Chapter 6: Nazi Society 1933-39
The Nazi Volksgemeinschaft
- Overcome old divisions of class, religion and politics to bring about a new collective
national identity by encouraging people to work together
- German ideal based on classic peasant working on the soil in the rural community
(Blut and Boden) and the traditional role of the two sexes
- Antisemitism/Untermenschen
- Fuhrerprinzip
- Social Darwinism
Social groups
- Industrial workers: represented 46.3% of German society. Nazis closed TUs so
workers lost the right to collectively bargain. DAF, May 1933- 22million by 1939 and
was responsible for all areas e.g. dealing with disobedience, rents for housing, hours
and wages etc
- Hours increased from 43 in 1933 to 47 in 1939 and the average worker’s real
wage only rose above 1929 levels in 1938
- Peasants and small farmers: attracted by the promise of work and bread. Darre’s
thinking: Promote Blut and Boden and Lebensraum (to create a German racial
aristocracy based on selective breeding. Reich Food Estate, 1933 supervised every
aspect of agricultural production and distribution
- Agricultural production rose by 20% 1928 to 1938
- Landowners: lived comfortably in the Nazi regime as their economic interests were
not threatened and early German victories = chance to acquire more cheap land
- Mittelstand: Law to protect retail trade, 1933 banned the opening of new dept stores
and taxed existing ones and confiscation of Jewish businesses used to offer low-
interest rate loans
- Business: Upturn in world trade, Schact’s economic stimulus and Nazi destruction of
TUs helped business boom. Annual dividends grew from an average of 2.83% to
6.6% in the same period. Small businesses however squeezed out by big and
consumer goods productions remained low
Education and youth
- Intended to indoctrinate for a thousand-year Reich
- Schools: by a 1934 law, were centralised. Curriculum adapted to fit Aryan ideal, 15%
given to fitness and Biology(population policy- increase birth rate) and
history(nationalism and eugenics) focused upon
- Hitler Youth: by 1939, membership had become compulsory. Boys reared for
physical/military activities and Girls for domestic tasks
- Successes/Failures: teaching standard dropped, the number of teachers declined
and there were 8000 vacancies in 1938
- HJ focus on teamwork and activities welcomed by some youngsters
(especially from power backgrounds) but over-expansion meant it was difficult
to run and emphasis on military resented by many
- Edelweiss pirates: organised own hikes and camps and had more active
resistance during the war
The Nazi Volksgemeinschaft
- Overcome old divisions of class, religion and politics to bring about a new collective
national identity by encouraging people to work together
- German ideal based on classic peasant working on the soil in the rural community
(Blut and Boden) and the traditional role of the two sexes
- Antisemitism/Untermenschen
- Fuhrerprinzip
- Social Darwinism
Social groups
- Industrial workers: represented 46.3% of German society. Nazis closed TUs so
workers lost the right to collectively bargain. DAF, May 1933- 22million by 1939 and
was responsible for all areas e.g. dealing with disobedience, rents for housing, hours
and wages etc
- Hours increased from 43 in 1933 to 47 in 1939 and the average worker’s real
wage only rose above 1929 levels in 1938
- Peasants and small farmers: attracted by the promise of work and bread. Darre’s
thinking: Promote Blut and Boden and Lebensraum (to create a German racial
aristocracy based on selective breeding. Reich Food Estate, 1933 supervised every
aspect of agricultural production and distribution
- Agricultural production rose by 20% 1928 to 1938
- Landowners: lived comfortably in the Nazi regime as their economic interests were
not threatened and early German victories = chance to acquire more cheap land
- Mittelstand: Law to protect retail trade, 1933 banned the opening of new dept stores
and taxed existing ones and confiscation of Jewish businesses used to offer low-
interest rate loans
- Business: Upturn in world trade, Schact’s economic stimulus and Nazi destruction of
TUs helped business boom. Annual dividends grew from an average of 2.83% to
6.6% in the same period. Small businesses however squeezed out by big and
consumer goods productions remained low
Education and youth
- Intended to indoctrinate for a thousand-year Reich
- Schools: by a 1934 law, were centralised. Curriculum adapted to fit Aryan ideal, 15%
given to fitness and Biology(population policy- increase birth rate) and
history(nationalism and eugenics) focused upon
- Hitler Youth: by 1939, membership had become compulsory. Boys reared for
physical/military activities and Girls for domestic tasks
- Successes/Failures: teaching standard dropped, the number of teachers declined
and there were 8000 vacancies in 1938
- HJ focus on teamwork and activities welcomed by some youngsters
(especially from power backgrounds) but over-expansion meant it was difficult
to run and emphasis on military resented by many
- Edelweiss pirates: organised own hikes and camps and had more active
resistance during the war
