Did most people benefit from Nazi rule? (CH4) Flashcards
State 4 ways the Nazis reduced unemployment
- Huge building programmes (Dr Hjalmar Schacht)
- The National Labour Service sent men on Publics Works Projects
- Removed jews and women from the work place
- Increased armed forces and rearmed Germany
- The need for weapons, equipment and uniforms created jobs
- Conscription reduced unemployment
Why were workers important to the Nazis?
They needed these industrial workers to create industries that would help make Germany great again.
Name 3 benefits the Nazis gave the workers which made them reasonably happy.
- Strength through Joy (KdF)
- The volkswagen beetle
- The Beauty of Labour movement
What were the aims of Strength through Joy (KdF)?
- Gain their strength for work by experiencing joy through their Leisure activities
- To encourage workers to see themselves as a part of Volksgemeinschaft
- With leisure time and work time regulated by the regime, workers had no private life (Nazis wanted to make sure they were controlled outside work life)
- To encourage participation in sports to improve physical and mental health
What were some of the actions from the KdF?
- Workers were offered holidays in Germany and abroad
- Went on sporting activities and hikes
- Theatre and cinema tickets reduced prices
- Classical music was played during lunch breaks n factories
- Members of the KdF came automatically with a membership of the DAF.
How did the Volkswagen beetle work?
- People saved 5 marks every week in the state scheme to buy the ‘people’s car’
- It became a symbol of the prosperous new Germany
- However, no workers received their cars because car factories were replaced with weapon factories for the war in 1939.
What did the Beauty of Labour movement do?
It improved working conditions in factories by adding ventilation, washing facilities and low-cost canteens.
What did industrial workers have to give up in order to get these advances?
- They lost their main political party (SDP)
- All workers had to join the DAF and they kept strict control over the workers, banning them from strikes and leaving for better-paying jobs.
- Wages remained low
- Source of bitter resentment rose as they lost trade union
Why were farmers important to Nazis?
- The Nazis believed they were the ‘Blood and Soil’
- That they were the basis of Germany’s master race
What did Hitler set up/introduce to help the farmers?
- The Reich Food Estate
- The Reich Entailed Farm Law
What was the Reich Food Estate?
- This made central boards to buy agricultural produce from farmers and distribute it to markets across Germany
- Gave them guaranteed markets at guaranteed prices
- As food prices increased, they earned more money and debts were written off
What did the Reich Entailed Farm Law guarantee farmers?
- Banks could not seize their land if they don’t pay the loans or mortgages
- Ensured that peasant farms remained in their hands
What was the impact on Farmers in the late 1930s?
- Some peasants weren’t thrilled with the new regime
- More efficient, faster working farmers were held back by having to work through the same process as the less-efficient farmers
- The Reich Entailed Farm Law stated that the oldest child would inherit the land
- Many children left the land to work for better pay in the German industry
- Rural depopulation was the opposite of what nazis wanted.
Who benefited most? The big businessmen, middle class or the small bussinessmen?
The Big Business owners
How did Big Businesses benefit from Nazi rule?
- During the war, slave labour from Jews and Poles was available, cutting wage costs
- They benefited from massive rearmament contracts
- No longer had to worry about trade unions as they were banned, they could increase and maximise their profits
- Chemical companies gained huge government contracts to make explosives, fertilisers and artificial oils.
- Wages rose by 50% between 1933-1939
