Attitudes towards Women and Ethnic Minorities in the Weimar Republic Flashcards
List 3 aspects of what life was like for women in Germany before WW1.
- They couldn’t vote
- Single women could study, but could not take exams to qualify in a profession
- Married women had no legal status at all; a man had to do their legal business for them
What were 2 impacts war had on women’s lives?
- They took men’s places on farms and in factories; by the end of the war, 75% of women of working age worked
- 1.6 million men had been killed, so many women who would not be able to find husbands were now part of the population
List 7 aspects of the Weimar Constitution that gave women more rights.
- They had the same rights as men
- They could vote
- They could stand for office
- Marriage was an equal union
- They would have the same access to education as men did
- They would have equal opportunities as men to be appointed as civil servants
- They would be paid equally in professions
How popular were these reforms amongst women? Give 2 examples.
- Very popular, as:
- female voter turnout was 90% at the first elections
- In total, there were 112 elected to the Reichstag between 1919 and 1932
What issue did the Weimar Constitution not address?
- The legal status of women from the Civil Code hadn’t changed
Which parties supported the extension of women’s rights, and what limitation was there to their support?
- The SPD and KPD
- They still assumed that women would play domestic roles, and so helped them by, for example, improving maternity benefits
How did right-wing groups view the increase in women’s rights?
- As a form of cultural decay
What 3 changes were there for women in relation to work after WW1?
- There were more jobs, so the numbers of women working increased (although the proportion of women who were working was the same as before the war)
- There were many more ‘white blouse’ jobs available after the war; jobs that were traditionally done by men, such as in shops
- More had professional jobs: as women could qualify as lawyers, there were 36 of them by 1933, and in 1925 there were 2,500 female doctors, and this almost doubled by 1933
List 6 reasons why it was still difficult for women to work during the Weimar Era.
- The government’s policy was that women should give up their jobs to men after the war
- Women were paid, on average, one third less than their male counterparts in sectors such as office work
- Trade unions opposed female workers and for them to have equal pay
- Professional women faced discrimination and hostility at their workplace
- Married women had to either find childcare or work part-time as the school day ended at lunchtime
- Married women were discriminated against in particular as they were ‘double earners’ while men fought hard to be paid enough to support their family on their own
What were ‘New Women’, and what was different about them?
- They were young, educated and unmarried women who wanted independence, and typically worked in ‘white blouse’ jobs in cities
- They chose to abandon traditional female behaviour, and therefore wore short skirts, had short hair, smoked, drank and used contraception to have sexual freedom
How were ‘New Women’ presented in the media?
- Both positively and negatively
- They were sometimes the focus of magazine articles and films, and presented as confident and emancipated
- However, they were also seen as immoral and their behaviour was presented as a source of ruin
What were 3 common reactions to the ‘New Woman’?
- Politicians and the press criticised them, and urged them to marry and settle down
- Conservatives saw their behaviour as completely unsuited to motherhood
- Traditionalists saw this as part of the destruction of Germany, along with the 1918 surrender, abolition of the monarchy, and the Treaty of Versailles
What else did women campaign for during the Weimar Era?
- Sexual reform
List 4 aspects of sexual reform women were campaigning for.
- Sexual freedom
- More accessible divorce
- Easy access to contraception
- The right to abortion under certain circumstances, such as rape
What were 2 reasons why many believed women should return to being wives and mothers? Give figures.
- The birth rate was falling, and the divorce rate was increasing
- 128 live births per 1000 women in 1911, compared to 59 in 1933
- 27 divorces per 100,000 inhabitants in 1913, compared to 65 in 1932