Changing Lives Flashcards
How did the Nazis aim to help craftsmen and peasants?
- In 1933, the Law to Protect Retail Trade was passed which increased the taxes on large stores to protect the Mittelstand or craftsmen.
- The law had little impact and between 1936 and 1939 the number of artisans fell from 1.6 million to 1.5 million.
- Similarly, in the countryside the Nazis passes the Reich Entailed Farm Law in May 1933, which aimed to force farm owners to pass the land on to their eldest sons rather than divide it or sell it to large-scale landowners.
- The negative impact of this was that peasants were tied to the land, which stopped innovation and the peasant population dropped from 21% to 18%.
How were the industrial workers worse off under the Nazis?
- The Nazi obsession with rearmament made industrial jobs plentiful.
- However, wages were frozen at 1933 levels and rising prices meant that they were still not enough to easily feed a family.
- Welfare support had been cut by the Nazis and they replaced it with the Winter Relief collection, which provided soup kitchens.
- Donations to the collection were voluntary but constant pressure from the SA meant on average 3% of all income was donated.
What was the Deutsche Arbeitsfront?
- Means German labour front and filled the gap left by trade unions.
- It was led by Robert Ley, it had 29 million members by 1939, who all paid to join.
- It had 3 main branches:
•Strength through joy - Created to organise workers leisure time, it offered subsidised tickets for holidays, theatres and gyms, to name a few. All activities involved ideological content.
•Beauty of labour - aimed to improve the workplace by building new toilets, showers and facilities.
•Reich labour service - Set up to tackle unemployment; all men aged 18-25 had to serve 6 months. They worked on bug state projects like building motorways.
What did Nazis believe ideal women should be like?
- Not wear makeup.
- Not smoke.
- Dress in traditional German clothes.
- Not be thing but ‘physically robust’ and ready for childbirth.
- Be in the kitchen. Once a month she should take part in One Pot Sunday and use up leftovers.
- Be a member of the Nationalist Social Women’s League.
How did the Nazis make women marry and have children and how did it impact the German people?
- They gave loans of up to 1000 Reichsmarks were offered to Aryan couples. The loan was reduced by a quarter for every child the couple had. In 1934, 250,000 loans were issued.
- The Honour Cross of the German Mother was issued to women who had large families. Bronze for 4-5 children, silver for 6-7 and gold for 8+.
- Divorce was made easier.
Impact on German people: - Marriages increased from 516,000 in 1933 to 772,000 in 1939.
- Births rose in the early 1930s but by 1939 the rate had declined again. The average number of children per couple in 1932 had been 3.6 and by 1939 it had dropped to 3.3.
How did the Nazis make women stay home and not work and how did it impact the German people?
- They encouraged women to stay at home. The loans above were only if the woman gave up her job.
- However, by 1937 this requirement was removed as they realised it was proving difficult.
Impact on German people: - The number of women in employment actually increased between 1933 and 1939.
- In agriculture, 4.6 million women were employed in 1933; by 1939 this had increased to 4.9 million.
- In industry, the figure rose from 2.7 million to 3.3 million.
How did the Nazis make women not be involved in higher education and how did it impact the German people?
- Female enrolment at university was limited to 10% of all students.
Impact on German people: - The number of women in higher education fell dramatically.
- The lack of qualified women during the war years became a problem.
How did the Nazis control the teachers?
- In 1933, politically unreliable teachers were forced to resign.
- Jewish teachers were banned from teaching in non-Jewish schools.
- A Nationalist Socialist (Nazi) Teachers league was established which ran ‘political education’ courses where teachers had to do military-style exercises and learn Nazi ideology.
- If teachers stepped out of line, they faced the Nazi machinery of terror. They were in constant fear of pupils acting as classroom spies.
How did the Nazis set up specialist schools?
- Napola or military cadet schools were set up and run by SS and SA officers teaching a military education.
- Adolf Hitler schools were run by the leaders of the Hitler Youth and were designed to create future leaders of the party with a focus on physical and military education.
- Neither was very successful, and by 1939 only 6173 pupils were schooled at the sixteen Napola and ten Adolf Hitler Schools.
What was education like?
History - The struggle between nations and the superiority of Germant and the Aryan race.
Geography - Pride in Germany and the need for lebensraum (living space).
Physics - The science of firearms, aerodynamics and radio communications.
Mathematics - Often taught in the form of ‘social arithmetic’. For example they might be asked to work out the cost of keeping a mentally ill patient alive in an asylum.
German - How the language had developed to form a specific Aryan background.
PE - 50% of all lesson time was PE as the Nazis believed it was crucial to keep fir and ready for a war.
Biology - Rassenkunde, the study of race.
How was youth leisure time controlled?
- The Hitler Youth was set up in the late 1920s and had 4 parts. There were different sections for girls and boys, with juniors aged 10-14 and seniors aged 14-18.
- At first membership of Hitler Youth was voluntary. After 1936 it was made compulsory to join and after 1939 it was compulsory to attend meetings.
- The Nazis also shut down other youth groups and after 1936, the Hitler Youth was the only way to access sport facilities and activities.
What was the purpose of Hitler Youth?
- Hitler Youth members sang political songs, read Nazi books and paraded through towns.
- Boys activities were often focused on preparation for the military, for example Morse code tests, map reading and firing rifles.
- Girls groups concentrated on domestic duties.
- Both boys and girls groups had the possibility of going on holiday camps, which were very popular with the working classes.
How did some Youth respond?
- Many young people were bored by or resentful of the Hitler Youth meetings, especially those who did not enjoy physical activities.
- Others enjoyed the activities but really hated the political messages.
How did Nazis promote Aryans?
- The Nazis believed that Aryans, the people of the northern and western Europe, were the strongest (Ubermenschen).
- Nazi scientists thought that there were distinct types of Aryan with specific features. Nordic Aryans with blond hair and blue eyes were the most popular.
- Untermenschen (sub-humans) included Sinti and Roma (gypsies), black people and Slavs, but the most viscous hatred was reserved for the Jewish people.
- The Nuremburg Laws of 1935 defined anyone with 3/4 Jewish grandparents as Jewish even if they didn’t have any belief in the Jewish faith. Those people with 1/2 Jewish grandparents were Mischling or half-Jewish.
- The Nazis believed that Jewish people had distinct features.
What were the inaccurate Nazi myths and what was the reality?
Myth 1: Jewish people owned all the big businesses and profited from the economic crisis in the 1920s and 1930s.
Reality 1: Some Jewish people owned big businesses but they were few in number. They had suffered during the crisis like everyone.
Myth 2: The defeat in WW1 was the fault of Jewish people.
Reality 2: Jewish people had fought in the German army like other citizens.
Myth 3: Jewish people were communists.
Reality 3: Some Jewish people were communists but they belonged to all political parties.
Myth 4: Jewish people controlled Germany.
Reality 4: Jewish people were less than 1% of the population and their influence was very limited.
