“Gleichschaltung” of the Economy and Banking

Other Gleichschaltung measures were also taken in the business and banking sector in 1934. In July, Hjalmar Schacht, the President of the Reichsbank, was simultaneously placed in charge of the Reich Ministry of Economics. In September, he presented a “New Plan” to control the economy by regulating currency exchange and foreign trade. In December, the major banks were placed under his control as well. Free choice of a job had already been restricted in August by a decree on the allocation of labor.

Businesses and banks nonetheless collaborated even without government regulation and pressure and frequently concurred with the Nazi regime’s interests (e.g. “Aryanization").