1.4 Aspects of Life - Weimar Republic Flashcards
Revision (51 cards)
What did the German Civil Code 1900 enforce?
women could not vote, married women had no legal status, could not qualify for examined professions
What phrase summed up a woman’s role?
Kinder, Kuche, Kirche
What was the situation like for women at the end of WW2?
75% were in work
surplus women as 1.6 million men were killed
When were women given the right to vote?
12 November 1918
What were the parties’ response to women being given the vote?
campaigned to ‘educate’ women to win their vote
What proportion of women voted in the first election?
90%
From 1919-32, how many women were elected to the Reichstag?
112
What did Article 109 of Basic Law mean for women?
equal rights ‘in principle’ eg. in marriage and working
BUT legal status under Civil Code remained
What party supported women’s rights?
SPD
What shifts in women were seen as concerning?
falling birth rate
rising divorce rate
campaign for free contraception
abortions in some circumstances
How did the birth rate fall from 1911 to 1933?
128 to 59 births per 1000 women
How did the divorce rate rise from 1913 to 1932?
27 to 65 per 100,000 marriages
What happened to women’s jobs after the war?
returned to men - 1925 36% of workforce women, similar to 34% pre war
BUT as work was expanding the actual number of women working was rising
Was it acceptable for women to work?
only when they were single
they were not supposed to have a career
should stop when they got married
In office work, what was women’s pay like?
33% less than men
In 1933, how many women were lawyers and doctors?
36 qualified lawyers
almost 5000 doctors
What discrimination did women face in the workforce?
hostility from male colleagues
childcare and the school day meant they struggled to work full time
What were the New Women?
1920s cities - young, educated, unmarried women
wore revealing clothes, short hair, smoked, drank, freedom (sexual) like men
How were the New Women seen?
criticised by politicians and the media as being immoral
glorified in film - blamed for seducing women to this lifestyle
How did life go in reality for the New Women?
faced wage and sexual discrimination
eventually settled down and married
What did the Great Depression mean for women and work?
faced hostility as jobs scarce
women’s employment dropped less as cheaper to employ and worked part time
1932 - unemployment 46% men, 33% women
What was introduced for women in work in response to the Great Depression?
30 May 1932 - married women with working husbands could be dismissed from the civil service
What was the government like regarding education?
could not agree
centre party ensured confessional schools remained
no federal education law - failed 1921, 1925, 1927
What types of schools were there in 1931?
30,000 protestant
15,000 catholic
9,000 common
295 secular
97 jewish
