Nazi Social and Economic Policies Flashcards
Explain Nazi economic policies
THE GERMAN LABOUR FRONT
- the German Labour front was set up to replace trade unions
- gave workers an extra day holiday
- workers had no opportunity to campaign for more pay or increased working conditions
- workers couldnt leave a job without permission from the Government
- an attendance and behaviour booklet was issued to workers
- couldn’t be employed without this workbook
- working hours increased from 60 to 72 with no more pay
- employed Germans were earning on average 10x more than unemployed Germans on benefits
THE GERMAN LABOUR SERVICE
- forced 16-18 year old boys to work for the government for 6 months
- workers wore military style uniforms and built public things such as the autoban.
- workers were grateful as people were employed
STREGNTH THROUGH JOY
THE NAZIS OFFERED:
- cheap holidays to workers
- in 1938, over 180,000 workers went on state subsidised cruises
- every worker an affordable family car, the Volkswagen Beetle.
- pay of 5 marks a week
- didn’t actually happen for the cars and pay because people had to help pay for war preparations
Describe the Nazi’s use of militarism
- the Nazis wanted Germany to be a militaristic state and to be prepared for war at any time
- Hitler Youth taught boys to be perfect when they entered the army
- rearmament involved increasing the amount of military weapons
- the army size was increased from 100,000 men to 1,400,000 men
- all men under 25 had to carry out at least 2 years of military service
- conscription was introduced in 1935 and most young men were drafted into the army
- from 1936 to 1939, Hitler’s armed forces helped fascist leader Franco to victory in the Spanish Civil War. This provided the Nazis with an opportunity to train men, and test equipment and tactics
Describe Nazi youth movements and use of education.
YOUTH GROUPS
- most boys were encouraged to join Hitler Youth
- it taught survival techniques, military skills, and the importance of physical fitness
- was popular with some but made compulsory in 1939
- girls were encouraged to join the League of German Maidens
- taught of motherhood and how to be a good wife
- women were expected to have large families and earned rewards depending on how many children they had
EDUCATION
- controlled by the state
- developed young people to believe in Nazi ideology
- teachers had to tech a specific curriculum as they were to join the ‘National Socialist Teacher’s League’
- anti-Nazi Jewish teachers were sacked
- school subjects were given a pro-Nazi bias
- biology taught that pure Germans were superior
- textbook were rewritten
- books emphasized militarism, and Nazi political and racial beliefs
- regular P.E.
- girls attended classes which taught them how to be good mothers and wives
- specialist schools (Napolas) were set up for those destined to become Nazi leaders
Explain the role of women in Nazi Germany
- center of family life, housewives and mothers
- female doctors, teachers, and civil servants were forced to give up their jobs
- Hitler wanted Germany to have a high birth rate
- the Nazis even considered making it mandatory for at least 4 children per family
- the law for the encouragement of marriage, gave newly-wed couples a loan of 1,000 marks, and allowed them to keep 250 marks for each child they had
- women who has more than 8 children were given a gold medal
- women were to wear plain outfits, hair in plaits or buns, and flat shoes
- they were expected not to wear makeup or trousers, dye their hair or smoke in public
Describe the Nuremberg Rallies
- the rallies grew from small-scaled in 1923 to being held on purpose-built grounds in 1933
- would involve hundreds and thousands of Nazis including party members, armed forces, and youth groups
- rallies were used as propaganda to show other countries that they were ordered, powerful, and under control from the Nazis
FEATURES OF THE RALLIES INCLUDED:
- Nazis in immaculate military dress
- marches by soldiers with flags, accompanied by drums
- torchlight processions
- speeches by Hitler and other leading Nazis
