Educational and Cultural Changes 1918-89:

Question 1

Weimar Education :What was education like pre-WW1?

Answer 1

Some had kindergarten, education compulsory for children aged 6 - 14, children of upper class parents went to fee-paying schools. Working class children taught basic reading, writing etc.

Question 2

Religion in pre-WW1 schools:

Answer 2

Most schools were confessional schools (protestant, catholic, Jewish schools)

Question 3

Significance of Weimar Education negatives?

Answer 3

Didn’t allow social mobility as higher education was expensive.
-Many Christians felt that democracy had become anti-Christian due to the removal of confessional schools - contributed to popularity of the Nazis.

Question 4

How did religion and politics in education change in Weimar government?

Answer 4

Set up non confessional schools with mixed intake and no religious education, stopped clerical inspections, parents could remove children from religious education - argued by Rudolf Steiner

Politics: Government set out a series of goals for education
-moral education.
-Civil responsibility.
-Seek reconciliation with other nations.
School Law 1920: create 1 type of elementary school to create a fair system.

e.g. realgymnasium was made to reflect current social issues

Question 5

Weimar - change in religion

How was this change received?

Answer 5

Accepted in towns and cities, but was rejected in rural areas. Also controversial in Reichstag - centre party fought against the change.

Question 6

What bill was proposed in 1927? Was it passed?

Answer 6

Proposed that confessional, common and secular schools be on equal footing - supported by Reich’s parents league but opposed by Association for Evangelical freedom. Not passed as the Reichstag couldn’t agree.

Question 7

How many secular schools in 1931 compared to protestant schools?

Answer 7

30000 Protestant Schools, only 300 Secular Schools.

Question 8

Significance of education beyond the age of ten?

Answer 8

A child’s future was decided depending on what branch of education they went into e.g. Realschule for business training.

Question 9

What was education like beyond age of 10?

Answer 9

All paid for, go to one 3 different types of school dependent on career path (or private school) and then university.

-4 different types of secondary school: Gymnasium: required fees, most prestigious, but there were also Schools for poorer children (unfair and unreformed)

or Aufbauschule for poorer children

Question 10

How did Weimar constitution fail to reform universities?

Answer 10

Only 2.3% of university students were working class. Weimar constitution ‘principle of freedom of choice’ meant that nothing happened.

Question 11

How were universities corrupt?

Answer 11

2.3% working class, university corporations rivalries. This meant that if you were in a particular corporation you were more likely to get a particular job or have a boosted or diminished career.

Question 12

Weimar Culture: Describe culture in Weimar Republic?

Answer 12

Vibrant - Lots of experimentation with new fashions, sports, theatre.
-e.g. Bauhaus was a design school from 1919 saw beauty in careful design. Was described as a movement to work for an international future.
-Or new objectivity which was showing matter of fact representation in movies, art or books.
-Some artist chose to romanticize the past e.g. ‘The Golem’ which warned people about modern technology and Paul Vorbeck who romanticized his experience in colonial Africa and that the empire was great - some chose to remember it for what it really was e.g. ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’

Question 13

What are the 3 strands of Weimar Culture?

Answer 13

Art elite culture - comprised of artists, intellectuals. Most experimental favoured expressionism and new objectivity (. Subsidised by wealthy.
Government subsidised culture - subsidised museums, operas, libraries even in small towns. Not prioritised over social welfare. e.g. UFA German film movement that made most German movies.
Popular Culture - influenced by US jazz and consumer culture, popular in urban areas. Enjoyed cinema e.g. Nosferatu. Some hoped it would spark social reform.

Question 14

consider paragraph in weimar constitution

What was the reaction to cultural experimentation?

Answer 14

-Many argued paragraph 184 (to block obscene films, articles etc.)
-This was used sometimes, but mostly people were allowed free speech and free art.
-Many right winger worried about the ‘decadence’, increase in Jewish writers, artists etc and the increased Americanisation.

Question 15

Nazi Education Policies: How did the Nazis change education system in general?

Answer 15

-Remained state school structure, private education abolished and universities was only for ‘pure’ Germans.
-Corporations became Nazi run Houses and students had to join Nazi student unions.
-Napolas were elite schools designed to train boys to become government administrators and Adolf Hitler schools for middle and working class.
-Curriculum focused on ‘racial purity’ e.g. teachers were encouraged to create ‘racial corners’ in classrooms to show hereditary diseases etc.

Question 16

When was NSLB set up and what was it? How many teachers were in it?

Answer 16

-1929 - Meant ‘undesirable’ teachers were purged by 1933 (around 20%).
-Almost impossible to get a job if you were not in this Nazi Teachers Union (97 percent of teachers joined)

Question 17

How many teaching Vacancies by 1938?

Answer 17

8000. Teaching became less popular as a job.

Question 18

3 most important goals for Nazi education?

Answer 18

Loyalty, physical fitness and racial purity.

Question 19

How did Nazis change the curriculum?

Answer 19

-They added more emphasis on Physical fitness (15% of curriculum)
-and focused on creating a Volksgemeinschaft through teaching history.
-Biology focused on Eugenics and many books were censored or destroyed.

Question 20

How was education used outside school?

Answer 20

-Hitler youth movement from 14 years old. Youngest joined Pimpfen.
-Boys in Hitler Youth had better career opportunities.
-Girls joined ‘Faith and Beauty’ from 17 and encouraged motherhood and having strong, healthy babies.
-By 1939 it was compulsory to join a youth group.

Question 21

Nazi regime

What was taught across the board in outside school education?

Answer 21

-Speeches to show unfairness of Treaty of Versailles, racial purity, importance of nurturing children.
-They were expected to report teachers for being anti-Nazi.

Question 22

Nazi Culture: What did Nazi culture focus on?

Answer 22

Stressed that they were the ‘culture- bearers’ of Germany and had been “led astray by intellectual Jews” and how corrupt Weimar Culture had been.
-Hitler idealised culture and art as a powerful propaganda tool that was more effective than regular propaganda.

Question 23

How did the Nazis censor Culutre?

Answer 23

-Book burnings e.g. May 1933. Art, films were censored that expressed pacifism or for being intellectual e.g. expressionism.
-Anything that encouraged individualism was censored.
-Any ‘degenerate’ art was confiscated e.g. from museums - new art was meant to celebrate the “strength of Aryans”.

Question 24

What was RKK?

Answer 24

Goebbels set it up in 1933 to control all creative arts and to create culture with the ‘right message’. They idealised the simple, rural life. They saw urban art as degenerate, ironically

Question 25

5 Ways the Nazis promoted acceptable culture:

Answer 25

1) Strength through joy / workers - trips to opera / theatre to promote their idealised culture. Art was even placed in work places to emphasise the importance.
2) Encouraged sport - artists were supported to show strong aryans in their art. Hosted 1936 Olympics. Germany won 89 medals. They excluded Jewish athletes.
3) Festivals were organised around Nazi Holidays e.g. Mothers Day was celebrated on Hitler’s mothers birthday. After 1935 they became increasingly Military.
4) Buildings projects - used to create work but also to show the power of Hitler’s Reich. Buildings often had giant Swastika flags on them e.g. Olympic Complex had special compartment for Hitler and his guests to watch from. The Nazi Party Rally grounds for propaganda speeches, attracted thousands, even foreign journalists -Berlin Master Plan - create Fuhrer Palace, military high command etc. (all propaganda that was never completed)
5) Films - Goebbels used films as propaganda to create nationalist images and the strength of the Nazis - the message was not obvious and was therefore more effective.

Question 26

Education in the FRG: How did the allies change the education system in 1945?

Answer 26

They focused on de-Nazification e.g. by removing Nazi teachers and textbooks. Aimed to prevent choosing career path at the age of 10.

Question 27

How did the FRG change education system?

Answer 27

Lander was in charge of educational and cultural policies so secular schools were more popular in north than south. Many schools resorted to teaching European history rather than German history to prevent a redo of Nazi propagandist history.

Question 28

What was the failure of FRG education system?

Answer 28

With the Lander in charge, it was very hard to convince them to reform e.g. making education more fair by making it easily accessible to all. A great example is when Brandt introduced school reforms such as extra help for disadvantaged, reform of university structure. Whilst it was passed in the Bundestag, the Bundesrat did not give it a majority so it simply remained the same as always.

Question 29

Later success of FRG education?

Answer 29

Initially it was criticised for the same issues as always e.g. only catering to the wealthy. Later on, they issued free education up to the end of secondary school and almost 800k went to university compared to 200k. In 1971, the Federal Education Promotion Act provided state loans to increase working class students to join university.

Question 30

Consider what allies did

Cultural tensions in the FRG: How did culture change in the FRG?

Answer 30

They limited censorship on art and press, each individual zone took parts of their allied countries culture e.g. US zone enjoyed Hollywood movies.

Question 31

How did it develop in the 50s?

Answer 31

Ecological lifestyle movements developed rejected consumerism and desired a more equal society.