G34+Social+and+Cultural+Life


 * 3 Nazism in power**


 * social and cultural life in the Nazi state: role of Hitler Youth, women, religion

Text: Chapter 7.2 "Social life in the Third Reich" and 7.3 "Cultural life in Nazi Germany"


 * ** Explain the Nazi concept of the //Volksgemeinschaft//. **
 * ** In what ways did Nazi policies affect the lives of women in Germany? **
 * ** How was racial purity maintained in Nazi Germany? **
 * ** What was the aim of the //Hitler Jugend//? What were its activities? **
 * ** What was the aim of the //Bund Deutscher Mädel//? What were its activities? **
 * ** What changes in the education system were brought about by the Nazis? **
 * ** Describe relations between the Nazi government and Christian churches in Germany. **
 * ** Describe the impact of Nazism on the cultural life of Germany (literature, music, architecture, art). **


 * Essay question: Explain the impact of Nazism on the social and cultural life of Germany in the period 1933-1939. **
 * Volksgemeinschaft **
 * People’s Community – no class division or social conflict.
 * All racially-pure Germans equal.
 * National interest above self-interest.
 * Hitler promoted as a saviour.
 * Did Hitler create a more egalitarian society or were the changes only on the surface? Changes were reactionary (women) or created new elites. “… a psychological revolution rather than one of substance.” (Kershaw 1989)


 * Women **
 * Had made great advances in Weimar Republic. These were reversed under the Nazis.
 * Role: subservient; traditional; wife and mother.
 * Excluded from politics and large parts of the workforce (eg professions; civil service for unmarried women)
 * Provided solid support for Hitler.
 * German Women’s League: propaganda body to promote role of women – “Children, Church and Kitchen”. (see Document 7.7. p.144)
 * Law for the Promotion of Marriage 1934: women given RM1,000 but must give up work and have children. One quarter of loan cancelled for each child.
 * Mutterkreuz: given to mothers on Hitler’s mother’s birthday, 12 Aug.
 * Lebensborn homes – for unmarried mothers esp. to SS fathers. Racially pure children fostered to German couples.
 * Racial purity promoted through “Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour” 1935 – banned intermarriage with Jews; “Law for the Protection of Heredity Health” 1934 - eugenics through forced sterilisation (see Document 7.10 and three questions)


 * Hitler Jugend **
 * March 1931, Baldur von Schirach – Reichsführer der Hitler Jugend
 * Campaigned in elections and participated in Nuremberg Rallies (54,000 paraded before Hitler at 1935 Rally – see Doc 7.11).
 * After 1933 all other youth organisations banned (including Church groups in late 1930s).
 * Dec 1936 – compulsory for 14-18 year-olds. 7.2 mill. members by 1939. Also Pimpf (6-10) and Deutsces Jungvolk (10-14).
 * Physical training and Nazi indoctrination. Self-discipline, obedience, subversion of self to state.


 * Hitler Jugend **
 * March 1931, Baldur von Schirach – Reichsführer der Hitler Jugend
 * Campaigned in elections and participated in Nuremberg Rallies (54,000 paraded before Hitler at 1935 Rally – see Doc 7.11).
 * After 1933 all other youth organisations banned (including Church groups in late 1930s).
 * Dec 1936 – compulsory for 14-18 year-olds. 7.2 mill. members by 1939. Also Pimpf (6-10) and Deutsces Jungvolk (10-14).
 * Physical training and Nazi indoctrination. Self-discipline, obedience, subversion of self to state.

Girls’ equivalent of Hitler Jugend. (Jungmädelbund 10-14) Nazi indoctrination on role as wives and mothers. Graduated to Glaube and Schönheit for development of domestic skills.
 * Bund Deutscher Mädel **


 * Education **
 * Education = indoctrination. No independent thought.
 * Boys and girls received different education reflecting roles.
 * History, biology and physical education were most important.
 * Dr Bernhard Rust, Reich Minister for Science, Education and Culture from 1934.
 * Religious education eventually abolished.
 * National Socialist Teachers’ Alliance for all teachers.
 * Jews and dissenters removed from the profession.
 * Changes were readily accepted by most teachers.
 * Selective schools: National Political Training Institutes and Adolf Hitler Schools for future leaders.
 * Quality of tertiary education declined.


 * Religion **
 * Nazism and Christianity were incompatible.
 * July 1933, concordat – protected rights of Catholic Church (Centre Party dissolved)
 * Restrictions and persecution soon began.
 * Mit Brennender Sorge – Pope Pius XI encyclical, March 1937, accused Nazis of breach of concordat.
 * Attempted to bring Protestant churches under control of Evangelical Reich Church. 6,000 Protestant clergy established Confessional Church in opposition to Nazi control. Prominent leaders were Martin Niemöller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
 * Churches lost influence, but few spoke out against crimes of the Nazi regime.


 * Cultural Life in Nazi Germany **

All expressions of culture were to be approved by and coordinated by the Party through the Reich Chamber of Culture as a part of Gleichschaltung. Literature
 * Books by un-German writers were burnt in 1933. Reich Office of Literature approved all publications. Public and school libraries were set up and stocked with approved books. Publishers, bookshops and authors were controlled by the Nazis.

Music
 * German composers were favoured (Wagner, with his mythological works, Richard Strauss, Beethoven). Mozart’s opera’s with Da Ponte (Jewish) were frowned upon. Jews were dismissed from musical posts and Germany lost many great musical figures. Music by Jewish composers (e.g., Mahler, Mendelssohn) was banned, as was Jazz (black origins).

Architecture
 * Rejected the Bauhaus modernism and returned to classical styles but made functional and monumental: Reich Chancellery, Reichs Party Rally Grounds (Nuremberg), House of German Art (Munich). Buildings were symbolic representations of the strength of the state.

Art
 * Modern, abstract, expressionist works were replaced by simple works expressing nature, family, fatherland, that could be understood by the people and expressed the concept of the Volksgemeinschaft.