6- Social and Cultural Developments in Germany, 1924-28

Question 1

What conflict did the W Rep witness in terms of socio-cultural developments?

Answer 1

Conflict between those who challenged traditional values in the name of ‘modernity’ & those who resisted the changes in an attempt to preserve social stability and order.

Question 2

What were some of the social welfare reforms introduced between 1924-27?

Answer 2

• System which provided help for the poor modernised
• Accident insurance system to help those injured at work extended to cover those with occupational diseases
• Unemployment insurance system introduced to provide benefits for unemployed

Question 3

Summary chapter 6

Answer 3

• Cultural innovation divided Germans in the Weimar era, just as they were divided bu class, religion and politics
• Spread of cinema and radio brought new cultural influences to the wider population
• Fear from the right that cultural change brought in unwelcome foreign influences such as jazz music and Hollywood films.
• Modern culture regarded by conservatives as immoral, decadent and un-German
• Freedom by Weimar Republic welcomed by some and feared by others. Allowed for experimentation in the arts and opportunity for women and young people to break through many of the barriers that had constrained them in the past- but provoked a fierce conservative reaction.

Question 4

Why did the social welfare reforms of 1924-27 not deliver as much as much as was promised?

Answer 4

Welfare system was very expensive- 1926, supporting hundreds of thousands of disabled war veterans, was widows, and war orphans. To this, the cost of unemployment benefits was added in 1927.

It also needed an expensive civil service to administer it.

As a result, means tests were tightened so that less qualified for support, and there were more delays in paying benefits.

Question 5

What did the failures of the welfare system cause?

Answer 5

Those in need for support felt humiliated by the welfare system, undermining their support for the republic.

Question 6

What were living standards like in the years 1924-28?

Answer 6

Living standards of many improved.

IMPROVED FOR:

• Those represented by powerful trade unions.
• Business owners and their employees benefitted from improved trading position.
• Those dependant on welfare benefits, although not well off, were prevented from falling into absolute poverty by the welfare system.

NOT IMPROVED FOR:

• Those who had lost their savings during the 1923 hyperinflation unable to regain comfortable lifestyles.
• Farmers suffered poor trading conditions, and wages fell.

Question 7

What was the position of women during the Golden Age?

Answer 7

There was much talk in Germany about the ‘new woman’, who symbolised a change in women’s lifestyle since the end of the war.

She was portrayed as free, independent, sexually liberated and more visible in public life.

Question 8

Compare the idea of the ‘new woman’ with the reality in relation to employment.

Answer 8

MYTH OF THE NEW WOMAN:

• The constitution gave women greater equality in employment rights
• By 1925, 36% German workforce were women
• By 1933, there were 100,000 women teachers and 6,000 doctors.

REALITY:

• ‘demobilisation’ laws after the war required women to leave their jobs so that ex-soldiers could find employment.
• women were often required to quit when they got married
• women were paid much less than men doing equivalent work
• married women were blamed for male unemployment, attacked as ‘double-earners’

Question 9

Compare the idea of the ‘new woman’ with the reality in relation to sexual freedom.

Answer 9

MYTH OF THE NEW WOMAN:

• Birth control more widely available and birth rate declined
• Divorce rates increased
• Rise in abortions- by 1930 there was an estimated 1 million abortions a year.

REALITY:

• Abortion was a criminal offence- in 1930, there were approx. 10-12,000 deaths from abortions.
• Decline in birth rate attacked by conservative press and politicians, claiming it threatened the health of the nation.
• Catholic and Protestant churches very opposed to birth control, divorce and abortion.

Question 10

Compare the idea of the ‘new woman’ with the reality in relation to politics and public life.

Answer 10

MYTH OF THE NEW WOMAN:

• Women gained equal voting rights and the right to be Reichstag deputies.
• In 1919, the German Reichstag had 41 deputies, a higher proportion than the HoC.
• Women were very active in local gov.

REALITY:

• No female representatives in Reichsrat
• Women didn’t become cabinet members during the Weimar Rep.
• No political party had a female leader.
• Only the KPD made gender equality a key element of its programme but it was the least appealing party to the female electorate.
• None of the parties that appealed the most to women voters supported feminist issues.

Question 11

Give an example of a female politician during the WR

Answer 11

Marianne Weber, who joined the DDP in 1919.

Question 12

What changes did the WR give women? What were their scope?

Answer 12

WR had given women:

• Equality with men in voting rights
• Equality with men in access to education
• Equal opportunities in civil service and the right to equal pay.

But why?

• These changes coincided with a major change in the gender balance population after the war: +2 million men killed, so there were less opportunities for women to follow the path of marriage and children to economic security.
• War had also brought + women into paid employment to replace the men who had fought.

IN ADDITION, although the constitution gave women new legal and civil rights, the CIVIL CODE OF 1896 remained in force.
- The code laid down, among other things, that in marriage, the husband had the right to decide all aspects concerning family life, including whether the wife should undertake paid employment.

Question 13

What is a Gymnasium school?

Answer 13

Selective school with authoritarian teaching methods and a strict curriculum. Children would then take an entrance exam to uni.

Question 14

What was the position of the youth during the Golden Age?

Answer 14

Widespread concern that young people were breaking free from the constraints of family, school and religion, and turning to a life of crime and anti-social behaviour.

Question 15

Why did many young people turn to anti-social behaviour/activities?

Answer 15

These children, mostly from working-class families who didn’t attend the Gymnasium schools, were expected to start an apprenticeship or employment at 14.

PROBLEM: During Weimar years, less apprenticeships were available and + youth unemployment.

 - In 1925-26, 17% of unemployed were in the 14-21 age group.
 - This was due to a baby boom between 1900 and 1910, so many young people were seeking employment when people were reducing their workforces. 

SOLUTION BY WR:

 - Benefits system provided some help
 - Day centres were established to help them acquire skills needed for work.

OUTCOME:

- None of WR schemes compensated for the lack of unemployment opportunities.
 - Many young people joined gangs to find the comradeship and mutual support that they lacked.

Question 16

What were gangs also called?

Answer 16

Youth cliques, each group had their own uniform and flag and had a name that projected an image of aggressive masculinity and anti-social attitudes.

Question 17

How was the education system divided in WR?

Answer 17

Along class lines, as the maj of those in Gymnasiums came from middle and upper classes.

Along religious lines, as Protestant and Catholic churches had a great influence on religious education.

Question 18

What was the main educational reform of the WR?

Answer 18

Aim: an education system that provided a non-sectarian education free to all pupils.

Introduction of elementary schools, which all children would attend for the 1st years of education.
- Those who then didn’t pass the entrance exam for the Gymnasium would continue in the elementary school for 4 years.

Only partially successful bc churches still exerted great influence on the state education system.

Question 19

What were the 3 main youth groups?

Answer 19

Wandervogel
- ‘wandering birds’
-

Question 20

What were the 3 main youth groups?

Answer 20

Wandervogel

• ‘wandering birds’
• Opposed industrialisation and preferred wild spaces
• although non-political, they were highly nationalistic

Church youth groups

• Catholic church had many different groups
• Protestant church had fewer members.

Political youth groups

• SPD Youth movement had the most members of any political youth group in the Weimar period.
• Hitler Youth of the Nazi Party reached a membership of only 13,000 in 1929.

Question 21

What was the position of Jews during the Golden Age?

Answer 21

80% Jews in Germany (400,000) lived in cities and were well educated.

Many felt more German than Jewish and were very patriotic.

Many believed in assimilation: keeping their ethnic and cultural identity but becoming fully integrated and accepted in mainstream German society.

German Jews represented only 1% of the total population, but they achieved a degree of influence out of all proportion to their numbers:

 - They achieved prominence in politics and the press, business and banking, in the universities and in almost all aspects of Weimar culture.
 - They had great influence in the publishing of books and newspapers, and Jewish producers and directors dominated theatre and cinema.

Question 22

What was Jewish influence on politics and the press?

Answer 22

Jewish publishing firms had a powerful influence in the media, with Jewish-run newspapers such as the Berliner Tageblatt promoting liberal views.

German Jews were already well established in the world of politics before 1914:
- Theodor Wolff, editor of this newspaper, was the driving force
behind the DDP.

Question 23

What was Jewish influence on industry, commerce, and professions?

Answer 23

German Jews achieved considerable wealth and influence in industry and commerce, although the extent of their influence was massively exaggerated by anti-Jewish propaganda.

 - Jewish families such as the Rothschilds owned about 50% of private banks.
 - They owned half the firms involved in cloth trade.
 - They were immensely successful in their professions, especially law and medicine, making up 16% of lawyers and 11% of doctors. 
 - They also had a significant impact on the academic life of Germany: of the 38 Nobel Prizes awarded to people working in Germany  up to 1938, 9 were awarded to Jews.

Question 24

Did Jews want to assimilate? If so, what limited the integration of Jews into German society?

Answer 24

The maj of Jews wanted to assimilate. In language, dress, and lifestyle, thousands of Jews acted like other Germans.

The chief factor limiting the degree of Jewish assimilation was the reluctance of many Germans to stop identifying Jews as different.

 - During 1918-24, there was a backlash against the perceived threat of Jewish Bolshevism (Spartacus rising)
 - Anti-Semitism was a part of violent nationalism behind right-wing movements (Freikorps/NSDAP)
 - Also a surge of hostility against Jewish financiers at the time of hyperinflation crisis in 1923.

Question 25

What was the degree of anti-Semitism during the Golden Age?

Answer 25

Opposition was not as fierce as during the first years of the Republic, probably due to econ recovery and political stability.

There was still opposition to perceived Jewish influence, as can be seen by the Barmat Scandal of 1925:

 - Provided ammunition for anti-Semitic attacks.
 - 2 Jewish businessmen, who were convicted of bribing public officials and were sentenced to jail.

Question 26

What is Jewish Bolshevism?

Answer 26

Anti-Semite term to imply Jews and communists were closely associated and represented a danger to German values.

Question 27

How did culture and the arts develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 27

The new political/social freedom of this era gave rise to experimentation and innovation in the arts.

However, as with all other changes, not all Germans welcomed the new developments.

Question 28

How did Berlin nightclubs develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 28

• Berlin nightclubs became renowned for their cabarets in which nudity featured strongly.
• Gay men, lesbians and transvestites who before 1918 were forced to hide their sexuality, now felt free to display it openly.
• American jazz music became popular
• Many comedians performing at these clubs attacked politicians
• Many traditionally minded Germans hated the influence of the US on German cultural life and attacked the WR for relaxing censorship.
• According to them, German society was becoming morally degenerate.

Question 29

How did art develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 29

• Predominant movement was Expressionism, associated with artist like Kandinsky and George Grosz.
• They believed their works should express meaning and emotion rather than physical reality, so their style was abstract and full of colour.

Question 30

How did music develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 30

• Expressionism influenced classical composers, such as Schoenberg.
• He was associated with atonal music, which lacks a key and sounds harsh and lacking in harmony to traditionalists.

Question 31

How did literature develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 31

• Expressionism also influenced literature.

- Writers focused on a character’s internal mental state rather than on the external social reality.

Question 32

How did architecture develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 32

• The founding of Bauhaus by William Gropius in 1919 was a key event in the development of modernist art in Germany.
• An architectural school, it encouraged innovation by the incorporation of new materials such as steel, concrete and glass into their designs.

Question 33

How did theatre develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 33

• Many German dramatists incorporated expressionist ideas into their productions.
• Plays relied on abstraction and symbolism to convey their message.
• Much of theatre in Weimar Germany was political, attacking capitalism, nationalism and war
• Bertolt Brecht developed a new form of music theatre, especially a left-wing satirical play that treated respectable middle classes as villains, while making heroes out of criminals and prostitutes.

Question 34

How did film develop during the Golden Age?

Answer 34

• Berlin developed modern techniques, and became an important centre for world cinema.
• Important figures of Jewish descent included Sternberg, who directed the best-known film of the WR, The Blue Angel.

Question 35

Summary chapter 6

Answer 35

• Cultural innovation divided Germans in the Weimar era
• Fear from the right that cultural change brought in unwelcome foreign influences, in the form of ‘cultural communism’ (theatre), or American influences.
• Modern culture was regarded by conservatives as immoral and un-German.
• The WR gave its citizens greater freedom, which allowed experimentation in the arts and the opportunity for women and the youth to break through many barriers that had constrained them in the past.

Question 36

Key dates chapter 6

Answer 36

• 1924, 1925, 1927 (welfare system)

- 1925 (in relation to Jews)