control of both the gasoline and the synthetic-rubber produc-
tion efforts. His profile as the Reich’s leading political economist
was further enhanced by the specific task that Hitler gave him in
August , to arbitrate between Darré and Schacht and the
competing interests of agriculture and industry. In the spring of
Göring adopted the title of Hitler’s “fuel commissioner,”
and then went all out to become the Reich’s economic overlord.
Ironically, both Blomberg and Schacht gave him the final
boost into this impregnable position. On April , the defense
minister invited Göring to become “inspector general of the
German petroleum economy,” and on the same date Schacht,
anxious to harness Göring’s prestige in the party, asked him to
accept responsibility for the Reich’s foreign-exchange reserves.
The result was a secret decree, which Hitler signed the next day,
appointing Göring “commissioner for foreign exchange and raw
materials.”
In this we can see the embryo of the future monolithic
Reich agency known as the Four-Year Plan. Both Blomberg and
Schacht had ingenuously seen the general as some kind of
buxom, popular figurehead to adorn their own offices. But no
sooner had Hitler signed that secret decree than the figurehead
came alive, clambered on board, and seized the helm. Secret
though the decree might be, Göring had it published and, to
the chagrin of the other ministries concerned, he set up a new
agency called “Prime Minister General Göring’s Raw Materials
and Foreign Currency Unit.” It will be noted that he had subtly
dropped the words “of Prussia” after “Prime Minister.”
There is no doubt that if he had the choice, he would have
elected to be remembered as the executor of Hitler’s Four-Year
Plan. Flattered by American financial interrogator Herbert Du-
bois in , who told him that the plan was regarded as a “very