western expansion, believing that the US had secured its industrial dominance and high living standards through the conquest, displacement, and extermination of Native American populations. Similarly, in Hitler’s eyes, the economic power of the British empire was down to its vast empire and its many colonies. 

Nazi Germany’s focus on rearmament vastly outweighed all concern for civilian welfare. In terms of economic planning, a choice had to be made, to put it simply, between “guns and butter.” 

In this trade-off, guns invariably prevailed. By the mid-1930s, butter – like many other food staples – was already being rationed. That was hardly surprising: millions of workers were being redirected from farms to armament factories in urban centers. The upshot was that German agriculture declined and Germany became even less self-sufficient in food. For the Nazi regime, that made the conquest of Eastern Europe even more compelling. This was just one of the many ways in which the logic of rearmament made war all but inevitable.  

From an economic standpoint, Germany faced daunting challenges in World War II, contending not only with Britain and the Soviet Union but also with the vast resources of the United States and the British Empire. To tackle this, Germany shifted its naval strategy toward intensifying its U-boat campaign, aiming to sever British supply lines across the Atlantic. But the German fleet was too small to effect significant disruption, especially against an enemy armed with the Ultra decoder, which allowed the Allies to preempt German maneuvers.

Economic strain also undermined Germany’s ability to launch an invasion of Britain in 1940. Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, suffered considerable losses in the spring campaign, and there was a dire shortage of trained pilots and effective aircraft. This made their ambitions to dominate the skies over the English Channel unattainable. Compounding these difficulties was the failure to secure the oil-rich Middle East, a key strategic objective that floundered following Britain’s quelling of a German-supported uprising in Iraq.

By 1941, Nazi antisemitism intensified as Hitler became obsessed with Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom he saw as a key supporter of his enemies who was funneling American resources to Britain and the Soviet Union. This obsession coincided with the escalating American involvement following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, prompting Hitler to declare war on the United States in December 1941. Hitler was driven by a conviction of a Jewish conspiracy linking Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt, which fueled his commitment to the extermination of European Jews.

This genocidal campaign presented a contradiction within the Nazi regime, particularly concerning labor resources. At a time when Germany faced severe manpower shortages due to the ongoing war, the decision to exterminate millions of able-bodied Jews was seen as counterintuitive. The concept of “annihilation through labor” emerged as a compromise, attempting to reconcile the extreme views of the SS, who advocated for immediate extermination, with military leaders who saw value in utilizing Jews deemed fit for labor.

As the war progressed into its later stages, Nazi Germany was in a race against time, investing heavily in the development of sophisticated weaponry like jet fighters, submarines, and even the atomic bomb. But Germany simply didn’t have the time it needed to refine these Wunderwaffen or “wonder-weapons”. Most of these innovations were hurriedly developed and failed to significantly impact the course of the war. Take the V-2 rocket, the first ever long-range guided ballistic missile. Even this innovative weapon, which bombarded London, lacked the warhead capacity to have a decisive impact.

What Germany really needed wasn’t new offensive weapons, but adequate defenses against the dual threat of British-American air raids and the relentless advance of the Red Army in the East. Allied bombing wreaked havoc on German military and industrial capacities, particularly in the heavy industrial zones, eroding civilian morale and confidence in Hitler’s leadership. This led to increased domestic repression as Hitler attempted to maintain control during the final, desperate months of the conflict. Conditions within Germany deteriorated sharply as inflation skyrocketed, the black market boomed, and living standards fell dramatically.