1.4 Aspects of Life - Weimar Republic Flashcards
Revision
What did the German Civil Code 1900 enforce?
women could not vote, married women had no legal status, could not qualify for examined professions
What phrase summed up a woman’s role?
Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
What was the situation like for women at the end of WW2?
75% were in work
surplus women as 1.6 million men were killed
When were women given the right to vote?
12 November 1918
What were the parties’ response to women being given the vote?
campaigned to ‘educate’ women to win their vote
What proportion of women voted in the first election?
90%
From 1919-32, how many women were elected to the Reichstag?
112
What did Article 109 of Basic Law mean for women?
equal rights ‘in principle’ eg. in marriage and working
BUT legal status under Civil Code remained
What party supported women’s rights?
SPD
What shifts in women were seen as concerning?
falling birth rate
rising divorce rate
campaign for free contraception
abortions in some circumstances
How did the birth rate fall from 1911 to 1933?
128 to 59 births per 1000 women
How did the divorce rate rise from 1913 to 1932?
27 to 65 per 100,000 marriages
What happened to women’s jobs after the war?
returned to men - 1925 36% of workforce women, similar to 34% pre war
BUT as work was expanding the actual number of women working was rising
Was it acceptable for women to work?
only when they were single
they were not supposed to have a career
should stop when they got married
In office work, what was women’s pay like?
33% less than men
In 1933, how many women were lawyers and doctors?
36 qualified lawyers
almost 5000 doctors
What discrimination did women face in the workforce?
hostility from male colleagues
childcare and the school day meant they struggled to work full time
What were the New Women?
1920s cities - young, educated, unmarried women
wore revealing clothes, short hair, smoked, drank, freedom (sexual) like men
How were the New Women seen?
criticised by politicians and the media as being immoral
glorified in film - blamed for seducing women to this lifestyle
How did life go in reality for the New Women?
faced wage and sexual discrimination
eventually settled down and married
What did the Great Depression mean for women and work?
faced hostility as jobs scarce
women’s employment dropped less as cheaper to employ and worked part time
1932 - unemployment 46% men, 33% women
What was introduced for women in work in response to the Great Depression?
30 May 1932 - married women with working husbands could be dismissed from the civil service
What was the government like regarding education?
could not agree
centre party ensured confessional schools remained
no federal education law - failed 1921, 1925, 1927
What types of schools were there in 1931?
30,000 protestant
15,000 catholic
9,000 common
295 secular
97 jewish
What were a child’s options beyond 10 years old?
school had to be paid for and decided their career
Hauptschule (5 years)
Realschule (6)
Gymnasium (9)
In 1928, what backgrounds did university students come from?
45% parents in civil service
21% parents university educated
2% working class
What proportion of university students were in corporations?
56%
What are some examples of elitist university corporations?
duelling
German-Aryan chambers
What were traditional recreational activities in Germany?
hiking
opera
more recently radio
What was Bauhaus?
art movement
named after 1919 design school ran by Walter Gropius
beauty in technology, simple design, careful craftmanship
What was Neue Sachlichkeit?
art movement
inspired by modern and expressionist movements (pre WW1)
matter of fact representation of life
What was the art elite culture?
artists, intellectuals, writers
valued by wealthy people who subsidised artists
neue sachlichkeit gave existing ideas a darker twist
What was the government-subsidised culture?
theatres, orchestras, museums, libraries
small budget as social welfare took priority
eg. Ufa - government organised film consortium, produced revolutionary science -fiction film Metropolis by Fritz Lang - most expensive film at the time
What was popular culture like?
diverse
US influence - consumer culture, advertising, jazz
cinema - often dark eg. first vampire film Nosferatu 1922
To what extent was there censorship?
free speech part of the constitution
Criminal Code allowed banning ‘obscene’
censorship to protect U16s from pornography
allowed expressionism to flourish
Why did culture concern the right wing?
decadence
Jewish and American influence
How accepted were ethnic minorities?
mostly, but low level discrimination
eg. lower wages, less likely to be hired, elite groups unwelcoming
What were ethnic minorities allowed to do under Article 113?
speak own languages and preserve national identity
run own schools and daily lives
Was Article 113 followed?
not always, Lander made their own laws
What pseudo-science was significantly believed?
eugenics
What proportion of the population was Jewish in 1918?
1%
What proportion of the population was Jewish in 1933?
0.76%
Where did Jews mostly live?
66.8% in cities
led to Berlin nickname ‘Jew Berlin’
How many Jews were in the cabinet?
5
incl. Walther Rathenau (murdered 1922)
What happened to the opinion on Jews after the Great Depression?
faced significant blame
population turned to extreme parties (anti-semitic)
What group was formed to try and fight the exclusion from Jews from German society?
Reich Federation of Jewish Front Soldiers
- 85,000 Jews fought and 12,000 died in WW1
How did the Weimar Republic view Gypsies?
disliked - moved around, didn’t work, didn’t pay taxes, not involved in wider society
What legislation did different Lander adopt regarding Gypsies?
1926 - Bavaria - laws to control movement, send children to school and adults to work
adopted in other states eg. Hesse
1927 - Bavaria - required identity cards
What happened with the Polish after WW1?
border redrawn
500,000 polish and german speakers - often considered themselves German
hostility as the had fought eachother
How many Poles left Germany?
1925-33: 30,000
Why did hostility towards black people rise?
after the 1923 occupation of the Ruhr
- French army had black units from colonies
500 mixed race children were born = ‘Germany’s shame’
adults found general hostility rose after
