6. Social and cultural developments in Germany, 1924 - 28 Flashcards
What benefits did the Weimar Constitution give citizens ?
- gave German citizens more rights
- freedom
- opportunities and greater equality than they had ever been allowed before
How did some view these opportunities ?
- Many embraced these opportunities with enthusiasm and innovation
How did others view these opportunities ?
- Others lamented the passing of a way of life in which roles, responsibilities and authority had been clearly defined and society was rooted in traditional values.
What dilemma did the Weimar Republic face ?
- Weimar Republic witnessed a conflict between those who challenged traditional values in the name of ‘modernity’ and those who resisted these changes in an tempt to preserve social stability and an older, specifically German way of life.
what was the 1924 Social Welfare Reform ?
1924: The Public Assistance System, which provided help to the poor and destitute, was modernised
What was the 1925 social welfare reform ?
1925: The state accident insurance system, introduced by Bismarck to help those injured at work, was extended to cover those suffering from occupational diseases
What was the 1927 social welfare reform ?
- A national unemployment system was introduced to provide benefits for the unemployed, financed by contributions from workers and employment
What were the welfare reforms like in reality ?
- This was an impressive list of reforms, but, for many the welfare system promised more than it delivered
Were welfare reforms expensive for the government ?
- welfare reforms were very expensive
- In 1926, the state was supporting about 800,000 disabled war veterans, 360,000 war widows and over 900,000 war orphans
What other things did the Weimar government pay for alongside welfare reforms ?
- In addition to old age pensions and, after 1927, the cost of unemployment benefits
Who ran the welfare reforms ?
- needed a large and expensive bureaucracy to run it.
How were the welfare reforms payed for ?
- Taxes were increased after 1924, but there was a limit to how much the better-off were prepared to shoulder the burden of welfare expenditure
How did those administrating benefits at a local level bring down expenditure ?
- Mean tests were tightened up
- Snoopers were used to check the claimants
- there was increasing delays
How did people react to the administrators bringing down expenditures ?
- those in need of support, including large numbers of war veterans and their families, felt like they were being humiliated and insulted by the welfare system, undermining their support for the weimar government.
What were living standards like for Germans in the Weimar Republic ?
- Living standards of millions of Germans undoubtedly improved during the years 1924-28
What were those in work like ?
- those in work, particularly those represented by trade unions, were able to maintain their living standards by negotiating wage increases
What were the living standards like of those on welfare benefits ?
- Those dependent on welfare benefits were less well off, and undoubtedly suffered some hardships
- Yet, they were prevented from falling into abject poverty by the welfare system.
What were businesses like ?
- Business owners and their salaried employees benefitted from the improved trading position for German companies at the time
Whose living standards suffered ?
- those who had lost their savings during hyperinflation were unable to regain the comfortable lifestyles they had once enjoyed
- Farmers suffered from poor trading conditions and low prices, and their incomes were falling.
How did the rest of the country compare to Berlin ?
- The air of confidence in cities like Berlin was not apparent across the whole country.
What groups did the social and cultural changes affect ?
- women
- young people
- Jews
Myth of the new woman - Employment
- Constitution gave women greater equality in employment rights
- By 1925, 36% of the German workforce were women
- By 1933, there were 100,000 women teachers and 3000 women doctors
Reality of women - Employment
- The ‘demobilisation’ laws after the war required women to leave their jobs so that ex-soldiers could find employment
- In many occupations, women were required to give up employment when they married
- Women were paid much less than men doing equivalent work
- Married women who continued to have paid jobs were attacked as ‘double earners’ and blamed for male unemployment.There were campaigns in the press and conservative parties for the dismissal of married women workers
Myth of the new woman - Sexual Freedom
- Birth control became more widely available and the birth rate declined
- Divorce rates increased
- Rise in abortions, by 1930, an estimated 1 million abortions a year.
The reality of woman- Sexual freedom
- Abortion was a criminal offence and would often be performed by unqualified people. In 1930, estimated 10-12,000 deaths a year from abortion
- Decline in birth rate was attacked by conservative press and politicians as a ‘birth strike’ that threatened health of the nation and existence of race
- Catholic and Protestant Churches were vigorously against birth control, divorce and abortion. Many German women were committed members of the Church congregations.
Myth of the new woman - Politics and public life
- women gained equal rights and the right to be Reichstag deputies in the Weimar constitution.
- In 1919, 41 women elected to the Reichstag; number of women deputies fell in subsequent elections but the German Reichstag had a higher proportion of female deputies than the British House of Commons.
- Women were very active in local government at state and city level.
Reality of women - Political and public life
- No female representatives in the Reichsrat
- No woman became a cabinet member during the Weimar Republic
- No political party leader was woman in the Weimar years.
- Only communists (KPD) made gender equality a key element of its programme but it was the least appealing party to the new female electorate
- Party that gained the most support from female suffrage was Catholic party. In Protestant areas, the conservative DNVP and DVP appealed most to women voters.None of these parties gave any support to feminist issues.
Who was Clara Zetkin ?
KPD member of the Reichstag from 1920-1933
- leading campaigner for women’s rights, having organised the first International Women’s Day in 1911
Who was Maria Juchacz ?
- long standing member of the SPD
- elected to the National Assembly in 1919
- first woman to make a speech in any legislative body in Germany
- served as a Reichstag deputy for the SPD until 1933
Who was Marianne Weber ?
- wrote several books on feminist issues
- In 1919, she joined the DDP and was the first woman elected to state legislature in Baden
Who was Paula Muller ?
- co founder of the German Protestant Women’s League
- member of the DNVP, became of the DNVP, she became a Reichstag deputy in 1920 and continued in this role until 1932.
Why were the youth a battle for the Weimar Republic ?
- struggle for control over the behaviour and development of German youth was another key battleground in the Weimar Republic.
What type of life was Weimar Germany turning to for young people ?
- Weimar Germany were breaking free of the constraints of family, school and religion.
- Turning increasingly to a life of crime and anti- social behaviour
Who turned to a life of crime ?
children, from working class families that dd not attend the highly selective Gymnasium schools, turned to a life of crime and rebellion.
What were the children who didn’t get into Gymnasium schools supposed to do ?
- supported to leave school at 14 and begin an apprenticeship or employment.
What was youth unemployment like in Weimar Germany ?
- there were fewer apprenticeships and more youth unemployment
Stats of youth unemployment ?
Young people suffered disproportionately from the rise in unemployment after 1924
- In 1925-6, 17% of the unemployed were in the 14- 21 age group
What help were young people given ?
- the benefits system provided some help
- Day centres established to help youths acquire skills for work
How effective / good’s the help that young people were given ?
- Could not compensate for the lack of unemployment opportunity
What was the result of the high youth unemployment
- joined gangs
- joined youth groups
