GCSE EDEXCEL HISTORY PAPER 3

• Nazi Germany


  • Totalitarian state, all aspects of Germans' lives were controlled by the government
  • Those deemed 'enemies of the state' were ruthlessly persecuted
• In Weimar Germany, there had been new opportunities for women
• Women experimented with their appearances, some took jobs and women were treated as equal citizens within the constitution, having the right to vote
• There is debate about how many women experienced these changes in Weimar Germany
• Nazis' expectations of women


  Stay at home, look after the family and produce children in order to secure the future of the Aryan race
• Aryan


  A person of European descent - not Jewish - often with blond hair and blue eyes. The Nazis viewed Aryans as the superior human race.
• Hitler's belief about women's lives


  Should revolve round the three 'Ks'
• Goebbels said the mission of women is to be beautiful and to bring children into the world
• Measures to achieve high birth rate

  1. Introducing the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage

  2. Giving an award called the Mother's Cross to women who had large numbers of children

  3. Allowing women to volunteer to have a baby for an Aryan member of the SS
• Measures to discourage women from working

  1. Introducing the Law for the Reduction of Unemployment, which gave women financial incentives to stay at home

  2. Not conscripting women to help in the war effort until 1943
• However, female labour was cheap and between 1933 and 1939 the number of women in employment actually rose by 2.4 million
• Appearance expectations for women


  • Emulate traditional German peasant fashions - plain peasant costumes, hair in plaits or buns and flat shoes
  • Not expected to wear make-up or trousers, dye their hair or smoke in public
  • Discouraged from staying slim, because it was thought that thin women had trouble giving birth
• Totalitarian state


  All aspects of Germans' lives were controlled by the government
• Those deemed 'enemies of the state' were ruthlessly persecuted in Nazi Germany
• Third Reich


  The German state from 1933 to 1945 under Adolf Hitler and the Nazis
• Indoctrinate


  Teaching a set of beliefs that may be weighted towards an unfair point of view
• Nazi youth organisations


  • Hitler Youth (boys)
  • League of German Maidens (girls)
• Hitler Youth


  • Aim was to prepare German boys to be future soldiers
  • Boys wore military-style uniforms
  • Activities centred on physical exercise, rifle practice, and political indoctrination
• League of German Maidens


  • Aim was to prepare German girls for future motherhood
  • Girls wore a uniform of blue skirt, white blouse and heavy marching shoes
  • Activities mainly centred on developing domestic skills such as sewing and cooking
• Nazi control of the young through education

  1. All teachers had to join the Nazi Teachers' Association, which vetted them for political and racial suitability

  2. Curriculum altered to reflect Nazi ideology and priorities

  3. History lessons included a course on the rise of the Nazi Party

  4. Biology lessons used to teach Nazi racial theories of evolution and eugenics

  5. Race study and ideology became a new subject, dealing with Aryan ideas and anti-Semitism

  6. German schoolchildren had five one-hour sports lessons every week

  7. Chemistry and Mathematics were downgraded in importance
• The aim was to brainwash children so that they would grow up accepting Nazi ideas without question
• Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state, meaning all aspects of Germans' lives were controlled by the government
• Those deemed 'enemies of the state' were ruthlessly persecuted in Nazi Germany
• Autarky


  A closed economy. Hitler's ideology that wanted Germany to cease trade with the outside world and rely entirely on its own resources
• How Hitler increased employment


  1. Began a huge programme of public works

  2. Construction of the autobahns created work for 80,000 men

  3. Rearmament was responsible for the bulk of economic growth between 1933 and 1938

  4. Introduction of the National Labour Service (NLS) meant all young men spent six months in the NLS and were then conscripted into the army
• Although Germany claimed to have full employment by 1939, many groups of people were not included in the statistics, including the 1.4 million men in the army, men working on public works schemes, Jews who were sacked and their jobs given to non-Jews, and women who had to give up their jobs to men
• Autarky


  Hitler wanted Germany to produce everything that it needed. Certain materials like rubber were needed more as Germany geared up for war, and it was hoped that inventions would mean that this product could be produced synthetically (man-made) instead of needing to try and get it by trading
• By the outbreak of World War Two Germany was still importing 20 per cent of its food and 33 per cent of its raw materials
• Effects of Nazi economic policies on different groups in society


  • Big businesses - Monopolies controlled over 70% of production, major industrial companies benefited with profits rising 50% between 1933-1939
  • Small businesses - 20% closed due to tightened rules
  • Farmers - Benefited from the Hereditary Farm Law of 1933, agricultural prices and wages increased
  • Industrial workers - Wages fell, hours worked rose 15%, serious accidents increased, could be blacklisted for questioning conditions
• Pre-1933 the Nazis lacked support amongst the workers, who tended to vote for the communists or the Social Democratic Party
• Labour Front


  Nazi organisation that replaced Trades Unions, set wages and nearly always followed the wishes of employers, rather than employees
• Strength Through Joy


  Scheme that gave workers rewards for their work - evening classes, theatre trips, picnics, and even very cheap or free holidays
• Beauty of Labour


  Organisation that encouraged factory owners to improve conditions for workers and helped Germans see that work was good
• Küche


  The kitchen. Women's role in managing the household and taking care of domestic responsibilities.
• Kinder


  Children and childrearing. Women's primary role in the household, focusing on family and childcare.
• Kirche


  Church. Refers to women's role in supporting the church, often seen as a substitute for political participation.
• Nazi Germany was a totalitarian state, meaning all aspects of Germans' lives were controlled by the government
• Those deemed 'enemies of the state' were ruthlessly persecuted in Nazi Germany
• Aryan


  A person of European descent - not Jewish - often with blond hair and blue eyes. The Nazis viewed Aryans as the superior human race.
• Gypsy


  A member of a travelling community usually with dark skin and hair.