Asses the impact of Nazi rule on the people of Germany between 1933 and 1939

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Asses the impact of Nazi rule on the people of Germany between 1933 and 1939

Whether the Nazis made a negative or positive impact on the people of Germany, they most defiantly made one. In making a decision on what this was I will look at all of the aspects of their aeon, and examine them. The bad parts of Nazi sovereignty are obvious: there abominable policies concerning minority groups, their way suppressing the people by removing their rights, using violence and threats and so forth, however it must also be pointed out that there were good parts of their reign which included increased quality of peoples leisure time and improvements in the economy.

One particular group of people who found themselves affected by the removal of rights was German men. Within months of coming into power Hitler had abolished trade unions and replaced them with the German Labour Front, which was run by Doctor Robert Lay. In 1933 the day after the trade unions were abolished he stated "I swear to you we will not only keep everything which exists, we will build up the rights and protection of the workers even further." In some ways this was accurate. He made sure workers could not be fired on the spot and workers could not leave a job without the governments permission. In others though it was the exact opposite. Employees could no longer bargain for higher wages, and there was no limitation on working hours meaning by 1939 many were working 60 - 72 hours a week. Although this was entirely unreasonable the workers failed to complain as by 1936 many factory workers could earn 35 marks a week - ten times more than the dole money people were receiving in 1932. The impact of this was that life was much more strenuous for workers, who had little chance of opposing it. However it would appear to me that it was not entirely impossible for workers to rebel, but factors that made them better off ie money deterred them from it - they were getting a little in return for their loss.

The attack on unemployment also changed a number of things for German men. It can be said that Nazis greatly reduced problems of unemployment as from when they gained power in 1933 to 1939 unemployment dropped from 6014000 right down to 302000. This looks good on the surface but underneath shows up a number of faults. Numbers of unemployment were most certainly improved upon but this was mostly due to rearmament, compulsory military service (this took 1300000 off unemployment registers), people making weapons equipments and scientist developing food and material substitutes. This was not essentially a long term solution to Germanys problems but the impact it had was to give men money and food, which at that time was what they needed.

Equally it was men's partners/partners to be which were affected. Women found themselves influenced in numerous ways, one of which was marriage. In 1933 the law for the encouragement of marriage was introduced - newly weds were given a 1000 mark government loan, encouraging them to have children. Not long after in 1934 the ten commandments for choice of partner was established. This meant that ideal Aryans were encouraged to marry and have children - questions that women were asked included if they liked to wear make up or liked to listen to American music (both of which were looked down upon). These policies were mainly introduced as it was thought that it was a woman's biological purpose to have children. Women with 4 + children were given medals (motherhood cross system) and those who were unmarried became pregnant via racially pure SS officers - indeed it was only those with 4 children that could claim the word 'family'. They were told that the 3ks - kinder, kirche, kuche (children church kitchen) were the most important things to them. It seems as though much of this was done to be nice, giving money to families etc but in reality little other option was given as birth control clinics, contraception and abortion were all banned. I would also suggest they were forced into these roles, as they were forced out of being doctors, civil servants etc in 1934 and unable to be a judge or prosecutor in 1936: one of the only roles in society left for them was as a wife and mother. Reactions to these policies varied. Many had already believed Hitlers views, and some converted to it as they were proud of the new status of motherhood. Many were also resentful as women remained unfulfilled and deprived of vital experience. In 1933 a concentration camp was opened at Moringen to stop these resentful women and they were followed by others such as Ravensbruck. The result of this was that women were very strongly suppressed and the pressure for many couples left psychological damage. Nevertheless it was now much easier for couples to have children and this would have made several people happy.
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The Nazi regime did not only cover adults, it was also vital to make an impression on the children. German girls were targeted by Hitlers Youth groups. Jungmadel (young madens) for up 14s and Bund Deutscher Madel (league of German madens) from 14 - 21. They were taught how to prepare for motherhood and care for health. They had no other choice apart from attending this, especially as all other groups were killed off.

The boys also had youth groups - Pimpf from 6 - 10, deutschejungvolk (german young people) and Hitler Jegend (Hitler Youth) 14-18. They ...

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