The Weimar Republic - Women, Minorities, Culture and Education Flashcards
What is a good way to describe the role and status of women in Weimar Germany?
Liberal in theory but traditional in practice
How did the political status of women improve?
- 12th November 1918 : Women were given the right to vote
- Turnout of women during 1st election was 90%
- Between 1919 -1932, 112 Women were elected to the Reichstag
- Article 109 stated that in principal women and men were equal and marriage was an equal union
How did the political status of women remain the same?
- Women’s legal status remained the same due to the German Civil Code passed in 1900
- No allowance of free contraception or abortion
- Female equality and rights divided the Reichstag
How did work and employment improve for women
- Female employment rose. By 1918, 75% of women of working age had jobs
- Greater opportunities for women to go into higher education
- On 1925, 2500 women doctors were in practice and this number had doubled by 1933
How did work and employment remain the same for women?
- Gov policy was that women gave up jobs for returning soldiers
- Only single women were supposed to work and then remain at home once married
- Usually given lower status jobs usually poorly paid manual job (over 50%) or white collar (receptionists)
- 33% pay gap between women and men
- Child care wasn’t provided for women
- Faced hostility
How did the concept of the New Woman show an increase of women’s social status?
- Traditional female behaviour abandoned
- Like flappers - cut hair short, wore shorter dresses, drank, smoked
- Had more sexual freedoms, more women engaged in premarital sex
- Supported by films and advertising industries
How did the reaction to the New Women show that the status of women remained the same?
- Politicians and press criticised their morality
- Faced wage and sexual discrimination
- Called selfish for not planning for future
- Blamed for falling birth rate
How did women benefit from the Great Depression?
Employment of Women wasn’t as badly affected as that of men as they were cheaper to employ
1932 : 33% of women were unemployed vs 46% of men
How did women suffer from the Great Depression?
- Lead to hostility towards working women who were seen to be taking the place of a man
- 20th May 1932 : Chancellor Brüning said all married working women whose husbands had jobs had to leave work
What areas of culture saw a development in Weimar Germany?
- Art
- Theatre
- Literature
- Architecture and design
How did art develop in the Weimar Republic
- The New Objectives movement developed which focused more on understanding people in everyday life
- Artist such as Dex and Georg Gros became famous - they looked a lot at the state of society in their work
How did theatre develop in the Weimar Republic?
- The Zeit theatre movement developed
- Bertold Brecht introduced politics into theatre. He wrote the Three Penny Opera which was a left wing look on a capitalist society
How did literature develop in Weimar Germany?
- There were two popular styles of writing traditional/nostalgic and modern
- Modern focuses on social issues such as the distress of the working class
- Books such as ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ and ‘Berlin Alexander Platz’ were popular
How did architecture and design develop in Weimar Germany?
- The Bauhaus movement developed - simple block colours, early flat pack style
- Movement lead by Walter Gropius
- It was simple and functional and emphasised close relation between art and technology
How did new culture reach ordinary people?
- Development of a mass culture
- Radio
- Film
- Cabaret
Describe the mass culture in Weimar Germany
- There was a mainstream culture which spread through different mode of mass media
- It was influenced by consumerism, advertising, jazz music and America
Describe the film industry in Weimar Germany
- The most advanced in Europe
- The UFA was a government ran industry ran by Alfred Hugenburg and it was composed of lost of large film studios
- Popular films were Metropolis (1926), Gold Rush (1925) and Blue Angel (1930)
What was the cabaret scene like in Weimar Germany?
- Clubs set up in the city
- Entertainment included satirical comedy, jazz music and female dancer in varying degrees of nudity
- Covered themes such as sex and politics due to the removal of gagging laws and a rise in free speech