 Rationing was introduced for German consumers in 1939.However, while Britain immediately put their economy on a war footing as soon as the conflict began, Germany resisted equivalent measures until later in the war.For instance, the Nazis were reluctant to increase taxes on individual German citizens to pay for the war, so the top personal income tax rate in 1941 was 13.7% in Germany, as opposed to 23.7% in Great Britain.