weimar

• Defeat in 1918 led to the Kaiser's abdication, a republic and a new constitution
• The new Germany faced huge problems, not least those caused by its punishment in the Treaty of Versailles
• Hourly wages rose in real terms (ie above inflation) every year from 1924 to 1930, with a rise of 10 per cent in 1928 alone
• Pensions and sickness benefits schemes were introduced
• Compulsory unemployment insurance was introduced in 1927, which covered 17 million workers
• Government subsidies were provided for the building of local parks, schools and sports facilities, and there was a massive programme of council house construction
• Despite all of this, a large increase in the working age population during the mid-20s led to increasing unemployment, and farmers in particular suffered from declining incomes
• Women experienced pressure to return to their 'traditional' role as wives and mothers
• During times of economic crisis, such as the hyperinflation of 1923 and during the Great Depression, women returning home were seen as a solution to the problem of unemployment
• However, during the recovery of the mid-1920s women were welcomed into the workforce
• The number of women in work was 1.7 million higher in 1925 than it had been in 1907
• Women were increasingly taking on white collar jobs, though these were mainly done by single women under 25
• Overall, the percentage of women in work only rose by less than 1 per cent between 1907 and 1925
• German women achieved the vote on an equal basis with men when the new German constitution was announced in August 1919, along with the right to be elected to the Reichstag and all other governmental bodies
• Progress for women in politics during the Weimar Republic

  • Women participated in democracy
  • Politicians recognised women
  • Women became politicians
• Limitations for women in politics during the Weimar Republic

  • Not all women participated
  • Politicians stereotyped women
  • Women didn't become very influential
• Historians disagree on how decisive women's votes were in bringing the Nazis to power in 1933, but the party's propaganda targeted women heavily
• Continuity and change in women's leisure activities during the Weimar Republic


  • Stayed the same: Reading, tea dances, needlework
  • Changed: Newspapers/magazines, dancing alone, cinema, sports
• The Nazis justified their ideas about minority groups by using the following:
• National Strength


  • The public were constantly told that new racial policies would make Germany stronger and more powerful
• Personal Strength


  • They were told that by removing or segregating certain groups, the German people would become stronger
• Science

  • The Nazis claimed that science could prove the superiority of the Aryan race
• Historical Context

  • Growing belief in Europe that only the fittest would survive, based on the ideas of Charles Darwin
• Gave Hope


  • The German people had been through pain and suffering, and the Nazi racial ideas gave them hope for their future
• Someone to Blame


  • It was easy for the German people to blame minority groups for all their problems
• Propaganda & Censorship

  • The Nazis used propaganda and censorship to promote their racial ideas and suppress opposition
• Minority groups targeted by the Nazis

  • Jews
  • Slavs/Polish
  • Gypsies
  • Black people
  • Disabled people
• Eugenics


  The idea of improving the genetic quality of the human population
• Social Darwinism


  The idea that the fittest individuals and groups in society will survive and thrive
• Aryan Race & Racial Hygiene


  • The Nazis believed the Aryan race was superior and wanted to keep it 'pure' through selective breeding and preventing 'undesirable' groups from reproducing
• Homosexuals were persecuted by the Nazis, who saw homosexuality as a 'sickness' that needed to be 'cured'
• Gypsies were seen as not working hard enough and were sent to concentration camps
• The Nazis targeted the physically and mentally disabled, seeing them as a 'burden on society' and wanting to 'purify' the Aryan race
• Slavs and Poles were seen as 'inferior' and were targeted for discrimination and persecution
• Key Nazi racial beliefs and ideas

  • Eugenics
  • Social Darwinism
  • Aryan Master Race
  • Anti-Semitism
  • Racial Hygiene
• The Nazis used propaganda and censorship to promote their racial ideas and suppress opposition
• Youth groups in Germany before Hitler

  • Protestant Church Youth Group (over 600,000 members)
  • Other youth groups
• Nazi youth groups


  • Made themselves more fun and exciting compared to other youth groups
  • Became compulsory for all young people after 1933
• Aims of the Nazi Youth

  • The youth should be proud of their patriotic worth and motherland
  • Allow the aims of the Nazi Party to be instilled in the youth
  • Ensure all boys were strong, healthy and willing to fight or work for Germany
• Hitler Youth


  A political as well as a youth group, aimed to indoctrinate and brainwash children into following the Nazi ideology