To what extent were the Nazis genuinely popular between 1933-35?? Flashcards
Line of argument/ judgment
For people that conformed within the vision of the Volksgemeinschaft, the Nazis were a genuinely popular party. Rural traditionalist women who’s traditional roles had been reinforced by the Nazis when women were barred from jobs like Lawyers and medical professions were not oppressed by the Nazis and were instead offered popular welfare in the form of improved medical facilities in rural areas which made the Nazis popular among these women. Out of industrial workers and rural workers, the Nazis were probably most popular among rural workers because of the emphasis on rural utopia, and so rural workers had their costs reduced to encourage this. Young people that embraced the militaristic emphasis on their lives in the form of physical education and those that enjoyed the Hitler Youth would’ve liked the Nazis the most whereas those who wanted to go on to high level professions saw their options limited to military roles and a lack of higher education to stop them from developing ideas to challenge the Nazis; a sign that Nazism could quickly become unpopular if more freedom was given to people.
Factor 1- women
Women- Nazi’s were factually popular among women of child birthing age in terms of the number of women conforming with Nazi policies to increase the number of child births, and welfare/ incentives received. 25800 litres of milk, 1500 grocery packages delivered and 172 sets of baby clothing as part of welfare schemes to support mothers, improved maternity services, mothers cross gave out medals for women having lots of children. Birth rate rose compared to depression but did not go back to Weimar Germany levels, too much pressure to have children on women of birthing age; there was not overwhelming support from these women from the Nazis. Increase in birth may have come about from recovery from depression rather than Nazi encouragement.
-Young women in employment and education- Nazi Germany destroyed any trace of the ‘Weimar Woman’ by limiting opportunities for young women and reverting their lives back to traditionalist ways. Limited university enrolment of 10% for women, 1933 women in top civil services and medical jobs dismissed, and then banned from being judges and lawyers in 1936. In comparison, women that had remained in traditional roles benefited from welfare changes eg improved sanitation, preventative medicines etc especially in rural areas. Can be concluded that Nazis more popular among women that hadn’t made the transition to ‘weimar women’ as they benefited from new health incentives, whilst younger urban women saw a deterioration in freedom and opportunities as a result of the Nazi regime, limiting their popularity among women as a whole. Women of birthing age did not as a whole embrace the drive towards birthing a pure race.
Factor 2- Youth
Education and youth- POPULAR IN THE SHORT TERM, DECLINED IN THE LONG TERM
Education 1934-ministry of education, science and culture centralised education under Bernhard Rust, 15% of school time given to PE, biology used to delivery Nazi racial theory (ethnic classification policy (to increase birth rate among ‘pure Germans’). History was also prioritised to promote ideas of nationalism. Whilst this control over education didn’t have any short-term resentment, and many boys liked the physical education in combination to involvement in the Hitler Youth, support for the Nazis declined as they got older as they limited university opportunities to limit the extent to which people developed advanced ideas and began to question the Nazi regime. Number of students in education halved before the war. The control over education went on to include 10 ‘Adolf Hitler schools’; elite schools to prepare some of the youth for politics. The extensive control over education can be argued to have forced Nazi politics onto the youth who just put up with it rather than it being genuinely popular.
-Youth programmes- Hitler youth set up for boys between 14-18 and League of young girls (BDM) set up for girls of the same age. % increase between 1932 and 1934 of 10-18 year olds in youth groups was from 1.5% to 46.5%, suggests popularity, and went on to reach 77% in 1938, however there was a lack of choice as parents were pressurised and membership was widely compulsory. Mixed reaction from younger people, Extra-curricular activities were great compared to other European countries, offered opportunities to poorer children as well, instilled national pride in them.
-No way that all young people were happy in the system or Hitler youth even if large % of them were involved.
Much like women, the lives of the youth were heavily influenced by Nazi incentives to control their thinking and develop Nazi ideologies, as many of these ideas were forced upon than rather than being chosen. Whilst there wasn’t any mass revolts against Nazism, neither women or the youth groups appeared to be overly welcoming of the these ideas and instead just got on with them, maybe because of fear of the gestapo etc
Workers (industrial and rural)
Workers
- Industrial workers- Benefited from KDF holidays which were free and gave people new experiences, increased from 2.3mil in 1934 to 10.3 mil in 1938. Provided 7000 workers with paid jobs as well as 135,000 voluntary jobs, as well as training schemes for apprentices. Only 35,000 of 25 million males unemployed in 1939 HOWEVER the DAF replaced trade unions and limited rights and protection for workers. Harshly dealt with disobedience but people inclined to join as those who didn’t were looked down on and less likely to get jobs. Most industries ignored in favour for munitions and war related work. Wages only reached above 1929 levels in 1939. The Nazis valued the work of industrial workers as they got closer to the war, so despite the impact of the DAF, there were good opportunities for these workers under the KDF holidays as well as lots of employment and they probably were genuinely popular among them
- Agricultural workers- Darre’s drive towards a ‘rural utopia’ under the saying of ‘blood and soil’ to reverse the drive towards urbanisation made the Nazi’s very popular among peasants and farmers. Farm debts and mortgages were written off, interest rates were kept low, Reich food estate from 1933 supported agricultural production and kept food prices low. The Nazi regime failed to sustain aid to rural workers in the long term and the commitment to the war took farmers away from their farms. Overall Nazis were popular among these workers too as there was clear commitment from some people in Nazi regime to help them, even though these policies failed to improve wages of both industrial workers and farmers. Most popular among the working classes who still liked the Nazis because of a wide range of extensive benefits they introduced for them in the short term and maybe blamed the depression and the war for the lack of prosperity instead of blaming the Nazis. It was more beneficial for workers to support the Nazis than to not, so fear could be said to have played a factor in their support for them
