Employment and living standards Flashcards
What was the Reich Labour Service
from 1935
scheme that made it compulsory for men 18-25 to do labour for 6 months. These men were given low pay and carried out military drills out aswell as working
What was invisible employment?
Method used by Nazis to keep public unemployment numbers secret
Unemployment figures did not include:
-Jews dismissed from their jobs
-Unmarried men under 25 who were pushed into national labour service
-Women dismissed from their jobs or who gave up work to have a family
-Opponents of Nazis put in concentration camps
-showed part time workers as fully employed
How much money did Hitler spend on job creation schemes
18 billion marks in 1933
37 billion in 1938
Why did Hitler want autobahns built? How many workers and kilometers would this build take?
Hitler hoped autobahns would allow his troops to move quickly in the event of a war.
He wanted 7000km built and had over 125,000 men working on it
Was the autobahn project succesful?
only just over 3,000 kilometres had been built
by 1938.
What was rearmament
-reintroduction of conscription in 1935
-increased army from 100,000 in 1933 to 1,400,000 in 1939
-heavy industry trebled to reach needs of reamarment
-billions spent producing tanks, aircrafts and ships.
-1933: 3.5billion marks spent on rearmament 1939:26 billion marks spent on rearmament
What was Strength through Joy 1933
Organisation set up by the German labour front
Strength through joy was a programme which improved leisure time of German workers by offering them cheaper tickets to concerts, sports events, holidays, cruises etc.
How many workers went on a kdf holiday in 1938?
10 million
What was the Beauty of Labour 1933
department of the KDF which tried improving working conditions. It organised the building of canteens, swimming pools, sports facilities and better lighting.
What was the “Volkswagen scheme”
1938 KDF organised the Volkswagen (“peoples car”). This gave workers the ability to subscribe 5 marks a week to eventually acquire a car.
These cars were said to never have been delivers
How did wages increase 1932-38
1932: 82 marks/week
1938: 109 marks/week
How was workers’ freedom inhibited by the Nazis?
Trade unions were banned and replaced by the Labour Front. The Labour Front did not allow workers to negotiate for better pay or reduced work hours. Any who opposed were sent for re-education in concentration camps
What were the failures of the Strength through Joy and Beauty of Labour programmes?
Most workers could not afford the cruises provided by the Strength through Joy programme
Beauty of labour forced workers to carry out improvements in their spare time without pay
Why was the cost of living high in the 1930s
Prices of food was high due to agricultural restrictions imposed by the government to benefit farmers
How did working hours increase over the 1933-39
1933: 43 hours a week
1939: 47 hours a week
