Social Policies Flashcards
Religion breakdown in the 1930s
Protestant - 60%, particularly in northern and central Germany, as well as Wurttemberg and East Prussia
Catholic - 40%, particularly in Bavaria and eastern Germany
Long-term Nazi religious aim
- replace Christianity with German Faith Movement
- all church groups banned in 1936
- parents pressured to not send their kids to faith schools
- faith schools had pretty much all disappeared by 1939
- ‘Church Secession Campaign’ - urged Germans to leave the church
- German Faith Movement had 3.5 million member in 1939
Nazism v. Protestant church
- July 1933: Reich Church established, aimed to co-ordinate with Protestant churches
- 1934: confessional church breaks from Reich church
- Bonhoeffer and Niemoller arrested
- 1936: Nazism and its policies criticised by confessional minutes
- hundreds arrested and sent to concentration camps as a result
- most released however
- around 800 Protestant ministers were arrested under Nazism, with 50 given long prison sentences
Nazism v. Catholic church
- July 1933: Vatican promised to not interfere with politics if the Nazis promised not to interfere with church issues, including schools and youth clubs - Concordat
- 1936: all religious youth groups banned
- order was set out to bane crucifixes in classrooms but this was withdrawn due to public outcry
- 1937: papal encyclical smuggled into Germany and read from pulpits (catholic documentation)
- encyclical accused Nazis of breaking the Concordat
Impact of Nazi religious policies
- 100s of ministers and priest arrested
- opposition to Nazi regime based on religion increased during WW2, particularly concerning sterilisation and euthanasia
- Germans returned to Christian churches during the war, suggesting that success of nazi religious policy was superficial
- faith schools and religious youth groups disappeared
Women - organisations
NSF
- Nazi Women’s organisation
- coordinated all of the women’s organisations to ensure they abided by Nazi policy
Reich Mothers Service
- looked after young mothers and pregnant women, and even those that were unmarried
DFW
- German Women’s Enterprise
- ran Mother’s schools, teaching them how to be mother and housewives
Gertrud Scholtz-Klink led the Nazi women’s organisations
Women - laws/policies restricting women
Law for the Reduction of Unemployment (1933)
- marriage loans given to women who quit their job or remained without one
Women banned from top civil service and medical jobs in 1933
- Guidelines instructed the appointment of male applicants over female applicants if both were equally qualified
Women banned from befit lawyers and judges in 1936
university places for women restricted to 10%
Women - policies targeted at increasing Aryan births
Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933)
- gave newly-weds a loans
High taxes were introduced for childless couples
Divorce was made easier in 1938, aiming at freeing unproductive couples to find partners with whom they old have more children
contraception information was restricted
abortion penalties were raised
Propaganda was used to inspire girls to become mothers
Lebensborn programme
- set up in 1935
- set up places where Aryan women could be impregnated by SS men
Women - policies to limit births of undesirables
January 1934: forced sterilisation of undesirables began in mental hospitals
- gypsies, homosexuals, asocials, and mixed raced children were sterilised
Blood Protection Law (October 1935) - prevented marriage between Aryan and a Jews, black person or gypsy
- a fitness to marry certificate was required
the impact of law and policies on women
- many girls and women were given more opportunities by organisations
- most women at the timer were low-paid and hard working, so welcomed a financial incentive to marry and have kids
- improvement in healthcare for pregnant women and new mothers
- there was an increase in the number of women in the workforce
- however, women in professions and high education were highly restricted
- also any women not of aryan blood was negatively impacted by policies
- Average no. of children per marriage fell from 3.6 in 1933 to 3.3 in 1939
- birth rate rose slightly compared with the early 1930s but this could just be due to economic optimism contrasting with the Great Depression years
- 4.2 million women worked outside the home in 1933, and this increased to 6.2 million in 1939
DAF timeline
- by the 6th May 1933 all independent trade unions were banned
- DAF represented all workers and employers
- led by Dr. Robert Lay
- In 1933 membership was 5 million, and in 1939 it was 22 million
- DAF provided 2.5 million vocational training courses in 1936
- in 1938, it was introduced that workers could put aside RM5 a week towards a VW
- however, no cars were ever received since in 1939 car manufacturing switched to military needs
Aims of the DAF
- for workers and employers to work together to achieve Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community)
KdF
- Strength Through Joy
- created in 1933 by DAF
- aimed to improve worker’s fitness and morale by implementing leisure activities
- over 10.3 million holidays were provided by KdF in 1938
- since the Volksgemeinschaft should be fit and healthy, the most popular activity was sports
SdA
- Beauty of Work
- to improve working conditions, such as introducing better lighting, heating, proper work clothes, lockers, improved hygiene, and canteens
RAD
- Reich Labour Service
- every male aged 18-25 must serve six months working for the community from 1935 onwards
- this was usually on a farm on public works
- this organisation was regimented
- time was spent away from home in barracks
- RAD was extended to women in 1939
