174 J.-A. PEMBERTON
had given rise to Schacht’s ‘own desperate recommendation’ in 1936 ‘to
slow the pace of rearmament.’^303 In their efforts to have the pace of rear-
mament slowed Schacht and his like-minded colleagues were defeated,
the public mark of this defeat being the announcement in September
1936 at the Nuremberg rally of the Four-Year Plan, the control of which
lay in the hands of Hermann Göring. Baranowski notes that this plan
instituted the centralization of production and the distribution of raw
materials, the allocation of labor and the imposition of price and foreign
exchange controls. The plan also aimed at stimulating the production of
synthetic fuels and rubber to eliminate Germany’s dependence on imports.
Consumers would suffer more than ever for the program racheted up the
pace of rearmament to the point where the Four Year Plan would claim in
excess of 20 per cent of the national income. As Germany’s enlarged living
space, east-central and Eastern Europe would settle its raw material, labor,
and food needs permanently.^304In his speech in Paris, which was attended by five members of the
French cabinet, after having declared his support for an improvement in
Franco-German relations, Schacht, unsurprisingly, took the opportunity
to reiterate Germany’s demand for colonies. In this regard he stated:
With the exception of Switzerland, which enjoys an international guaran-
tee, Germany is the only nation in the world which does not possess, either
at home or abroad, a source of foodstuffs sufficient to feed her population.
This is a grotesque situation for any nation, especially a great nation, and
those who seek to keep up this state of things will never be able to elimi-
nate the risks that it causes. Those who contribute to its removal will guar-
antee the peace of Europe and of the world for generations.^305Schacht declared that Germany’s colonial claim had often been ‘mis-
understood’ because this ‘fundamental element of German life was unap-
preciated.’^306 Certainly, the economic case for colonies as presented by
(^303) Baranowski, Nazi Empire, 201, 215–16. See also Fiss, ‘In Hitler’s Salon: The German
Pavilion at the 1937 Paris Exposition International,’ 318, 325.
(^304) Baranowski, Nazi Empire, 215.
(^305) ‘German Colonies Claim: German Demand Revived: Dr. Schacht’s Speech,’ Sydney
Morning Herald, May 28, 1937.
(^306) Ibid.