Hitler's Domestic Policies (1933-39)

Overall

Aims

Methods

Successes

Failures

Volksgemeinschaft

removal of non-Nazi influences

shape the attitudes of the population to support Hitler's aims

focus on foreign policy and military

people's community

build a classless society

replace individual liberty with securing the greater good of the nation

extreme focus on youth and women - they were to become Germany's future

imposing his ideology on the people

through this (and harsh rule) kept and received support necessary for Hitler's foreign interests

Hitler only in power for 12 years

Nazi ideology collapsed with Hitler's death

did not leave as big of an impact as he had hoped

Youth

Aims

Successes

Failures

indoctrinate with Nazi ideology

create loyalty and willingness to sacrifice for the greater good of the nations

nationalism and anti-individualism

separate spheres

boys to be strong fighters

girls were to bear children

Methods

1933: Government takes over and increases in supporters

expansion in movement

1936: Membership and all other youth organisations banned

camping, outdoor activities, fun and games

intimidation and oath to loyalty

later, greater focus on military drills and Nazi ideology

separate for boys and girls

95% loyalty to Hitler

rapid membership in youth groups after 1933

partly due to compulsory membership

children brainwashed into Nazi ideas

students were prepared to sacrifice themselves for Nazi loyalty

Hitler youth became the dominant monopoly over the German Youths' spare time

many youth avoided compulsory membership

rival groups emerged

many turned away from Hitler Youth in the lat 1930s

Hitler Youth became less successful when it began more military training and Nazi lectures

growing opposition to Hitler Youth

rejection of its and emergence of non-Nazi ideas

Education

Methods

Successes

Failures

Nazification - attempt to control teachers

97% of teachers joined Nazi Teacher's League in 1937

purge and discussion of unreliable teachers

politicised the curriculum to reflect Nazi ideology - control of textbooks

PE more important (for boys)

Anti-intellectual, pro-strong/healthy - future Aryan race ?

greater focus on needlework, music and home crafts (for girls)

1937: control over teachers

effective way of spreading Nazi ideology

poor quality of students

education was somewhat a hoax

created ignorant individuals who could not think for themselves - were dependent on Nazi ideology

Women and Social Control

Aims

Why?

Methods

separate spheres for men and women

men work for Reich

women work for the family

Kinder, Kirche, Küche - for women

had support for Church and traditional groups

but under Weimar women had had better rights - reversal of progress

ideological

Hitler rejected the modern and Bolshevik ideas of female emancipation

Pragmatic

birth rate was declining

Hitler considered his policies towards women as essential for the sustained growth of the Reich (if it was to conquer and populate lands in the East)

reduced no. women in employment

women excluded from civil service and other professions

employers told to favour men

restricted numbers of women permitted to university

increased amount of marriages and births

divorce made easier for childless couples

Aryan women offered an interest free marriage loan

marriage loans reduced by a quarter for each child a family had - only granted to women out of work

welfare payments for mothers

motherhood skills taught in workshops

medals given to mothers who had more than 9 children

abortion and birth control restricted

sterilisation law passed for those with hereditary diseases or other problems

Racial Policies

Nazi Beliefs

Persecution of Minority Groups

Euthanasia Programme in 1939

Persecution of the Jews

blonde haired, blue eyed Nordic Germans (Aryan race) were the superior/master race

all other races inferior and arranged in a hierarchy beneath them

black people near the bottom

below black people were non-peoples (e.g. gypsies and jews)

Nazis duty to keep the German race pure by restricting what other races could do

it was the destiny of the Aryan race to conquer the lands of the inferior Slavs in the East

Nazis persecuted undesirably minority groups such as:

homosexuals

gypsies

mentally ill

Hitler introduced a quiet easy death for the mentally and physically ill

5,000 children and 7,100 adults killed in the programme

in 1941, Hitler stopped the programme in the fact of Catholic protest

through propaganda, Hitler blamed the Jews for:

Germany's defeat in 1918

inflation of 1923

economic collapse of 1929-1932

in schools, children taught to hate the Jews - textbooks included anti-Semitic ideas

Nazi-controlled newspapers included anti-semitic articles and cartoons