Theme 4- Aspects of Life 1918-1933

Question 1

What is meant by the phrase ‘new woman’?

Answer 1

They were younger women in Germany who were different in their appearance, behavious and employment from the older generation. Their clothes were less traditional either shorter dresses or masculine clothes, they had shorter hair (Bubikopf), smoke and drank, worked, had strong political beliefs and became more important and inflential in society.

Question 2

How many women were elected in the Reichstag in 1920 and how did this change over the years?

Answer 2

Over 100 but this declined over the years, e.g. only 26 in 1926.

Question 3

What was the Frauenüberschuss?

Answer 3

The surplus of 2 million women in Germany in 1918 due to male casualties in the war.

Question 4

What percentage of women worked in the paid labour force in 1925?

Answer 4

Around a third of all women.

Question 5

What did the League for the Protection of Mothers campaign for?

Answer 5

Free abortion and government financial assistance for unmarried mothers.

Question 6

What sort of jobs did women do?

Answer 6

Welfare inspectors, child and family counsellors, health officers, teachers, nurses, factory jobs, office jobs, retail etc. Mostly in caring and nurturing roles and even the SPD assumed women would still take on caring roles.

Question 7

What was the double shift?

Answer 7

Although many women worked, they were still expected to do all domestic chores meaning they were working twice as hard as men.

Question 8

Which women did and didn’t experience change?

Answer 8

In 1925, almost all female white-collar workers were single and 2/3 were under 25. Only young single women in cities really experienced change while married women were generally expected to stay at home. Women in rural areas were typically more traditional so kept their traditional roles.

Question 9

What sort of jobs couldn’t women do?

Answer 9

Working in important government ministries like economics or defence.

Question 10

What happened to women as a result of the Great Depression?

Answer 10

Women were blamed for the cultural degeneration and economic crisis. Many men saw the new woman as a threat to the very existence of the nation and race.

Question 11

Were abortion and contraception illegal?

Answer 11

Abortion was illegal although they still took place- 1 million abortions in 1930. Contraception wasn’t illegal but it was hard to come across and it was illegal to advertise it until 1927.

Question 12

How did women’s political rights change?

Answer 12

They gained the right to vote in the Weimar constitution and could be elected into the Reichstag.

Question 13

What did Article 113 of the Weimar constitution say?

Answer 13

It guaranteed the rights of ethnic minorities, covering their culture, religion and language.

Question 14

Who in particular was persecuted during the Weimar years despite Article 113?

Answer 14

Gypsies- in 1930 Frankfurt passed an Act to remove the ‘gypsy plague’.
Eastern European Jews- the majority of judges were traditional nationalists and many were anti-semites, not always willing to uphold Jewish rights. There were over 700 anti-semitic journals in circulation in Weimar Germany.

Question 15

Were Jews well integrated into society?

Answer 15

Most German Jews were well integrated into society but Eastern European Jews were not and they faced discrimination. Many Germans would only accept Jews who renounced their religious and cultural heritage. Some Germans thought Jews were a race and could never be truly German because they were naturally different.

Question 16

What was the League of German Defence and Defiance?

Answer 16

A strongly anti-semitic group that had over 200,000 members when it was banned in 1922.

Question 17

How were black Jazz musicians from America treated?

Answer 17

Black people were seen as racially inferior but most were treated well enough with black musicians having a lot of freedom and status in Germany. They could earn 4 times as much in Germany that they could in the USA.

Question 18

What was the economic situation for Jews like?

Answer 18

11% of doctors and 16% of lawyers were Jewish and 5 cabinet members were of Jewish descent. However, only 1% of senior bankers were Jews and few Jews owned or managed growing chemical or high-tech industries. Middle class Jews also lost their savings in the hyperinflationary crisis.

Question 19

Which ethnic minority groups were mostly treated well?

Answer 19

Poles and Danes who were allowed to keep their culture and languages.

Question 20

What was education like before Weimar?

Answer 20

Most schools were confessional (organised by churches) schools. It was difficult for poorer children to progress to higher education or enter the professions. Universities were very conservative both in curriculum and organisation. School teaching was rigid and authoritarian.

Question 21

How was religious control of schools reduced?

Answer 21

Through the removal of clerical inspections and the dominance of confessional schools. Churches no longer had the right to run state schools.

Question 22

How was teaching improved?

Answer 22

Some progressive teachers replaced authoritarian rote-learning methods with more child-friendly styles of teaching. Teachers were also required to have reached the Abitur (A Level) standard to teach in schools.

Question 23

How was access to education increased?

Answer 23

Elite prep schools were abolished and replaced with Grundschulen which was compulsory for all children and lasted 4 years. The Aufbauschule was introduced which gave a Gymnasium style education to academically gifted poor children. Girls were given greater access to higher education.

Question 24

In what ways did religious influence remain in schools?

Answer 24

By 1930, still 80% of primary education was in ‘confessional’ schools. No national, uniform system of primary education was imposed, partly because of the religious issue with opposition from groups like the Catholic School Organisation. Churches retained the right to run private schools.

Question 25

How did teaching stay the same?

Answer 25

Universities were not reformed and 3 out of 4 types of state funded secondary schools continued the pre-war approach to education like the prestigious Gymnasium.

Question 26

How did access to education remain the same?

Answer 26

The class divide remained and only 2.3% of graduates were working class.

Question 27

What were the main barriers to changing education?

Answer 27

Wealthy, privileged families wanted to keep the advantage of better education for their children. The traditional religious influence meant that many private schools in particular were not reformed.

Question 28

What did Article 118 of the Weimar constitution say?

Answer 28

It gave all Germans freedom of speech and expression and abolished censorship.

Question 29

How did culture differ in urban and rural areas?

Answer 29

Urban areas were more radical with cabaret, nightlife, naked dancers, female wrestling, homosexuality, expressionism, theatre, poetry etc. Rural areas were more conservative and they feared the alternative sexual lifestyle. They were typically church going, nationalistic, anti-communist and anti-semitic. They believed that decadence was leading to moral and cultural decline.

Question 30

What was jazz music like?

Answer 30

It was very popular along with fashion and dances from the USA. Jazz musicians toured Berlin and Hamburg in 1925.

Question 31

What was theatre like?

Answer 31

The Threepenny Opera was a critique of the capitalist world and Ziettheatre was experimental street theatre.

Question 32

What was architecture and design like?

Answer 32

The Bauhaus school merged geometric shapes with new materials like glass, steel and reinforced concrete. It used international modernist styles instead of traditional German styles.

Question 33

What was literature like?

Answer 33

All Quiet on the Western Front was an anti-war novel and became a bestseller. Some novels romanticised the past such as Storm of Steel but most embraced the new culture and were very popular.

Question 34

What was art like?

Answer 34

Art was expressionist and could be very shocking. It was more about the artist than the object and key figures included Otto Dix and George Grosz. Examples are The War Invalid and John the Sex Murderer by Otto Dix.

Question 35

What was cinema like?

Answer 35

Weimar was the centre of exciting film making and cinema used new techniques to create visual sequences that reflected the expressionist movement. An example is Fritz Lang’s Metropolis which was an expressionist sci-fi film.

Question 36

What was cabaret like?

Answer 36

Berlin had a lot of cabaret clubs and was a centre of European culture. These saw political satire mixed with bawdy songs and strippers. The musical Cabaret is set in the Kit Kat Klub in Berlin.

Question 37

What are some examples of decadence?

Answer 37

There was a greater tolerance of homosexuality and sexual liberation. For example the El Dorado Nightclub was a crossdressing club.

Question 38

What was the impact of Weimar culture?

Answer 38

Artists like Grosz were KPD sympathisers and were anti-Weimar. While they attacked the Nazis, they also attacked the republic. Weimar culture was also strongly criticised by the extreme right and the Nazis and DNVP said that the experimentation in the arts as a symptom of decadence and decline. In the late 1920s, right wing extremists campaigned against the ‘filth’ and ‘rubbish’ that artists were producing.

Question 39

In what ways did German culture not change in the 1920s?

Answer 39

Rural areas were not exposed to cultural change- by 1932 radio reception was available in only 10% of small villages so these people wouldn’t hear jazz music.
Traditional culture like choral singing, folk dancing, church festivals and beer halls were still more popular than new culture like cabaret clubs.
Modernist architecture ideas using steel and glass had been introduced before the war although they became more popular later.