Nazi social policies Flashcards
When was the Hitler Youth created?
1926
When did membership to the Hitler Youth become mandatory?
1939
What was the initialism for the League of German Girls?
BDM
What was the motto of the League of German Girls?
“be faithful, be pure, be German”
How did the Nazi regime control schools?
1933 Law against the Overcrowding of Schools and Universities = limit number of Jewish children
Control over teachers:
1933 Law for the Re-establishments of a Professional Civil Service
=dismissed Jewish teachers
Teachers persuaded to join the National Socialist League
Vetting of textbooks
Control over the curriculum:
Nazi aim to promote “racial health”= increase emphasis on physical education
Geography used to develop awareness of the concept of Lebensraum “living space”
How did the Nazi regime control Universities?
-Women attendance=restricted to 10%
-Jews restricted to 1.5% (proportionate to their population)
-Restoration of a Professional Civil Service
=about 1200 university staff were dismissed on racial or political grounds
=teachers forced to sign a “declaration in support of Hitler and the National Socialist state”
=Very little opposition or resistance as Nazi’s were tapping into existing Nationalist ideology, arguably, by 1939 Nazi’s were successful in bringing schools and universities under their control
What was the three word motto for German Woman to follow?
Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
What did the 1933 Law for the Encouragement of Marriage do?
Gave a loan of 1000 marks = 400,000 couples took up the loan
What was the mother’s cross?
Medals for having children
Gold -8
Silver-6
Bronze- 4
What did the Lebensborn program do?
Encourage young unmarried women to have children with racially pure SS soldiers
How successful were early policies to incentivise women to play their role in the Volksgemeinschaft?
Early years 6% drop in employment 1932-1937
But with conscription and 1936 Four Year Plan trying to accelerate rearmament = left gaps in the workforce to be filled by women
When was the German Labour Front (DAF) established?
6 may 1933
Who was the leader of the DAF?
Robert Ley
What was the two main aims of the German labour Front?
1)Win the workers over to the Volksgemeinschaft
2)Encourage workers to encourage their production
What was the Strength through Joy?
= workers gain strength for their work by experiencing joy in their leisure
-wanted to submerge the individual in the mass and encourage workers to see themselves as part of the Volksgemeinschaft
By 1936 how many people belonged to the Strength through Joy?
35 million
Membership of KdF was automatic with membership of the DAF
What was the Tourism through KdF?
-luxury cruises to foreign destinations
designed to show the world to show how technologically superior Germany was under Nazi regime
Reality= too expensive for actual workers and mainly had drunken riots occurring
What was the Beauty through Labour Scheme?
Department devoted to improving workplace conditions
-aimed to get workers to work harder
-regime claimed that by 1938 34,000 companies had improved their working conditions but in reality the workers had to bear most of the costs
What was the extent of the success of Nazi policies towards workers by 1939?
=evidence from SOPADE and Gestapo reports show that worker’s reactions were mixed
KdF was popular not because workers shared Nazi ideology but because it offered a means of escaping the boredom and pressures of work
What were the Nazi policies towards the churches?
Policy towards religion= confusing because Nazis were slower to directly attack the churches, yet Nazism was fundamentally anti-Christian
To begin Nazi’s adopted a conciliatory approach, implying that Protestantism could be integrated into the Nazi state e.g Day of Potsdam
BUT underlying aim to replace Christianity with “Teutonic paganism” through a German faith movement
=replace Christian rituals with pagan equivalent , emphasising the ideas of “blood and soil” and Germanic nationalists
=clear plan never fully outlined but believe that Christianity would gradually recline in popularity
What was Nazi social policies towards the Reich Church?
By mid 1933 desire to coordinate the main protestant church into a Reich Church
with Nazi loyalist Ludwig Muller as Bishop of the Reich
HOWEVER
rise in the confessional church in 1934 showed coordination not working but regime unwilling to supress too quickly
-closure of youth groups and state employees to renounce their faith
=limited success by 1939
In census only 5% recorded as belonging to Nazi German Faith movement, with some still people still declaring themselves as Protestant
BUT equally little direct challenge from the Church (as the confessional church was opposed to Nazi take over of religion nothing else)
What were Nazi polices towards the Catholic Church?
-Catholics = less likely to be won over by the Nazi ideology due to allegiance to the pope but in
July 1933 Concordat signed (cooperation for protection)
However Nazis soon break this by forcing organisations to close and seizing property as well as several leading catholics being killed in the NOLK e.g Fritz Gerlich
April 1937= Pope issues encyclical “With burning anxiety”
sooooo………….
Nazis increase pressure, with SS embedded within catholic organisations and closer of all Catholic schools by 1939
(Facades of concordat maintained to avoid international repercussions but suppression constantly being ramped up and influence of Catholic church sig weakened
How far did Social Policies succeed in creating a Volksgemeinschaft to support Nazism?
= opinion polls taken indicate a strong legacy of popular support for the regime and Volksgemeinschaft
e.g 1948 Public questioned- do you think National Socialism was a good idea only badly carried out?
=Yes 57% and 28% No
What were the benefits of Nazi Rule for Germans?
Full employment
Welfare through KdF
Return to traditional family values
Profits for big businesses
What were the drawbacks of Nazi rule?
Loss of freedom and Civil rights
Living standards fell
Atmosphere of fear
