Extra Knowledge for the Peasantry Flashcards
Overall how did the position of the peasants change over the course of Germany?
Slow decline
Compare the peasants to the junkers?
Whereas the Junkers had managed to maintain their position to a great extent into the Nazi period, the peasants declined much more steadily.
Complete the sentence: the fall of the German peasant…
…was only slowed by protectionist policies of German governments
Compare the number of workers employed in agricultural jobs between Bismarck’s Germany and the FRG
Number of German workers employed in agricultural jobs declined from 49% in 1871 to 2% in 1989.
What happened during Bismarck’s time that made the future of the German agricultural worker questionable?
Industrialisation
The existence of what influential class maintained the peasant population in what way during Bismarck?
The Junkers, a group who relied on farms for their income wanted to use their considerable influence to maintain the peasant population who staffed their agrarian economy
What was the first bit of protectionism that the Junkers persuaded Bismarck to introduce and when was this?
1879, persuaded Bismarck to introduce tariffs to stop the import of cheap grain from Russia and the USA
What was the second example of Junker-backed protectionism and when was this introduced?
1893 Junker-Backed Agrarian League was formed to fight the government attempts to weaken tariffs on foreign imported food. Instead they wanted the government to uphold the protectionist policies that made buying German more appealing.
How many people died during WW1 from starvation?
750 000
What killed many from starvation during WW1?
Turnip Winter of 1916-17
What was being reprioritised for the war effort that undermined farms and led to the turnip winter?
fuel and fertiliser
What undermined farms during WW1 other than fuel and fertiliser being repurposed for the war?
Conscription
What challenge did German farms have to contend with during the 1920s?
Increased competition from world and european markets
Increased european competition during the 1920s was down particularly to what?
Netherlands and Denmark developing improved farm practices
Complete the sentence: Even before the 1929 WSC and depression, farmers…
… were experiencing a major slump in the value of their goods with widespread bankruptcy and the closure of numerous farms.
What does the fact that so many farmers supported the Nazis even early in the 1920s suggest?
they felt threatened, undermined and let down by the Weimar status quo, so sought radical political action to change this
How did the Nazi’s focus on war undermine the peasantry?
Due to the Nazi’s focus on war, industry saw huge development which led to increased migration from rural to urban areas.
What challenge was faced due to Nazi demands?
Farmers were forced to increase yields despite their declining size to fuel the war effort.
What was the Nazi slogan for the rural, pastoral life that they wanted to portray?
“Blut und Boden” (Blood and soil)
Complete the sentence about change between Weimar and the Nazis: The decedent urban icons of Weimar were lost in the…
… pastoral, romantic desires of the Nazis, who iconised the traditional German in the rural community.
What protectionist laws did the Nazis introduce for farmers in 1933?
In 1933 they introduced laws to protect farms from being forcibly sold (due to debt or being taken over by Jewish banks) and from land being broken up. High prices were also guaranteed for German produce.
What was subsidised in the FRG which led to increased efficiency?
Farm machinery
What demand was high during the FRG?
The demand for German produce
How did the Capability of farms increase under the FRG?
access to mechanisation and efficiencies such as small farms being consolidated into large ones, improving the once declining rural economy
What did the increased efficiency of the FRG agricultural economy come at the expense of?
The increased efficiency came at the expense of employment
What fact demonstrates that the increased agricultural efficiency of the FRG came at the expense of employment?
Between 1950-60 the rural economy lost 50% of its workforce, with decline continuing until 1990.
