Weimar 1.4

Question 1

What were women allowed to do before WW1?

Answer 1

couldn’t vote, could study for the profession but not take the exam, married women had no legal status- all mens business, women’s role seen as kinder, Kuche, Kirche

Question 2

What were women doing during WW1?

Answer 2

took places of men in factories, 1913-18 no women in armament manufacture, but by 1918 their were over 28,000

Question 3

What was the situation of women by the end of WW1?

Answer 3

75% of women in work, there was a surplus of women due to 1.6 m men being killed.

Question 4

what happened in the 12 Nov 1918?

Answer 4

Emergency govt gave women the right to vote

Question 5

why was the 1919 elections important for women?

Answer 5

because in the first elections, there was a90% turn out rate, women took seats in the Reichstag - 112 women elected in 1919-32

Question 6

What did Article 109 state?

Answer 6

Women should have equal rights both in marriage and employment.

Question 7

Why was Article 109 controversial?

Answer 7

the reichstag were split, some people were traditional and wanted housewives

Question 8

What was work really like for women?

Answer 8

Very hard, there was a govt policy where jobs given to women should be returned to soldiers - this caused % of women in work to fall by 36% to 34%, they were paid 33% less than men, faced discrimination and opposition

Question 9

‘New women’

Answer 9

young educated single women- wanted to be independent and abandon tradition, wore makeup had short hair- just like US flapper, widely criticised, not accepted by the old

Question 10

How did the depression effect women and their work?

Answer 10

depression + rising unemployment meant hostility increased. Although both men and women were unemployed, more men were because women were paid less. Women were last to be hired, first to be fired. Bruning issued a decree where women couldn’t work if their husbands did.

Question 11

At what age was education compulsory?

Answer 11

Ages 6-14

Question 12

What schools did the upper class and the working class children go to?

Answer 12

• Upper class- fee paying schools

- Working class- volksschule – large classes that taught basics- (reading, writing & numeracy)

Question 13

Most of the schools were what kind?

Answer 13

• Confessional, faith based schools

Question 14

What changes were made to education after war?

Answer 14

• Gov (socialists) wanted fairer education system

- Compulsory grundschule set up ( ages 6-10)

Question 15

Why was RE being made optional controversial?

Answer 15

• North approved, south objected
• Some said it taught basic morality
• So this was not agreed by other parties

Question 16

What did the centre party want in terms of education?

Answer 16

As the Education article was a compromise, the centre party wanted confessional schools and RE.
- They kept the grundschule as well

Question 17

What did the government say about Education?

Answer 17

A federal education law was needed to meet the needs of families

Question 18

What happened until the law was passed?

Answer 18

• Non confessional schools were set up

- Confessional schools were made private

Question 19

What happened when the government tried to introduce the federal school law in 1921?

Answer 19

The Reichstag disapproved

Question 20

What year was the bill passed where confessional, common and secular schools were made equal?

Answer 20

1927

Question 21

Aprox. how many schools and what type of schools were set up in 1931?

Answer 21

• 30,000 protestant schools
• 15,000 catholic schools
• 100 jewish schools
• 9000 common schools
• 295 secular schools

Question 22

what happened to education beyond the age of ten?

Answer 22

• It was paid for
• The kids career was decided at 10
• They had to decide whether to go to hauptschule (for trading and apprenticeship) , realschule (for business training) or a gymnasium (university)

Question 23

What was weimar’s culture like?

Answer 23

Vibrant and experimental, technology and modernity thoroughly influenced Germany, influential movement: Bauhaus and Neue Sachlichkeit, other parts of culture: music, art, theatre etc.

Question 24

What was Art elite culture?

Answer 24

experimental- coming up with new ideas, first they favoured modernism but then gave it a darker twist with the new objectivity movement. these movements influenced art, music, literature. Artists, intellectuals and writers formed this group

Question 25

What aspects of culture did the govt subsidise?

Answer 25

theatres, orchestra museums and libraries
subsidies were small
govt encouraged other cultural initiative
UFA- German film company subsidised.

Question 26

what aspects of culture was the most popular?

Answer 26

the young were heavily influenced from US trends- Jazz
traditional music still had wide following
weimar movies like Nosferatu were widely popular
Clara Zatkino communist and women rights campaigner agreed with New objective saying that films should show reality not fantasy

Question 27

What was the reaction to weimar cultural experimentation?

Answer 27

Weimar said free speech was a human right, censorship was only used to ban obscene movies, pornography etc. this let expressionism flourish through singing and writing

Question 28

What were the attitudes towards ethnic minorities?

Answer 28

German nationalism and idea of Volk meant ethnic minorities were regarded as equal, although they were integrated therefore low levels of discrimination and prejudice, they received low wages and were less likely to be hired by germans

Question 29

What were the attitudes towards jews?

Answer 29

blamed jews for consipiring with allies causing german defeat at war and causing the great depression, therefore they faced a lot of criticism

Question 30

facts on the attitudes towards jews

Answer 30

• there was 1% of jews in german population 1918
• 5 jews held cabinet posts
• 1922 Rathenau who became foreign minister was assassinated