Nazi Economic, Social, and Racial Policy Flashcards

1
Q

What were Hitler’s 3 targets when appointed Chancellor?

A
  1. To reduce unemployment (would also help Hitler politically by increasing his popularity
  2. To rearm the German army to create jobs
  3. To make Germany self-sufficient in important raw materials and foods (not reliant on imports of goods from other countries)
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2
Q

What did Hermann Goering do as President of the Reichsbank?

A

He introduced the Four Year Plan which aimed to speed up rearmament and prepare Germany for war.
It lead to the push for autarky (self-sufficiency) in raw materials e.g. oil and metals, and also food production

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3
Q

Was Goering’s Four Year Plan successful?

A

It had mixed success. Production targets for aluminium, steel and explosives were nearly achieved but Goering failed to supply enough oil. Germany continued to import large amounts of food like butter and vegetable oil

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4
Q

What did Hitler do about Trade Unions?

A

He banned them in May 1933 as he saw them as a breeding ground for socialism and communism, and made strikes illegal

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5
Q

What was the DAF?

A

The German Labour Front
Led by Dr Robert Ley
Technically membership was voluntary, but all workers were essentially forced to join otherwise they would struggle to find a job

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6
Q

What did the DAF do?

A
  • Increase working hours to over 60h/week
  • Froze wages
  • Removed right to strike
  • Made it so workers could not leave their jobs without permission
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7
Q

What were the two schemes run by the DAF called?

A

Beauty of Labour programme

Strength Through Joy (KDF) programme

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8
Q

What did the Beauty of Labour programme achieve?

A

Aimed to improve working conditions in factories with the slogans:
“Good lighting - good work”
“Clean people in a plant”

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9
Q

What was the theory behind the Strength Through Joy (Kraft Durch Freude) programme?

A

Dr Robert Ley had calculated there were 3,740 hours of free time for workers in a year and wanted to make sure this free time wasn’t wasted.
He said they would become bored and frustrated if they had nothing to do, which in turn would make them bored and frustrated workers
If people were happier and more content, they would be more likely to work hard in their jobs

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10
Q

What sort of benefits did the KDF offer?

A
  • Cheap holidays e.g. cruises on one of the two KDF ocean liners or a walking holidays in the mountains
  • Trips to concerts and sporting events (KDF had its own orchestra which toured in places orchestras wouldn’t usually go)
  • A hire-purchase scheme in which workers paid 5 marks out of their wages per week towards a new Volkswagen car (nobody actually received one due to outbreak of war)
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11
Q

How did Hitler ‘solve’ unemployment?

A
  • RAD created jobs through public works schemes and construction of new housing
  • Conscription so all males 18-25 forced to join the army/navy/air force for at least 2 years
  • Rearmament created millions of jobs in production of military equipment and supply of essential materials
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12
Q

By how much did the unemployment figure fall between 1933 and 1939?

A

1933: 6 million unemployed
1936: 3 million unemployed (half original number)
1939: Below 500,000 unemployed

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13
Q

Why were unemployment figures misleading?

A
  • From 1933 women were no longer included in figures
  • Most Jews were sacked from their jobs and removed from the unemployment register
  • The unemployed were classed as “work-shy” and imprisoned
  • Conscription removed >1m men from unemployment figures
  • Part-time workers were classed as fully employed
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14
Q

What were the “Three Ks” that embodied the role of the perfect Nazi woman?

A

Kinder
Kuche
Kirche

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15
Q

What were women forbidden from doing to their appearance?

A
  • Wearing trousers
  • Perming their hair
  • Slimming (thought it would reduce chance of pregnancy)
  • Wearing high heels
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16
Q

What changes were made to women’s work/education?

A
  1. They were encouraged to leave their employment
  2. They were fired from government jobs (e.g. teachers)
  3. They were not counted in unemployment figures
  4. They were only allowed 10% of university places
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17
Q

What were marriage loans?

A

They were given to newly married couple and consisted of 1000 Reichsmarks (1/4 years income)
The repayment reduced by 1/4 for each child. Therefore, 4 children born meant no repayment

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18
Q

What was the German Motherhood Medal?

A

An award to honour women who had more than 4 children. It was given out on Hitler’s mother’s birthday.
Those who had 8 children were given the gold motherhood cross. People on the street saluted these women.

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19
Q

Which methods (excluding rewards) were used to increase the population?

A
  • Contraception and abortions were banned
  • Childless couples were encouraged to divorce or have children elsewhere
  • The Lebensborn programme was set up
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20
Q

What was the Lebensborn programme?

A

Also called the the “Spring of life”
Involved state sponsored homes where unmarried women and single mothers could be looked after and become pregnant from aryan SS men
Up to 12,000 children were born this way

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21
Q

How did Hitler ensure all young people joined the Hitler Youth?

A

He shut down all youth movements belonging to other parties and the church in 1933.
The 1936 Hitler Youth Law gave Hitler Youth membership the same importance as school and parents who refused to have their children join had promotion prospects blocked.
The second Hitler Youth Law in 1939 made membership compulsory.

22
Q

What were young girls made to do in Nazi Germany?

A

They joined the League of German Maidens where they were taught household skills such as cooking and sewing, but also kept fit so they would be in ideal shape for childbearing.
They were not allowed to study academic courses.

23
Q

What activities were there for boys in the Hitler Youth?

A

Instruction in military skills e.g. shooting, map reading and drill as Hitler intended for them to join the army as soon as they turned 18
They were allowed to study academically
Activities such as camping, hiking, and sports

24
Q

What changes did Hitler make to the education system?

A
  • All teachers must be a part of the Nazi Teachers’ Association
  • Each lesson began with “Heil Hitler”
  • Curriculum changed to reflect Nazi ideas and brainwash children so they accepted things as fact
25
Q

What was taught in Nazi schools?

A
  • History lessons taught the rise of the Nazi party
  • PE lessons kept children fit
  • Geography lessons taught value of lebensraum
  • Biology lessons and a new subject called ‘race study and ideology’ taught eugenics which enforced the idea of a master race
26
Q

Why did Hitler see the Church as a threat?

A
  • Christianity taught love, forgiveness and respect for all people, the exact opposite of Nazism.
  • Catholics were more loyal to the Pope than to Hitler
  • They supported the Centre Party
27
Q

Why was it important for Hitler to gain the support of the Church?

A

At the time, 2/3 of Germans were Protestant and most of the remainder Catholic. If he treated them badly, he would never gain their support.

28
Q

What was the Concordat?

A

Hitler signed a Concordat in July 1933 with the Pope in which he agreed to not interfere with the Church as long as the Pope would not intervene in politics.

29
Q

What did Hitler do to break his agreement with the Pope?

A
  • Had priests harassed, arrested, and put in concentration camps
  • Abolished Catholic schools
  • Shut down Catholic youth movements
  • Closed down monasteries
30
Q

What did members of the Protestant Church do in retaliation to the Nazis?

A

Led by Pastor Martin Niemoeller, in December 1933 they established the Pastors’ Emergency League and their own Confessional Church.
Niemoeller was arrested in 1937 and the Confessional Church was banned.

31
Q

Which groups of people were “undesirables”?

A
Jews
Gypsies
Homosexuals
Communists
Disabled
Beggars/tramps
Work shy
32
Q

Why did Hitler dislike disabled people?

A
  1. They cost the state money to be cared for in hospitals and have provisions made for them
  2. They weren’t able to do as much work as the usual German citizen was expected to
33
Q

Why did Hitler dislike gypsies?

A
  1. Were a different race to the “ideal German”

2. Did not conform to a traditional family set-up and would not settle down

34
Q

How did Hitler use propaganda to deal with undesirables?

A

Attempt to inspire contempt amongst the public against those who the Nazis thought were a burden upon German society

35
Q

How did Hitler use sterilisation to deal with undesirables?

A

Sterilisation is the act of preventing people from having children. Hitler passed the Sterilisation Law so the Nazis could justify sterilising people who they diagnosed with “simple mindedness” and “chronic alcoholism” (belief at the time that alcoholism was passed down genetically)

1934-45 between 320,000 and 350,000 were sterilised

36
Q

How did Hitler use concentration camps to deal with undesirables?

A

They removed unwelcome groups of people from society in, starting from around 1936.
A youth concentration camp was set up for juvenile delinquents in 1937.
Most adults were sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.

37
Q

How did Hitler use euthanasia to deal with undesirables?

A

From 1939 they used this to kill the mentally ill in secret, using lethal injections and starvation.
They killed 6,000 handicapped children.
They also used carbon monoxide gas to kill in one of 6 gas chambers constructed in mental asylums.
The programme stopped in 1941 following protests, but not before around 72,000 people had died already.

38
Q

How did Hitler use hashude to deal with undesirables?

A

Took place in Bremen and involved putting troublesome families (e.g. alcoholics, beggars, work shy, debtors, those disturbing community life, and those neglecting their children) into a camp of terraced houses and transforming them into useful members of society. They were under constant surveillance and were inspected every day by ‘welfare workers’.

39
Q

What did families who had been sent to Hashude do?

A

They were given tasks to carry out:
Men - Worked
Women - Taught household skills and how to look after children
Children - School

40
Q

What was the punishment for misbehaviour in Hashude?

A

As bad as being locked up in a dark cell for 3 days with limited food.

41
Q

When could a family leave Hashude?

A

The normal time a family remained in Hashude was 1 year, 6 months of this they were prohibited contact with other families.
After this they were either allowed to re-enter normal society if they had shown enough improvement, or be sent to a concentration camp.

42
Q

Was Hashude deemed a success or a failure?

A

A failure, because of its cost and they belief that negative traits were passed down genetically through families so couldn’t be “fixed”.
It was closed down in 1940.

43
Q

What effect did the Nuremberg Laws have on Jews?

A
  • Lost German Citizenship so no longer protected by law
  • Could be attacked or have their property destroyed without any legal right to protection
  • Signs appeared stating Jews were not welcome in places such as restaurants and cinemas
  • Illegal for them to marry/have sexual relations with Aryans
44
Q

When were the Nuremburg Laws passed?

A

September 1935

45
Q

What initiated/was used as justification for Kristallnacht

A

In 1938 a Nazi called Ernst vom Rath was murdered in Paris by a young Polish Jew.
In response Goebbels organised a nationwide attack by the SA on Jewish property.

46
Q

When did Kristallnacht happen?

A

November 9th-10th 1938

47
Q

What happened in Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)?

A

Over 7500 Jewish shops destroyed
Hundreds of synagogues burned
91 Jews murdered
30,000 Jews sent to concentration camps

48
Q

What was the aftermath of Kristallnacht?

A

Hitler blamed the Jews for “provoking the attacks” of Kristallnacht and decree:

  1. Jews to be fined 1 billion Reichsmarks as compensation for damage caused
  2. Jews can no longer manage businesses/ shops and employ workers
  3. Jewish children can no longer attend Aryan schools
49
Q

What actions were taken against Jews in 1933?

A

April: SA organised a boycott of Jewish shops and businesses
May: New law excluded Jews from government jobs + Jewish books were burnt
September: Jews banned from inheriting land + Participating in cultural activities
October: Jews banned from working as journalists

50
Q

What rules were made against Jews in 1938?

A

March: Jews had to register their possessions, making it easier to confiscate them
July: Jews had to carry identity cards + Jewish doctors, dentists, and lawyers were forbidden to treat Aryans
August: Jewish men must add “Israel” to their first names, and women “Sarah” to humiliate them
October: Red letter J stamped on their passports
November: Jewish children excluded from schools/universities following Kristallnacht