DDR: SOCIETY Flashcards
What did the SED replace the middle classes with?
Bureaucratic ‘intelligentsia.’
Gives two positives of the standard of living in the DDR.
- By far the most well off of the Eastern Bloc States.
2. State provided extensive subsidies for all citizens.
Give a negative of the standard of living in the DDR.
- Scarcity: Long queues in front of shops for all products.
Give a positive for family life in the DDR.
- State offered financial support for working mothers.
Give a negative of family life in the DDR.
- Many mothers worked unskilled, low-paid jobs.
Give two negatives for women in the DDR.
- Soviet zone repealed pensions for hundreds of thousands of widows.
- Families left for the west. Leaving elderly women to fend for themselves.
What was the issue with culture in the DDR?
Culture and cultural activities were all subject to censorship.
What is the judgensweine?
Atheist initiation ceremony. Pledge taken by fourteen year olds to DDR and socialism.
Give two negatives of the church in the DDR.
- Religious education abolished in all schools.
2. No financial support was given to churches.
What was positive for youth organisations in the DDR?
They never became compulsory.
Extensive range of recreational activities.
What was negative for youth organisations in the DDR?
Indoctrinated with socialist education.
Trained to fight against western/capitalist ideals.
Give two positives of education in the DDR.
Established co-educational comprehensive schools.
Adult education was encouraged.
Give two negatives of education in the DDR.
80% of teachers dismissed and emergency teacher training.
Introduction of a centralised curriculum.
Give two positives of welfare and housing in the DDR.
Healthcare was free for all.
Unemployment benefits.
Give two negatives of welfare and housing in the DDR.
Welfare was heavily subsidised.
Accommodation: not until late 1950s that housing took off.
