C6 Social Policies

Question 1

Social welfare reforms

Answer 1

1924- public assistance system. To help poor and destitute
1925- state accident insurance system. Introduced Bismarck to help those injured at work, extended to cover those with occupational diseases
1927- national unemployment finance system- provide benefits to unemployed

Question 2

Negatives of SWR

Answer 2

Difficult to administer and sustain
Very expensive
Promised more than delivered

Question 3

Positives of SWR

Answer 3

Supported:
800,000 disabled war veterans
360,000 war widows
900,000 war orphans

Question 4

Changes for women in society

Answer 4

Free, independent and sexually liberated

Equal in rights + votes

Question 5

Limitations of women in society

Answer 5

BDF had 900,000 members and supported traditional family values
Had equal rights on paper but wasn’t shown
New woman was a ‘cultivated myth’ rather than a social reality

Question 6

Social changes for young people

Answer 6

Fewer apprenticeships
Benefits system + day centres however they didn’t compensate for lack of jobs
As a result many young working class joined gangs
In 1925-26, 17% of unemployed were 14-21

Question 7

Youth groups

Answer 7

Wandervogel - mainly middle class boys, non political, highly naturalistic, hated industrialisation
DNVP 42000 by 1928
Hitler Youth 13000 in 1929

Question 8

Jews in society

Answer 8

Many felt more German than jewish
Banks owed by Jews 18%
16% of lawyers were jewish
11% of doctors were jewish

Question 9

Berlin nightclubs

Answer 9

Described as ‘supermarket of eroticism’ by composer Freidrich Hollander
Strongly featured nudity
Felt free to display sexuality
Older traditional Germans felt order and discipline had been destroyed

Question 10

Theatre in society

Answer 10

Relied on abstraction and symbolism
Brent and Weill, treated middle class as villains and criminals/prostitutes as heroes

Question 11

Architecture

Answer 11

Bauhaus key in the development of art. Students encouraged to break down the barriers between art and technology by incorporating new materials such as steel, concrete and glass into their designs
Make the function of an object or building into the key element

Question 12

Art

Answer 12

Expressionism
Should express meaning or emotion rather than physical reality
Hannah Hoch highlighter gender inequality

Question 13

Music

Answer 13

Also influenced by expressionism

Schoenberg attempted to convey powerful emotions but avoided traditional forms of beauty

Question 14

Literature

Answer 14

Expressionism was a key influence
Free form writing focusing on internal mental state
Revolt against parental authority
Thomas Mann won Nobel prize for literature in 1929, supporter of Weimar left Germany when Nazis came into power

Question 15

Film

Answer 15

Important centre for world cinema

Question 16

Myth of new woman vs reality

Employment

Answer 16

By 1925, 36% of German workforce were women
Constitution gave women greater equality in employment rights
VS
Demobilisation laws require women to leave jobs for ex soldiers
Paid much less than men
Married woman who were employed attacked as ‘double earners’

Question 17

Myth of new woman vs reality

Sexual freedom

Answer 17

Birth control became widely available and birth rate declined
Divorce rate increased
By 1930 estimated 1 million abortions a year
VS
Abortion was a criminal offence and would often be performed by unqualified people, estimated 10-12000 deaths each year by abortions
Decline in birth rate was attacked by conservative press as threatening the health of the nation
Catholic and Protestant churches vigourously opposed birth control

Question 18

Myth of new woman vs reality

Politics and public life

Answer 18

Women gained equal voting rights
In 1919, 41 women were elected to reichstag, better than Britain
Women were also very active in local government at state and city level
VS
No female representatives in Reichstrat
No political party had female leader
Only communists made gender equality a key element of their programme