ABSTRACT
That the Nazis paid particular attention to the strengthening and extension of the welfare state in wartime Germany was due in part to Hitler’s constant fear that the home front might collapse as it had done in 1918. He thus hoped to reconcile the irreconcilable: on the one hand ensuring that the civilian population was not called upon to make excessive sacrifices, and on the other that the economy was mobilised to meet the demands of modern technological warfare. Welfare legislation was therefore designed to compensate for the sacrifices made for the war effort and to ensure that Germany was not once again betrayed by disgruntled civilians. The ‘stab in the back’ of November 1918 was a legend, but it was one which was so firmly believed by Hitler and his followers that it took on the value of objective fact.
