The Exploitation of Yugoslav Industry by the Third Reich during World War II

Abstract

The national resources of the country directed Yugoslavia towards the development of a strong industry, which would, undoubtedly, be an important factor in the development of the economy, rising her from her apathetic state and backwardness, as well as helping the rise of the standard of living of wide social layers. The development of a strong industry was dictated, too, by a justly conceived interest of the community in totality. It is a fact that developed agrarian countries, the underdeveloped by all means, are, as a rule forced — due to low productivity in agriculture — to give in the exchange of goods with industrial countries more concentrated work in produce for less work in industrial products. Yugoslavia, for instance, with low productivity in agriculture, had to export the result of work of 10 - 15 workers, in order to buy the result of work of one single worker of an industrialized country, coming from an industrially developed country. In spite of these facts which pointed in favour of the development of a strong industry, the manufacturing policy of pre-War Yugoslavia did not trend towards the direction of a sophisticated and solid base on which industry could develop normally and evenly. Instead, there occurred an anarchic development, according to the opinion of certain domestic and foreign capitalists, in relations to the profit forseen.