Nazi foreign trade policy and Australia, 1933-39

The present paper explores the extraordinary interest in trade with Australia evinced by the Nazi regime in Germany. The presumed orientation of Berlin was then towards the expansion of international trade, to become 'domestic' after the outbreak of the Second World War, with eastern and southeastern Europe. Yet a considerable effort was expended up the development of commercial ties with distant Australia. The effort expended upon the Antipode in part met the desires of German individuals and businesses with an interest in the area. It was no doubt intended as a contribution towards focusing the attention of Whitehall upon the British Empire, to leave the Nazi regime with a 'free hand in Europe'. The effort also, however, lends support to the notion that the ultimate objective of that regime was a global hegemony.