Did life improve for workers? Flashcards
What had the workers been promised in the elections of the early 1930s?
-‘work and bread’
-they were important because they were people who felt most overlooked and vulnerable and were struggling during Weimar Germany
How did Germany aim to solve the economic issues between 1934-1936?
-targeted the workers and wanted more people working rearmament->triggers arms (guns) manufacture, autarky, bring Germany out of the recession, RAD->Reich Labour Service (hides unemployment)->young men set to work on ‘war’ projects, Schacht tried to control imports and exports, tariffs (generate money), Mefo bills->hides government spending, control government expenditure
Why did the aims to solve the economic issues change from 1936 onwards?
-Schacht was fired, Goring focused on rearmament whereas Schacht was focusing on unemployment->focus changed to war->rearmament and autarky were new focus, Guns vs Butter
What were policies towards workers?
-Strength Through Joy
-Beauty of Labour
-DAF
When were large estates broken to fit in with collectivisation in east Germany? Why?
-when Germany was occupied by the Soviets in 1945
What were made more affordable in the working class consumption?
-basic goods such as bread and butter
How did the DAF positively impact workers?
-incorporated a working conditions subsection called the Beauty of Labour (SdA)->responsible for providing cleaner working environments, meals, exercise and even smoking-free rooms
What were the financial positives and negatives workers faced?
-wages rose
-they were expected to pay tax, insurance and DAF contributions
How did employment reduce?
-reduced to 1.5m in 1938 but Jews, women and RAD were hidden from figures
What was landowners initially fearful of? How did this change?
-fearful on Nazi plans to interfere with their land ownership
-it transpired that the Nazis were unconcerned with their activities and did not threaten the economic interest of their large estates
What class were the largest sector of society to vote for the Nazis between 1930-1933? Why?
-the middle class
-due to propaganda posters and they hoped they would benefit from the regime
How were the middle class affected by Nazi policies?
-the confiscation of Jewish businesses which led them to gaining low interest rate loans
-the banning of new department stored (often Jewish owned
-trading regulations were also introduced to small craftsmen->however they continued to decline as they could not compete with the costs of larger businesses->made worse by the Nazi economic policy focus on big businesses for rearmament
How were farmers affected by Nazi policies?
-had been some of the biggest supporters of the Nazi Party due to the claims that they could provide relief after the economic problems->the industrialisation of Germany in the 1930s often favoured the urban rather than the rural population
What did the Nazis introduce that impacted farmers?
-they introduced farm debts
-mortgages were written off
-small farmers were given low interest rates
-the government maintained tariffs on imported goods to encourage a reduction on imported goods
-Reich Entailed Farm Act (1933)
-Reich Food Estate regulations
What was the Reich Entailed Farm Act of 1933?
-supervised every aspect of food production specifically prices and working wages
What was the impact of the Reich Entailed Farm Act of 1933?
-at first farmers benefited from an increase in prices so their incomes also improved->there was growing disillusionment by 1936 which was a result of increasing rural to urban migration due to promising wages
What made providing for farmers children hard? How did this issue grow?
-Reich Food Estate regulations were also stifling and the Reich Entailed Farm Act meant that farmers could only pass on their estate to one child->meant providing for their remaining children was difficult->these issues only grew once war was declared in 1939 and men were conscripted into the army
What was an impact on consumption of desirable goods due to Nazi policies?
-desirable goods eg tropical fruits were less affordable
Did working house increase? Why?
-working hours increased- average working week was increased from 43 hours in 1933 to 47 hours in 1939->became more geared towards war production so workers were pressured to work overtime->German industry was steadily increasing as a result of Schacht’s economic plans
When were all trade unions banned? What were they replaced with?
-1933
-replaced with the DAF (German Labour Front)
What was the membership like of the DAF? Why?
-membership increased from 22m by 1939->workers were firmly under Nazi control which helped them manage strikes and harshly remove the right of workers to protest
