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Introduction

Explain the reasons for the Nazi Polices towards Women ? ( 8 Marks ) 'The Woman has her own battlefield. With every Child that she brings into the world, she fights the battle for the nation.' ( Adolf Hitler - 1935 ) Women in Nazi Germany were to have specific roles. Hitler was very clear about this. This role was that they should be good mothers and bring up their children at home while their husbands were working. This was taught to Women at very young ages; for example girls of the age of ten joined the Jungmadel (Hitler Youth), then from fourteen they entered the Bund Deutscher Madel ( German Girls League ). In this they were taught their role of being a good wife and mother and that their place was to be in the home - the 3K's Kinder, Kuche, Kirche was their main rule to follow, which simply mean: Children, Church, Kitchen. ...read more.

Middle

A decrease in birth rate had come about when there was a shortage of men after World War One, leading to women unable to reproduce, so no children. To increase the birth rate Women were awarded with an Honour Cross for having children; to receive this cross in Nazi Germany was a great pride for Women, it was seen as an important role. A gold award was awarded for Women who had eight children. These awards were given out on the 12th August each year, this was Hitler's Mother's Day. In 1939 three million women received a medal for having produced four or more children. Furthermore, anti-abortion laws were also brought in and contraceptives were banned and virtually impossible to get hold of in Nazi Germany. On the contrary, Nazi's only wanted healthy Aryan children to be born, therefore Jews could not have the privilege of marriage loans or Honour Medals. In addiction, any woman thought to have a hereditary disease could be sterilised. ...read more.

Conclusion

In 1938, in one of her speeches she argued that 'the German woman must work and work; physically and mentally she must renounce luxury and pleasure." During 1937, there was a great skills shortage in Germany, so in 1937 a law was passed where women had to do a 'Duty Year'. This meant that they could work 'patriotically' in a factory or other labour workplace to help the Nazi's "Economic Miracle"; meanwhile in 1937 the marriage loan was also abolished to help boost the economy. To conclude, Nazi policies towards women were successful to an extent, because some German women (non professional and non academic) were positive about the changes made as they enjoyed the status of motherhood and the domestic role; also the divorce rate decreased. However, the birth rate only rose slightly from 970,000 in 1933 to 1, 413, 00 in 1939 and Nazi sterilization polices reduced the potential growth of the population. The following posters are examples of Nazi Propaganda, to persuade Women to have more children and be good mothers and good wives: ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Germany 1918-1939 section.