Social Flashcards
What are living standards?
The quality of housing, matierial comfort, and wealth experienced by an individual or group
How did living standards for working class improve?
Those who were represented by powerful trade unions able to negotiate higher wages
How did people on benefits’ living standards improve?
They were prevented from abject poverty (maximum degree of poverty)
How did businesses’ living standards improve?
• Owners and employees benefited from trading position
How did farmers suffer?
• Poor trading conditions and low prices
- Income was falling
How much Social welfare was active in 1926 and increased in 1927?
•1926:
800 000 disabled war veterans
360 000 war widows
Over 900 000 orphans
Old age pensioners
• Unemployed people were also given social welfare after 1927
What reforms were made to social welfare in 1924, 1925 and 1927?
•1924: Public Assistance System was modernised (help for poor/destitute)
•1925: The state accident insurance system extended to occupational diseases
•1927: A national unemployment system was introduced
What were the limitations to social welfare?
• Very expensive, also it required a large and expensive bereaucracy to administer it
• Those who were paying towards welfare tried to keep spending down by ysing means tests, snoopers and delaying payments
• People felt that it promised more than it could deliver
• People on welfare felt humiliated
What was happening within the youth?
Turning increasingly towards a life of crike and anti-social behaviour
What was the problem with unemployment within youth?
• Given benefits (government expenditure)
• People were seeking employment at a time that businesses were reducing their workforces
• Increased unemployment and fewer apprenticeships taken up
• In 1925-26, 17% of the unemployed were in the 14-21 age group
When was the Wandervogel group set up and what did it do?
•1896
• Middle-class boys, non-political but highly nationalist views, hated industrialisation, hiked in forests, some adopted nudism and vegetarianism
Which church youth groups were there and what did they do?
• Catholic: Had groups for different sections of young people, very popular
• Protestant: Much smaller
• Both wanted to promote religious observance and instill respect
What political youth groups were there?
• Social democratic youth movement (SPD) founded in 1925, most popular
• Young communist league founded in 1925, for children of KPD
• The Bismarck youth founded in 1922, linked to the DNVP
• Hitler Youth founded in the 1920s, linked to Nazis
What were the 2 kinds of school?
• Gymnasium schools: Meant for those who wanted to go to university, often with higher classes. Were not attended to as much.
• Realschule: For those who wanted apprenticeships
What did reformers want to do with education?
• Break down the divide between social class and religion within schools
- Introduction of primary schools which provided a comprehensive, non-sectarian, free for all pupils school
• Were unable to remove the church’s influence on education
What was the new woman?
• Didn’t want to be housewives
• Independant
• Expressed themselves freely
What did women gain?
• Equal voting rights, pay, access to education, oppurtunity in civil rights appointments
• There were women in politics
• Major change in gender balance due to the war
- Led to more women in paid employment
Who was unsupportive of the new woman?
• Conservative parties
- Women voted higher for conservative parties
• The church
How did the constitution get ignored within women’s rights?
• The constitution gave women new legal and civil rights, however the more traditional civil code of 1896 remained in force (e.g. the husband deciding if the woman took up paid employment)
What was the League of German women (BDF) ?
•Promoted traditional family values and maternal responsibilities
• Most popular womens’ group inthe 1920s
- 900 000 members
How much of the population did Jews make up and what was their view on Germany?
• 1% of population
• Many believed in assimilation and were nationalists of Germany
Which 2 Jewish publishing firms were extremely influential in media?
The Berliner Tageblatt and the Frankfurter Zeitung
Who was Theodor Wolff?
• Editor of the Berliner Tageblatt
• Jewish
• Was the driving force behind the moderate Liberal DDP
Who was Walther Rathenau?
• Jewish
• Leading member of the DDP
• Foreign minister in 1922
Which two parties were Jews prominent in?
SPD and KPD
What was the Barmat scandal of 1925?
• 3 brothers (Julius, Salomon and Henri Barmat) were Jewish businessmen
• Convicted of having bribed public officials to obtain loans
• Julius and Salomon convicted 11 months in prison
• Extreme right wing parties used this against Jews and created stereotypes
How many private banks did Jewish people own?
~50%
How many banks did Jewish people own?
~18%
How many firms in the cloth trade did Jewish people own?
Almost half
What percentage of lawyers and doctors were Jews?
16% of lawyers, 11% of doctors
What percentage of Nobel prizes awarded to people working in Germany were awarded to Jews?
24%
