FRG - Minorities Flashcards
Who were the ethnic minorities in the FRG
- By 1955, the FRG started to look overseas to recruit people to recruit (mainly unskilled) people to work in Germany’s industrial sector on a temporary basis
- The FRG signed recruitment agreements
- The people were called ‘guest workers’
Which countries did Germany sign labour recruitment treaties with?
- Italy (1955)
- Spain and Greece (1960)
- Turkey (1961)
- Morocco (1963)
- Tunisia (1965)
Explain a key reason why the FRG recruited foreign workers
-‘economic miracle’
- 1950s - “economic miracle” —>
- 4 million prisoners of war, 4.7 million refugees and the 1.8 million migrants from East Germany ensured a constantly expanding worforce supply —>
- August 1961 - labour shortage made worse by Berlin Wall —>
- this reduced the large-scale flow of East German immigration virtually to zero overnight —>
- 1960 to the stop on recruitment in 1973 - n. of foreign workers grew from 280,000 to 2.6 million
Explain a key reason why the FRG recruited foreign workers
-aid
- The Federal Republic saw guest workers as a form of developmental aid
- It was they’d learn useful skills in Germany,
- which could help them build their own countries after returning home
Evidence of tolerance - 1950s & 60s
The government guaranteed non-German workers ………… wages
the same
Evidence of tolerance - 1950s & 60s
The ………………….. was set up in Nuremberg to run offices in the countries which ………………….
- Federal Office for Labour Recruitment
- West Germany had labour recruitment treaties
Evidence of tolerance - 1950s & 60s
….% of workers in Germany in 1964 had been living in the FRG for at least three years
25%
Evidence of tolerance - 1950s & 60s
What did Theodore Blank make a speech about in 1964?
- Occasion of millionth guest worker arriving in the FRG
- He said that guest workers had been the foundation of Germany’s success
- & as their labour pool was likely to continue shrinking
- (only 22% of the German population were under 15 years of age)
- guest workers would continue to be important
Evidence of tolerance - 1950s & 60s
What organisations did guest workers have support from?
- The unions (less helpful about long-term assimilation)
- church organisations, such as the Catholic organisation called Caritas
- & the Protestant organisation Diakonisches Wek
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
What was the unions stance on recruiting workers from abroad
- unions disliked the idea of recruiting workers from abroad
- concerns that foreign workers would drive wages down, accept less favourable working conditions &, therefore, undercut existing workers
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
The government agreed to give ……… workers preference when hiring
German
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
What did employers provide for workers
- Employers provided basic accommodation for migrant workers
- often in dormitories near factories and outside towns
- which cut them off from the local community
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
What sort of jobs did Guest Workers do
- Usually heavy manual labour - Rather than taking work from Germans, foreign workers were given jobs that Germans were happy to leave for other work . E.g. 1961-1973: approx. 3 million German workers switched from industrial or agricultural work to white-collar jobs. Approx. 870,000 Germans left jobs in mining and 1.1 million guest workers took these jobs.
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
- 1961-1973 - approx. ……. million German workers switched from industrial or agricultural work to white-collar jobs.
- Approx. …………….. Germans left jobs in mining and ………. million guest workers took these jobs
- 1961-1973: approx. 3 million German workers switched from industrial or agricultural work to white-collar jobs
- Approx. 870,000 Germans left jobs in mining and 1.1 million guest workers took these jobs.
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
Foreign workers became known as ‘………. workers,’ which underlined the German attitude of the time – they were guests, so their stay would be …………
- Guest workers
- temporary
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
How did the rights of ‘Guest workers’ differ from a German worker
- Foreign workers did not have the same rights as German citizens
- Even if their contracts were renewed, it was on a year-by-year basis
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
What economic issue caused a lot of hostility towards guest workers in the 60s
- The temporary recession of 1966 produced a significant amount of hostility to foreign workers, especially those who did not speak much German or try to integrate. At this time, many landlords refused to take guest workers as tenants, which helped to confine them to living amongst other guest workers in the poorest areas.
Evidence of intolerance - 1950s & 60s
What sort of hostility did the temporary reccession of 1966 subject guest workers to
- those who did not speak much German or try to integrate
- had landlords refuse to take guest workers as tenants,
- which helped to confine them to living amongst other guest workers in the poorest areas, as a result of economic necessity
Evidence of tolerance - 1970s & 80s
What car company offered good contracts to workers
- In 1974, Ford car works in Cologne offered guest workers ‘voluntary severance packages’ (
- paid to employees on the early termination of a contract)
- based on their time working in the factory
Evidence of tolerance - 1970s & 80s
What welfare provided by the govt showed equality with ‘guest workers’
- 1975 - the govt gave guest workers’ children the same benefits as other children due to the rise in unemployed guest workers
Evidence of tolerance - 1970s & 80s
What ban was lifted in 1977
- the ban on accepting foreign workers in Germany
Evidence of tolerance - 1970s & 80s
What position was created in 1978 to help the integration of Guest Workers?
- 1978 - the first Federal Commissioner for Foreigners’ Affairs was appointed by Schmidt
- to work for the rights of foreign workers and to promote their integration
- a clear set of rules for applying for unrestricted residence (but not citizenship) was laid down
Evidence of tolerance - 1970s & 80s
The number of foreign children in schools rose from ….,000 in 1976 to almost ….,000 in 1963.
165,000 in 1976 to almost 200,000 in 1963
Evidence of tolerance - 1970s & 80s
How did the govt try to ensure equality in education
- The govt policy, as laid down in the Basic Law, was to provide ‘democratic education’
- The govt tried to persuade the Länder to provide mixed-culture learning groups with classes of Germans and the children of guest workers
Evidence of intolerance - 1970s & 80s
Which crisis led the government to stop hiring Guest Workers?
- During the 1970s, with the oil crisis and sudden rise in unemployment, guest workers were again under pressure to leave jobs and Germany
- In November 1973, the government put a stop on hiring foreign workers and banned permits for families of workers already in the country.
- The number of guest workers fell to just under 2 million
Evidence of intolerance - 1970s & 80s
What was the consequence of the oil crisis for guest workers
- Nov 1973 - the govt put a stop on hiring foreign workers and banned permits for families of workers already in the country
- The number of guest workers fell to just under 2 million
Evidence of intolerance - 1970s & 80s
How were muslim children not inetgrated properly into the school system
- 60% of foreign children in schools in 1983 were Muslim
- Most Muslim guest workers’ children started school at the age of six, with no preschool education and language help
- Preschool education was largely run by Christian schools
- Quran schools, in particular, attracted a lot of hostility
Evidence of intolerance - 1970s & 80s
What evidence is there that Guest Workers’ children were not always integrated in schools
- There were significant problems with educational provision
- Many groups of ethnic minorities set up their own national schools because their children were not learning in state schools
- This did not help the integration of minority groups
Evidence of intolerance - 1970s & 80s
Why was intergration seemingly improbable
- While politicians and people generally continued to view guest workers as temporary residents
- there was little incentive for either minority groups of West Germans themselves to work for assimilation
Guest workers often belonged to ‘…………………..’, groups of people who came from the same country as guest workers.
Ethnic Associations
How were West Germans were divided over Ethnic Associations
- Some felt that it helped the newcomers to settle in, helping them to learn the language and understand cultural differences
- Others felt that these associations slowed, or even stopped, the newcomers from integrating in West German life
