decars1-5, Exercise 1: "Hitler built the Autobahn"

Model answer (check the details):

Two-sentence answer: "The idea of a motorway network, a planning association (HAFRABA) and a first crossing-free road (Cologne to Bonn, 1932) all existed before 1933, so the Nazis did not invent the Autobahn. After 1933 the government provided state funds, compulsion and a large propaganda effort, and the network grew on a scale not seen before, so the programme as built was theirs."

Why this is balanced: it credits the earlier planners and the 1932 road, and it credits the later regime with the money, the scale and the propaganda, without implying that the regime's claims about jobs or military value were true (Exercise 2 and Chapter 5).

Avoid: "Hitler invented it" and "the Nazis had nothing to do with it". Both are claims that the evidence does not support.