The most serious consequences of the Russian war for the German position have been the
following:
1. Manpower losses, especially within the age group 21-28.
2. The strain on transport, especially the railways.
3. The reduction of petroleum stocks, as a result of the high military consumption rate on the
Eastern front.
 
B. GERMAN ECONOMIC POSITION
 
    Prior to June 1941 the German industrial machine exhibited few signs of strain, having been
bolstered by the stocks and resources acquired in the campaigns of 1940. These minimized the
consequences of the Allied blockade..
    The large scale and prolonged operations in the East, however, have evoked three types of
strain on the German economic system. First, pressure on total manpower and transport resources
has been measurably increased, causing further incursions into the supply of civilian goods and
services and some net decrease in the efficiency of the industrial machine. Second, the
continuance of the war at its present level of intensity has accentuated the problem of
depreciation, with respect to tlm railways, industrial equipment, and durable consumer's goods.
Third, the large demands of the present campaign have exposed and accentuated certain specific
German weaknesses:
    1. The further withdrawal of manpower of military age, from agriculture and industry, has
necessitated the substitution of less efficient over-age workers, women, foreigners, and war
prisoners. In addition to this general dilution of the labor supply, shortages exist for special types
of workers, notably industrial technicians, railway workers, and administrators of all types.
    2. The large foodstuff demands of the Army have accentuated somewhat the underlying
German weaknesses with respect to meats, fats, and oils; although the consequences of that
weakness will be greater in 1942-43 than in the current harvest year.
    3. The necessity for maintaining military production at a maximum level has caused
withdrawals from stockpiles in the following instances: Tin, copper, antimony, and the
steel-hardening alloys taken as a whole.