Role & Status of Women in the Weimar Republic

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Changing Attitudes Towards Women in the Weimar Republic

Under the Weimar Republic, women gained more autonomy.

Women in politics

Under the Weimar Constitution women over 21 were given the franchise.
Women did get the opportunity to participate in political parties.
E.g. The Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (BDF) demanded marital reform and the right of equal pay for equal work.
However, female politicians were still the minority.

Women in education

Access to higher education improved for women over the Weimar period.

Women in the workplace

During WW1, women demonstrated their ability to work.
However, when men came back and reclaimed their jobs.
That said, the proportion of women working did increase.

The ‘New Woman’

After WW1, the ‘New Woman’ entered Weimar culture.
The New Woman was a stereotype for modern femininity. A New Woman would have short hair, wear trousers, ride bicycles, and smoke.
The New Woman reflected the changing position in women in society.

A sexually liberated woman?

Evidence suggests that women did gain a degree of sexual liberation in Weimar Germany.
Frevert (1988) argued that there was a rise in sexual promiscuity and rising divorce rates.
The Weimar Government did liberalise abortion laws in 1926 (under the pressure of Communist and Social Democrat feminists).

Historical assessment

Kathy Peiss (2008) argues that the "new woman" of the 1920s was a global phenomenon. Her development in Germany was linked particularly strongly to the US. Often business people who had travelled to the US brought back cultural ideas with them.
- In later 1920s and 1930s in Germany the idea of the "modern girl" became part of the political and racial struggle of the Nazis. They 'rejected the sexualised flapper girl', preffering 'her healthy and athletic sister' who was said to represent the strong Aryan race and the German nation.

Conservative Attitudes to Women in Weimar Society

The ‘New Woman’ clashed with a conservative vision of womanhood. It is clear that many women subscribed to traditional ideas of femininity.

Conservative politics

Many women engaged in politics to further conservative ideas of wifehood and motherhood.
E.g. The Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (BDF) was a women's organisation which promoted the importance of family from a female point of view.

Ideal woman

For many, a woman’s primary social function was to be a wife and mother.

Pronatalist reforms

After WW1, the Weimar government became preoccupied with the size of the population.
Usborne (1992) has emphasised how the government encouraged women to have children through ‘pronatalist’ reforms.

Attitudes to Homosexuality

The Weimar period has been regarded as a vibrant era of sexual liberation. Homosexual culture flourished in Weimar, especially Berlin.

Gay culture

Technically, homosexuality was illegal in the Weimar Republic.
However, a space for homosexuals began to emerge during the 1920s and 1930s.
Gay bars flourished during the Weimar period.

Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science

A more liberal attitude to sexuality is demonstrated by the existence of Hirschfeld’s Institute for Sexual Science.
Hirschfeld was a radical who believed in same sex love and pioneered transgender surgery.
During the Weimar period, the institute received over 20,000 visitors a year.
The institute was burned down by the Nazis in 1933.

1Political & Governmental Change, 1918-1989

1.1Creation & Collapse of Weimar, 1918-1932

1.1.1Creation of a Republic

1.1.2Strengths & Weaknesses of Weimar Constitution

1.1.3Overcoming Challenges to the Constitution

1.1.4The Great Depression

1.1.5The Collapse of Democracy

1.1.6The Collapse of Democracy 2

1.1.7Hitler Becomes Chancellor

1.2Nazi Dictatorship, 1933-1945

1.2.1Establishing a Dictatorship

1.2.2Consolidating Power

1.2.3Nature of Government

1.2.4Government in Wartime

1.2.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Political & Governmental Change

1.3Return to Democratic Government, 1945-1989

1.3.1Creation of the FRG, 1945-1949

1.3.2Consolidation Under Adenauer

1.3.3Consolidation Under Erhard

1.3.4Maintaining Stability Under Brandt

1.3.5Maintaining Stability Under Schmidt

1.3.6Maintaining Stability Under Kohl

1.3.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Return to Democratic Government

2Opposition, Control & Consent 1918-1989

2.1Opposition to Government, 1918-1989

2.1.1Impact of Versailles

2.1.2Political Extremism & Crises, 1918-1932

2.1.3Opposition & Dissent in Nazi Germany, 1933-1945

2.1.4Political Dissent from the Left, 1949-1989

2.1.5Political Dissent from the Right, 1949-1989

2.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Opposition to Government 1918-89

2.2Controlling the People, 1918-1989

2.2.1Attempts to Control Extremism

2.2.2Repression, 1933-1945

2.2.3Censorship & Propaganda, 1933-1945

2.2.4De-Nazification Policies of Western Allies, 1945

2.2.5Constitutional & Legal Response to Extremism, 1949

2.3Popular Support, 1918-1989

2.3.1The Nature of Support for the Weimar Government

2.3.2Support for the Nazi Regime

2.3.3The Nature of Support for Democracy, 1945-1989

2.3.4Top Grade AO2/3 - Controlling the People

3Economic Developments & Policies, 1918-1989

3.1Reacting to Economic Challenges, 1918-1932

3.1.1Economic Crises & Government Response, 1918-1923

3.1.2Economic Loans, 1924-1928

3.1.3Policies for Recovery, 1924-1929

3.1.4The Great Depression

3.1.5Change in Living Standards

3.1.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Reacting to Economic Challenges

3.2Controlling the Economy, 1933-1945

3.2.1Attempting Economic Recovery

3.2.2Creating a Command Economy

3.2.3Change in Living Standards

3.2.4Impact of War

3.2.5Impact of War 2

3.2.6Top Grade AO2/3 - Controlling the Economy

3.3Creating the Social Market Economy, 1945-1989

3.3.1Economic Recovery, 1945-1955

3.3.2The Economic Miracle, 1955-1966

3.3.3Surviving the Recession, 1960-1969

3.3.4The Oil Crisis

3.3.5Integration into the European Economy

3.3.6Change in Living Standards

3.3.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Creating Social Market Economy

4Aspects of Life, 1918-1989

4.1Attitudes Towards Women, 1918-1989

4.1.1Role & Status of Women in the Weimar Republic

4.1.2Impact of Kinder, Küche, Kirche

4.1.3Impact of WW2 on Women

4.1.4Role & Status of Women in the FRG

4.1.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Attitudes Towards Women

4.2Education & Cultural Developments, 1918-1989

4.2.1Education in Weimar

4.2.2Cultural Experimentation in Weimar

4.2.3Education Under the Nazis

4.2.4Nazi Culture

4.2.5Education in the FRG

4.2.6Generational Conflict

4.2.7Top Grade AO2/3 - Education & Cultural Development

4.3Position of Ethnic Minorities, 19189-1989

4.3.1Ethnic Minorities in the Weimar Republic

4.3.2Nazi Racial Policies, 1933-1939

4.3.3Nazi Racial Policies During the War

4.3.4Ethnic Minorities in the FRG

4.3.5Top Grade AO2/3 - Position of Ethnic Minorities

5Historical Interpretations

5.1Influence of German History

5.1.1Influence of German History

5.2Hitler & Foreign Policy

5.2.1Hitler & Foreign Policy

5.3Contribution of Other Nations to WW2

5.3.1Weak Nations

5.3.2Appeasement

5.3.3The Rise of Fascism

5.4Reasons for Invading Poland

5.4.1Reasons for Invading Poland

5.4.2Top Grade AO2/3 - Historical Interpretation

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