Social and cultural changes in the Weimar Republic Flashcards
How many people were unemployed in Weimar Germany in:
1926?
1928?
1926: 2 million
1928: 1.3 million
What did the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1927 do?
Charged 16.4 million workers 3% of their wages (with employers matching their contributions) to provide an average of 60 marks per week in benefits if a worker fell out of work
What happened to the length of the working week between 1925 and 1927?
Decreased, from 50 hours in 1925 to 46 hours in 1927
What happened to real wages between 1925 and 1928?
Increased by 25%
What was introduced in 1925 to fund building associations to build new houses?
A 15% rent tax
Between 1925 and 1929, how many houses were built by:
Private companies?
Building associations?
Private companies: 37,000
Building associations: 64,000
How much more public money was spent on housing in 1929 compared to 1913?
33 times more
What did the government spend 40% of its money on in the 1920s?
War-related pensions for widows and orphans (2.5 million people)
What did the 1920 Reich Pension Law do?
Ensure 750,000 war veterans were paid a pension
What happened to the number of students in higher education between 1913 and 1928?
Increased: from 70,000 to 110,000
What was the turnout of women voters in the first Reichstag elections? Was this more or less than male voters?
90%
More
What percentage of the Reichstag was female by 1932?
Almost 10 per cent
What three things were included in Article 109 of the Weimar Constitution?
1) Women had equal rights with men
2) Marriage was an equal partnership, with equal rights on both sides
3) Women should be able to enter all professions on an equal basis with men
What happened to the percentage of women in work between 1918 and 1925?
Fell: from 75% to 36%
How much less were women paid on average than men in the same work in the 1920s?
33% less
How many female judges were there in Germany by 1933?
Only 36
What jobs were particularly popular amongst women in the 1920s?
Part-time jobs in shops and offices
What happened to the number of doctors in Germany between 1925 and 1932?
Doubled: from 2,500 in 1925 to 5,000 in 1932
Who were the Weimar Republic’s “new women”?
Young, unmarried working women in cities with greater financial and social independence
How did the “new women” dress and behave?
Went out more, unaccompanied
Wore short hair, more make-up, more jewellery and more revealing clothes
Smoke and drank more
What happened to the birth rate in Germany between 1913 and 1925?
Fell from 128 births per 1,000 women in 1913, to 80 per 1,000 women in 1925
What happened to the divorce rate in Germany between 1913 and the 1920s?
Increased: from 27 divorces per 100,000 people in 1913, to 60 per 100,000 people in the 1920s
Why did many Germans oppose the “new women”?
Believed equality and greater independence for women threatened traditional aspects of society
Give two reasons why there was an increase in cultural energy in 1920s Germany
1) The new Weimar Constitution enshrined freedoms in law such as freedom of speech
2) Economic recovery after 1924 created wealth to finance the arts
What were the three new ways of looking at the arts in Weimar Germany?
1) New Objectivism: to show life as it really is
2) Modernism: to embrace the future
3) Expressionism: to reflect the thoughts and feelings of the artist
How did the Weimar government support the arts?
Gave grants to support art galleries, theatres, orchestra, museums and libraries
Give two examples of expressionist artists in Weimar Germany
Otto Dix
George Grosz
Who designed the Einstein Tower and what style influenced this building?
Erich Mendelsohn
Modernism
Which science-fiction film was directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1926?
Metropolis
How many German cinemas were there by 1932?
3,800
When did radio broadcasts begin in Germany?
1923
How many radio sets were there in Germany by 1930?
4 million
Which book, published in 1929, challenged the ‘Dolchstoss’ view of how Germany lost the war and sold half a million copies?
All Quiet on the Western Front
Which Weimar composer experimented with atonality in music (music not in a major or minor key)?
Arnold Schoenberg
What did Weimar playwrights believe about the theatre?
It should connect with the public
How many theatres were there in 1920s Berlin?
40
What did right-wing political parties think about the cultural changes of the 1920s?
Strongly opposed them and blamed them on the ‘un-German’ Weimar Republic
Why did the KPD oppose the cultural changes of the Weimar Republic?
Believed the money should be spent on those who needed basic help
Why did theatres begin to experiment less from 1929?
Public spending cuts - focused on more popular productions
What percentage of households in towns could receive radio by 1932? How did this compare to small villages?
Towns: 46%
Small villages: 10%
