In a long war, priority also had to be given to sustaining exports, so as to be able to maintain imports of crucial raw materials from Germany’s remaining trading partners. High priority had also to be given to agriculture, because without food, the home front would collapse, as it had done in Russia in 1917 and in Germany in 1918. This might look like a strategy that favoured the civilian economy. But this was deceptive. It was a strategy motivated first and foremost by the long-term sustainability of the war effort. Nobody in 1939 expected Germany to be able to last as long
