Changes in Weimar Society HARD!! Flashcards
How did living standards change between 1924- 1929?
Unemployment insurance 25% increase in real wages New homes built Increase in students in education War Veterans given pensions
When were women given the right to vote in Germany?
1918
What was the average turnout of women voters in Weimar elections?
90%!
What percentage of the Reichstag was female by 1932?
10%
Why was progress for women in work limited during the Weimar Republic?
Paid less than men
Expected to give up jobs when they got married
Few women in high status jobs- only 36 female judges by 1933
Trade Unions opposed to women workers/ equal pay and ‘double earners’ (married women who brought in a second wage)
Who were the ‘new women’?
Young, unmarried, working women living in cities- had greater financial independence
What did the ‘new women’ do?
Bought more clothes
Had short hair
Wore more make up, more jewellery, more revealing clothes
Smoked
Drank
Took advantage of liberal sexual attitudes
Why did some Germans feel threatened by ‘new women’?
Birth Rate was falling- people felt German women needed to be mothers
Divorce Rates were rising- people felt women should be wives!
Some blamed economic instability of early 20’s on women entering the labour market.
Name the 3 new ways of looking at the Arts which developed in the 1920’s
New Objectivism
Modernism
Expressionism
Which two factors aided the spread of a new cultural movement in the 1920’s?
The Bauhaus Movement
Government Support
What are the key features of the Bauhaus Movement?
Beauty in technology
Simple lines
Careful craftsmanship
Name 2 famous expressionist artists from this time
Otto Dix
George Grosz
What did architect, Erich Mendelsohn famously design which was influenced by Bauhaus?
The Einstein Tower (an observatory)
It was futuristic and looked like a rocket
By 1932, how many German cinemas were showing films with sound?
3,800
What opposition did the new arts movement face?
Some did not like public money being spent on extravagance instead of helping workers
Some people felt it undermined traditional German culture
