Taking the province of Niederdonau as an example, this pioneer study highlights everyday fields-of-force between National Socialism and agrarian society in which rural actors competed for resources among themselves and with official functionaries. The megaproject of ?volkish productivism? ? the creation of an efficient peasantry in ?racial? and economic terms ? got stuck with regard to technical development. However, with regard to institutional development, there emerged a pathway towards an alternative modernity beyond Liberalism and Communism.