Nazi economic, social and racial policy Flashcards
Who was The National Labour Service Corps (Reichsarbeitsdienst, RAD) made compulsory for from 1935?
Men aged 18-25
When was the RAD extended to women?
1939
What was the intention of the RAD?
To encourage the spirit of National Socialism whilst also providing Germany with a cheap labour force
How did Nazis keep down unemployment figures?
- Dubious methods e.g. not including Jews
- Build up of armed forces
What was the result of Nazi road building programmes?
7000kms of autobahns built
How many workers were listed as unemployed out of a workforce of 25 million in 1939?
35,000
When was conscription reintroduced and what effect did this have on the German army?
- 1935
- The army grew from 100,000 in 1933 to 1,400,000 by 1939
What happened to heavy industry usage between 1933 and 1939?
Heavy industries such as coal and chemical usage doubled
How many marks were spent of rearmament?
- 3.5 billion marks were spent on rearmament
- This increased to 26 billion by 1939
How many members did the DAF have by the end of 1939?
22 million members, making it the largest organisation in Nazi Germany
What did the DAF include?
Employers and workers and was supposed to represent the the interests of both
What were members of the DAF given?
- Relatively high wages
- Job security
- Social and leisure programmes
What was the Volkswagen scheme launched by the DAF in 1938?
- Gave workers an opportunity to buy their own car
- Not a single customer took delivery of a car as production shifted to military vehicles in 1939
What was the Strength through joy (KdF) programme?
- Set up to improve leisure time for German workers
- This included concerts, sporting events and holidays
How many people went on KdF holidays in Germany in 1938?
10 million
What was the Beauty of Work programme set up by the KdF?
- A programme set up to improve working conditions
- It organised the building of canteens, swimming pools and sports facilities
What was the Nazi view of women?
- Very traditional
- Nazi ideals suggested that the ideal woman did not wear make up, did not work and did not hold an interest in politics.
- Women were encouraged to keep healthy and wear their hair in buns or plaits.
- Women were discouraged from slimming as this was bad for childbearing
What was the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage and when was it introduced?
Introduced in 1933 to increase Germany’s birth rate.
What happened on Hitler’s mother’s birthday?
- Medals were awarded to women with large families
What was the Lebensborn (Life Springs) programme?
Set up to force unmarried women to become pregnant by ‘racially pure’ SS men
What were the 3 Ks that women were encouraged to stick to?
Kinder, Kuche, Kirche – Children, Kitchen, Church
What were professional women forced to do?
Give up their jobs
When was the policy that forced women to give up their jobs reversed and why?
- From 1937
- Germany was rearming. Men were joining the army
What did Hitler use the education system to do?
Indoctrinate the Nazi ideals onto Germany’s youth
What did school textbooks have to be approved by?
- The Ministry of education
- Mein Kampf became a standard text
What did school teachers have to do?
- Swear loyalty to Hitler
- Join the Nazi Teachers’ League
What percentage of teachers were members of the Nazi party by the end of 1936?
36%
What did all lessons begin and end with?
The students saluting and saying ‘Heil Hitler’
What percentage of time was dedicated to physical education?
15%
What was enforced through Hitler Youth?
Nazi ideals such as obedience, following the Fuhrer and racial purity
When was membership of Hitler Youth made compulsory?
From 1939
How many members of Hitler Youth were there by 1939?
7 million
How were non-Germnans treated?
Like second class citizens
What were Hitler’s theories based on?
Social Darwinism
What did Nazis believe about the German race?
Germans were a pure race of Aryan descent
What were Jews and Slavs considered by the Nazis?
‘subhumans’ (Untermenschen)
How did Hitler aim to achieve a pure racial state?
Selective breeding and destroying the Jews
What did the government put into classrooms?
Anti-semitic material
When were Jewish teachers banned to give private tuition to German students?
1936
When were all Jewish children expelled from German schools?
1938
What happened to discrimination in the 1930s?
Legal and open discrimination increased in the 1930s, resulting in many Jews leaving Germany
Who organised and when was the boycott of Jewish shops and businesses?
- Organised by the SA
- 1933
When were Jews banned from public spaces?
1934
What were the Nuremberg Laws and when were they passed?
- A series of laws against the Jews
- Passed 1935
What happened on the 8th November 1938?
- A Polish Jew assassinates a German, in the German Embassy, in Paris
- Goebbles used this as an opportunity for retaliation against the Jews of Germany
What was Kristallnacht?
Anti-Jewish demonstrations , which involved attacks on Jewish property, shops and synagogues across Germany
The events happened on the 9-10 November
What was the result of Kristallnacht?
- About 100 Jews were killed
- 20,000 were sent to concentration camps
- 7,500 businesses were destroyed
- Jews were no longer permitted to own businesses
Who did Hitler blame for provoking the attacks of Kristallnacht?
The Jews
How much were the Jews fined as compensation for the damage during Kristallnacht?
1 billion Reichsmarks
When was the Reich Office for Jewish Emigration established?
January 1939
When were jews evicted and where were they forced to live?
- From 30th April 1939
- Forced to live in ghettos
Why were Jews forced to hand in radio sets in 1939?
So that they could not listen to foreign news
