To What Extent Did the Nazis Achieve the Aims of Their Social Policies?

To What Extent Did the Nazis Achieve the Aims of Their Social Policies?

See Entire Document Download Document
Text Preview

From 1933 to 1939 Hitler aimed to achieve a “social revolution” in Germany. He aimed to achieve such social policies within the Youth and Women but particularly through his concept of volksgemeinschaft, meaning ‘people’s community,’ he hoped to transform Germany into a strong country based on traditional peasant values. ” David Schoenbaum has argued that Hitler’s “social revolution” was a fake, and perceived as being real, due to the influence of Hitler’s propaganda.

Hitler effectively aimed to unify the people into a united classless racial community and introduce a degree of loyalty to Hitler and the Nazi Party.In addition to this, Hitler, through domestic social policy and propaganda, aimed to change the role of women in society such that their purpose was to lift the declining birth rate in an attempt to create the Aryan ‘master race’ and to effectively be a house wife. Finally, the Nazis took advantage of the need for German youth groups and used what teenagers wanted to slip in Nazi ideals, took over the education system to portray Nazi views, and used the school system to glorify war; they also often alienated children from their parents.When the Nazis came to power in Germany, they attempted to implement a brutal and coercive system. Part of implementing this system was creating a Volksgemeinschaft, a racial or people’s community. Hitler attempted to institute the Volksgemeinschaft so that he would have less resistance as an absolute ruler, and he enforced it mainly through the actual and perceived presence of the Geheime Staatspolizei, or the Gestapo.

The implementation of the Volksgemeinschaft was largely effective, though there were some unexpected and unwanted consequences as a result of Nazi methods.The people’s community of Nazi Germany was an attempt to unify the German people, or what was seen as the German people, and excluding, or to even greater measures expunging, non-Germans. The largest group that was alienated and purged from the Volksgemeinschaft was the Jewish population.

The racist ideology of the Nazis raged against the Jews as a separate race instead of a religious ideology. In order to ensure that his racial community formed, Hitler enforced it a number of different ways. The most forthright and forceful way of enforcing his views of a racial community was through the Gestapo.The Sturmabteilung, a paramilitary organization that was a precursor to the SS and the Gestapo, were especially important to Hitler during the consolidation of his power. More significantly, the Sturmabteilung was able to conduct their terrorizing methods on opponents while Hitler still remained dissociated from the violence.

After Hitler’s election, the German citizen had little ability to actively participate in politics and the government. There were harsh restrictions on political activity, and the results of any “token elections” were already “foregone conclusions. [20] Because of this limitation, it is difficult to fully assess the effectiveness of the ideology of Volksgemeinschaft on the German people themselves.

Though they were not able to actively participate in politics unless they were a part of the Nazi party, they found other informal ways to participate in the racial community, such as

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading
See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

reporting to the Gestapo. The enforcement of the Volksgemeinschaft could be seen as effective because of this restriction on citizen rights and voting, because it then allowed Hitler to implement his policies for the racial community with less resistance.To Hitler and the Nazis, the Volksgemeinschaft was a people’s or racial community, and they defined it by the attempt to unify Germans by race and blood, to create a common Nazi world view, to overcome divisions in society, and to purge those who were not in the community.

In order to enforce this Volksgemeinschaft, Hitler relied on the police, the storm troopers and the Gestapo at first to get rid of enemies of the state, but after a while active participation by “good citizens” helped maintain a certain level of enforcement.Hitler also used politics and organizations, such as the Gleichschaltung and the Hitler Youth, to enforce his ideology. Many of the ways the Nazis enforced the Volksgemeinschaft was effective, because citizens were reporting suspicious behavior and enemies of the state were being purged from civil service positions. The implementation of Volksgemeinschaft was largely effective, but also had unintended consequences and backlash that proved it also party ineffective, whether it was suspicion reports getting out of control or youths rebelling against the Hitler Youth in order to seek a more open culture.Hitler had initiated changes that insisted women should return to their traditional roles as homemakers and provide healthy offspring to the Nazi state. Childbearing was encouraged in Germany, however this was only acceptable to the Aryans not the Jews.

Hitler implemented policies such as financial incentive marriage loans and special medals were given to women who gave birth to large families. He also made divorce difficult, abortion and contraception illegal in order to achieve his objective effectively.Also, women‚ organizations were created to indoctrinate women with Nazi ideas such as, The German Women‚ Enterprise. These programs promoted cookery classes, marriage, motherhood and nationhood. The women organizations have had a major effect on Nazi women as it portrayed that Hitler made effective changes in order to develop women to be the mothers of a future, healthy generation. Hitler disliked clever, educated women and by 1933, women were restricted to hold any position of importance of professional jobs, while the men wore the uniforms and jackboots.Women were expected to stay home and make babies and hence Hitler, radical policies from 1933-1939 has effectively been implemented in order to reinforce the male dominated Nazi view of women, role in German society.

So as well as loans to encourage marriage, income tax allowances doubled for each child in 1934. Maternity benefits and family allowances increased as the size of a family grew and further encouragement was offered in the shape of a cheaper health service and cheaper rail tickets.In addition, there were Nazi Mothers Schools to help with maternity problems, positive propaganda regarding the nobility and patriotism of motherhood.

Furthermore this policy Hitler wished to endorse included awards such as the ‘Mothers Cross’, which was given to a mother when she had conceived 8 children. In terms of births, the

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

birth rate figures show that in 1934, 1. 2 million and in 1939- 1. 4 million births per annum. There is little evidence to suggest that women, en masse, objected.

Indeed, the Nazi anti-feminism seemed to work.Goebbels said: “Displacement of women from the public life occurs solely to restore their essential dignity to them”. And this line of positive propaganda proved persuasive to many middle-class women. Additionally, Hitler remained a figure of adulation unblemished by the crimes of the regime. He was the object of an uncritical loyalty unshaken until the Reich collapsed. To further give women incentives to give birth, the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage in 1933 stated that all couples who married would get a loan from the government of 1000 marks.

For every child the couple had 25% of the loan could be kept by them meaning that with 4 children, there would be no repayment. In addition to this, income tax allowances doubled for each child in 1934. However, on the other hand, there were a variety of negative components to this new social policy. Professional women suffered most from these measures. Women in the higher ranks of the civil service and in medicine were dismissed and senior positions in the legal profession were barred to women; they were also excluded from playing any part in politics. Young women were discouraged from going to university.In January 1934 the Minister of the Interior ruled that the proportion of girls entering higher education should be 10% of the male graduates.

In 1937, this progressed further when grammar school education was abolished for girls and banned them from learning Latin – a compulsory requirement for university entrance. Finally by 1938, 3. 5 million out of a total 9 million members of the Hitler Youth were girls. Therefore Hitler’s social policy was successful towards women with both increased loyalty and also increased birth rates, both of which were the aims of the policy.The policy of Volksgemeinschaft planned to change the German society and to accomplish this, the Nazi Party had effectively created a rival organization to the formal education system called the Hitler Youth (Hitler-Jugend). Hitler Youth chief slogan was “We are born to die for Germany” and it was designed to capture the minds of German youth and indoctrinate them with Nazi ideology.

The youth were encouraged to join the Hitler Youth and by December 1936, membership became compulsory, which has increase to over 8million members.The Hitler Youth was mainly male orientated and was intended for those aged 10-18. However by 1936, Hitler has decided to set up junior groups called Pimpfen for children aged 6-10 to prepare youngsters for Hitler Youth.

The boys had regular military training and learnt about the Nazi themes and the emphasis of the activities was placed on political indoctrination, physical fitness, discipline and endurance. The Nazi regime attempted to transform youth on three levels by firstly, ensuring that school syllabuses and teachers lost no opportunity to reflect and reinforce Nazi values.The encouragement of the creation of new elite Nazi school and putting pressure on children to join the Hitler Youth and League of German Girls. This meant more time was given to the teaching of

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading

History, Biology as these subjects were best suited to the exploitation of Nazi propaganda, for example the notion that the Jewish race was genetically inferior could be taught in Biology.

The Hitler Youth was the most effective means of indoctrinating and transforming Germany’s youth. Only 55,000 young people belonged to it at the beginning of 1933. By 1936 60% of young Germans were joined to it.Membership was made compulsory in 1939 and the Catholic Church was forced to dissolve its own youth organisations. Those in the Hitler Youth were indoctrinated in Nazi ideology through teachings about Nazi heroes, the Jewish ‘threat’ and the greatness of the Fuhrer. Despite this opposition from The Swing Movement and the Edelweiss Pirates, Hitler’s social policy towards the youth was successful. The way in which the curriculum was changed meant support grew and the Hitler Youth movement had the capacity to inspire many young people through a sense of belonging especially in comparison to the economic situation in the early 1930’s.

However in contrast most of the youth ignored the propaganda and only enjoyed the sporting facilities. In Conclusion, it must be stated that the Nazis aims of their social policies failed ultimately to achieve this objective. Looking at the volksgemeinschaft, its success or failures should not necessarily be seen in terms of its ability, or otherwise to destroy old loyalties. The outbreak of the war did eventually produce a decline in the standing of the party, but German society did not fragment.

Equally the volksgemeinschaft did not bring an end to people’s grievances; they continued throughout the 12 years of the Third Reich.

See Entire Document Join FreeBookSummary to continue reading
We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy.