Social Policies pre-1933

Question 1

WOMEN- positives

Answer 1

• given right to vote in constitution- turnout in first election was 82%
• made up 36% of workforce by 1925
• Birth control became widely available, divorce rates increased
• Rise in abortions
• 41 women elected in 1919 (yet only the KPD espoused gender equally)

Question 2

WOMEN- negatives

Answer 2

• attitudes to women in the workforce depended on economic state- when economy was bad solution was women returning home to deal with unemployment
• Percentage of women in work rose by less than 1% 1907-1925
• Propaganda directed at women was stereotypical (wives and mothers)
• 1933- women made up 4.6% of representatives, women never held posts in Reichsrat (upper house)
• Women’s turnout in voting was 5-10% less than men’s
• “New woman” image targeted by right-wingers and religious groups
  > Higher divorce and lower birth rates targeted
  > Churches opposed birth control, divorce, abortion

Question 3

JEWS

Answer 3

• predominantly urban, middle-class, well-educated
• Assimilated well
• number of attacks on migrant Jews- Nov 1923: 30,000 people attacked Jewish quarter in Berlin

Question 4

GYPSIES

Answer 4

• Article 113 of constitution guaranteed rights of minorities
• Gypsies were an exception- treated as beggars and forced into special campsites

Question 5

YOUTH

Question 6

EMPLOYMENT

Question 7

WELFARE STATE

Answer 7

• 1924: Public assistance system modernised
• 1925: State insurance system extended to occupational diseases
• 1926: Osthilfe programme
• 1927: National unemployment insurance system provided benefits
  > too expensive, over 2 million citizens were receiving some sort of welfare

Question 8

AGRICULTURAL

Answer 8

• Low investment in better farming techniques and technology
• Little attempt to restructure agriculture
• Government gave farmers loans they could not pay back leading to loss of land
• Rural indebtedness and bankruptcy increased by ~30% in late 1920s
• State increased taxes on food imports
• Some rural areas like Holstein went on strike against taxes- used by Nazis
• 1933 Osthilfe scandal- questionable from beginning as it only went to east- used by Junkers for luxuries