Chapter 6 Flashcards
Verifies of conflict between tradition and modernity
The war and its aftermath brought extensive social and cultural changes to Germany as well as the political and economic changes outlined in earlier chapters. The Weimar Constitution gave German citizens more rights, freedom, opportunities and greater equality than they had ever been allowed before. Many embraced these opportunities with enthusiasm and innovation.
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. The Weimar years, therefore, witnessed a conflict between those who challenged traditional values in the name of ‘modernity and those who resisted these changes in an attempt to preserve social stability and an older, specifically German way of life.
Social welfare reforms between 1924-27 included (3)
1924
The Public Assistance system, which provided help to the poor and destitute, was modernised
1925
The state accident insurance system, introduced by Bismarck to help those injured at work, was extended to cover those suffering from occupational diseases
1927
A national unemployment insurance system was introduced to provide benefits for the unemployed, financed by contributions from workers and employers
Limits to social reform success
This was an impressive list of reforms but, for many Germans, the welfare system promised more than it delivered. It was also very expensive. In 1926, the state was supporting about 800,000 disabled war veterans, 360,000 war widows and over 900,000 war orphans. This was in addition to old age pensions and, after 1927, the cost of unemployment benefits. The welfare system also needed a large and expensive bureaucracy to administer it. 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. The result was that those administering benefits at a local level used many devices to keep expenditure down. Means tests were tightened up, snoopers were used to check that claimants were not cheating the system and there were increasing delays in paying benefits. Those in need of support, including large numbers of war veterans and their families, felt they were being humiliated and insulted by the welfare system, undermining their support for the Weimar Republic.
How did living standards improve?
The living standards of millions of Germans undoubtedly improved during the years 1924-28. Those in work, particularly those represented by powerful trade unions, were able to maintain their living standards by negotiating wage increases. Those dependent on welfare benefits were less well off, and undoubtedly suffered some hardships, but they were prevented from falling into abject poverty by the welfare system. Business owners and their salaried employees benefited from the improved trading position for German companies at this time.
How did living standards not improve?
There were, however, many exceptions to this rule. Those who had lost their savings during the hyperinflation of 1923 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. The air of confidence that was exuded in cities such as Berlin was not apparent across the whole country.
How did women become more liberated?
In 1929, a female journalist, Elsa Hermann, wrote that the modern woman refuses to lead the life of a lady and a housewife, preferring to depart from the ordained path and go her own way. There was much talk in Weimar Germany about the ‘new woman, who symbolised the way women’s lives had changed since the end of the war. She was portrayed as being free, independent, sexually liberated and increasingly visible in public life. The Weimar Constitution had given women equality with men in voting rights and in access to education. It had also given women equal opportunities in civil service appointments and the right to equal pay. This coincided with a major change in the gender balance of the population as a result of the war. Over two million Germans, mostly young males, had been killed in the war, so there were fewer opportunities for young women to follow the conventional path of marriage and child-rearing to economic security. The war had also brought many more women into paid employment to replace the men who had fought. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that many young German women in the 1920s had expectations about their lives which were very different from those of their mothers and that there were greater opportunities to fulfil those expectations.
How was the new woman limited?
The extent of change, however, should not be exaggerated. Moreover, not all German citizens approved of the changes - not even all women.
Although the constitution gave women new legal and civil rights, the much more traditional Civil Code of
1896 remained in force. Among other things, this code laid down that, in a marriage, the husband had the right to decide on all matters concerning family life, including whether his wife should undertake paid employment.
The most popular women’s group in the 1920s was the League of German Women (BDF), which had 900,000 members. Far from supporting the
‘new woman, the BDF promoted traditional family values and maternal responsibilities. This was echoed by the more conservative political parties and by the churches, which were alarmed by changes they considered to be a threat to the family. In many ways, therefore, the concept of the new woman’ was more of a cultivated myth than a social reality for the majority of German women.
What was the Civil Code of 1896?
since the
unification of Germany in 1871 there had been a need to bring the separate laws of each of the German states into a uniform national framework; the Civil Code of 1896, which concerned all aspects of personal and civil rights and responsibilities, provided that common framework
Areas of women liberation
Employment
Sexual freedom
Politics and public life
Women progress in employment
• The constitution gave women greater equality in employment rights
• By 1925, 36 per cent of the German workforce were women
• By 1933, there were 100,000 women teachers and 3000 women doctors.
Women lack of progress in 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 their 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 by conservative parties for the dismissal of married women workers.
Woman progress regarding sexual freedom
• Birth control became more widely available and the birth rate declined
• Divorce rates increased
• There was a rise in the number of abortions; by 1930, there was an estimated 1 million abortions a year.
Women lack of progress regarding sexual freedom
• Abortion was a criminal offence and would often be performed by unqualified people. In 1930, there were an estimated 10-12,000 deaths each year from abortions
• The decline in the birth rate was attacked by the conservative press and politicians as a ‘birth strike that threatened the health of the nation and the continued existence of the race
• Catholic and Protestant churches were vigorously opposed to birth control, divorce and abortion. Many German women were committed members of church congregations.
Women progress regarding politics and public life
• Women gained equal voting rights and the right to be
Reichstag deputies in the Weimar Constitution
• In 1919, 41 women were elected to the Reichstag; the number of women deputies fell in subsequent elections below but the German Reichstag had a higher proportion of female deputies than the British House of Commons
• Women were also very active in local government at state and city level.
Women lack of progress regarding politics and public life
• There were no female representatives in the Reichsrat
• No woman became a cabinet member during the
Weimar Republic
• No political party had a female leader in the Weimar years
• Only the communists (KPD] made gender equality a key element in its programme but it was the least appealing party to the new female electorate
• The party that gained the most from female suffrage was the Catholic Centre Party. In Protestant areas, the conservative DNVP and the DVP appealed most to women voters. None of these parties gave any support to feminist issues.
Who was Marie Juchacz?
Marie Juchacz (1879-1956) was a long-standing member of the SPD and elected to the National Assembly in 1919. She was the first woman to make a speech in any legislative body in Germany. She served as a Reichstag deputy for the SPD until 1933. Marie came from a poor, rural background and left school at 14 to earn money for her family. She had been introduced to politics by her older brother, Otto Gohlke, and joined the SPD in 1908, when she became one of the first female party members.
Who was Paula Müller-Otfried?
Paula Müller-Otfried (1865-1946) was a devout
Protestant and co-founder of the German Protestant
Women’s League. She was very active in her church and in social work, and was opposed to women’s suffrage, warning that voting rights would not improve women’s lives. Nevertheless, as a member of the DNVP, she became a Reichstag deputy in 1920 and continued in this role until 1932
Who was Clara Zetkin?
Clara Zetkin (1857-1933) was a KPD member of the Reichstag from 1920 to 1933. She had been active in the SPD before 1914 and was a leading campaigner for women’s rights, having organised the first International Women’s Day in 1911. She was also a close friend of Rosa Luxemburg.
Clara blamed capitalism for reducing women to the status of breeders and homebuilders, and believed women would only be truly liberated by a socialist revolution
Who was Marianne Weber?
Marianne Weber (1870-1954) was an intellectual and academic, and the wife of Max Weber, a leading sociologist. She wrote several books on feminist issues and was active in the German women’s suffrage movement before 1914. In 1919, she joined the DDP and was the first woman elected to state legislature in Baden She wrote that ‘It is our responsibility to infuse all life with our special mix of feminine and humane influence.
Significance of the women issue
The achievement of women’s suffrage in 1919 did not usher in a new era of female equality, but it did bring the debate on women’s rights to the heart of political debate. The Weimar Republic witnessed a continuing struggle between those who wanted Germany to become a more modern, free and equal society and those who fought to retain traditional values. The clash over women’s rights was on the front line in this struggle, with the so-called ‘new women increasingly being used as scapegoats for Germany’s social and economic ills.