Women and the family in Nazi Germany Cambridge IGCSE History revision
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In plain words
The Nazis had a three-word plan for German women: children, kitchen, church. They paid women to leave their jobs and gave medals to mothers. Then they found that they needed women in the factories after all.
9 things to know
- The Nazis believed that men and women had separate roles. A woman's place was in the home, as a wife and mother. They summed it up as "children, kitchen, church".
- They were worried by Germany's falling birth rate, and wanted more children to grow up to be soldiers and mothers.
- Marriage loans: from 1933 newly married couples could get a loan if the wife gave up her job. A quarter of the loan was cancelled for each child that they had.
- Motherhood was honoured. The Mother's Cross was awarded for large families: bronze for four children, silver for six and gold for eight.
- Women were pushed out of the professions. Women doctors, civil servants and lawyers lost their jobs, and the number of girls allowed to go to university was limited.
- Women were discouraged from wearing make-up and trousers, and from smoking. The ideal woman was shown as healthy, simply dressed and surrounded by children.
- Results: the number of marriages rose, and so did the birth rate, though it did not return to the level of the early 1920s.
- The policy then ran into a problem. Rearmament created a shortage of workers. From 1937 the Nazis needed women back in the factories, and the number of women in work rose.
- Some women welcomed the respect given to mothers. Others resented losing their careers and their freedom.
Worked example
"Nazi policies towards women were a success." How far do you agree? Plan a 10-mark answer.
- Success: marriages and births increased, many women left work in the early years, and motherhood was given status.
- Failure: the birth rate did not return to the level of the early 1920s. From 1937 the need for workers forced the Nazis to bring women back into employment, which contradicted their own ideas. Many women resented the loss of careers.
- Judgement: a partial success at first, undermined by the regime's own need for labour as it prepared for war.
Tips and tricks
- The contradiction is the point to make: Nazi beliefs said that women belonged at home, and Nazi rearmament needed them at work.
- Mother's Cross: four, six, eight. Bronze, silver, gold.
It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.
Women and the family in Nazi Germany: 5 questions and answers
These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.
What three words summed up the Nazi view of women's role?
A woman's place was in the home.
What was awarded to mothers of large families?
Gold was for eight children.
What did a wife have to do for a couple to get a marriage loan?
It was designed to take women out of the workforce.
What happened to the birth rate under the Nazis?
The improving economy may also have played a part.
Why did the Nazis' own policies undermine their ideas about women?Stretch
What they believed and what the economy needed pulled in opposite directions.
Quiz
5 questions
Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.
Worksheet
3 questions, 16 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.
Women and the family in Nazi Germany
Cambridge IGCSE History 0470 · 16 marks · papermunch.org
Name ______________________________ Date ______________
How did the Nazis encourage women to have more children?[4]
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Any four: marriage loans were given to couples if the wife left work; part of the loan was cancelled for each child; the Mother's Cross was awarded to mothers of large families; propaganda praised motherhood; family allowances were paid; contraception and abortion were restricted.
Why did the Nazis want women to stay at home?[6]
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They believed that men and women had different natural roles, and that a woman's role was to be a wife and mother. They wanted to raise the birth rate, which had been falling, to provide more soldiers and workers in the future. Removing women from jobs also freed places for unemployed men, which reduced the unemployment figures.
Why did Nazi policy towards working women change in the late 1930s?[6]
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Rearmament and conscription created a shortage of workers in industry. Men were being taken into the army, so more workers were needed in the factories. From 1937 the Nazis had to encourage women back into work, even though this went against their belief that women should stay at home.
Answers: Women and the family in Nazi Germany
- 1. Any four: marriage loans were given to couples if the wife left work; part of the loan was cancelled for each child; the Mother's Cross was awarded to mothers of large families; propaganda praised motherhood; family allowances were paid; contraception and abortion were restricted.
- 2. They believed that men and women had different natural roles, and that a woman's role was to be a wife and mother. They wanted to raise the birth rate, which had been falling, to provide more soldiers and workers in the future. Removing women from jobs also freed places for unemployed men, which reduced the unemployment figures.
- 3. Rearmament and conscription created a shortage of workers in industry. Men were being taken into the army, so more workers were needed in the factories. From 1937 the Nazis had to encourage women back into work, even though this went against their belief that women should stay at home.