Essay
Women essay plans (Aspects of life in Germany and West Germany)
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L6 Exam Germany paper essay plansWOMEN
How accurate is it to say that women made substantial gains in their position and status in the
years 1918-45?
Introduction
Criteria
Were they viewed in a certain way by all of society?
Did they conform to views or did they push to improve their position?
Sustained throughout the period
Whether they are seen throughout different fields of work
Whether they exercise rights and not just have them
Discuss
Gains and losses in legal and political rights, overall attitudes of society, roles in society, and
positions in the workplace
Direction
This essay will conclude that women made minor gains throughout the beginning of the period but
overall made very little progress and in fact in the latter half of the period regressed in terms of
formal rights and position and status in society.
Body paragraphs
Paragraph 1-Legal rights
Losses
During Nazi period Women had no political role
o Some nazis argued that allowing women the vote was as damaging to Germany as
the treaty of Versailles
Highly focused on motherhood with women who were considered racially suitable and
wanted to marry had a higher level of health care and status in nazi Germany
Gains
1919- sexual equality enshrined in the Weimar constitution
o Equal political rights
o Equal educational rights
o Equal opportunity in civil service appointments
o Equal pay in professions
However, Did not change the legal status of women under the civil code
These rights were also exercised with 32 women deputies in the Reichstag in
1926
, However, in 1933 women just 4.6% of representatives no women
held a cabinet post or sat in Reistrat in the whole of Weimar period
Women’s voter turnout in 1919 was the same as men’s (82%) showing a
readiness to exercise their rights
However throughout the rest of Weimar women’s participation 10%
lower than men’s
Despite these Legal, supposedly liberal gains of women’s legal rights the Weimar Republic remained
traditional in practice with women’s legal status remaining the same under the civil code, political
rights given to women were not exercised at the same rate as men throughout the period further
showing the liberal in theory traditional in practice nature of the Weimar Republic.
Overall,
Women at the beginning of the period had a significant degree of legal equality with large amounts
of sexual equality being enshrined in the weimar constitution such as equal political rights and equal
educational rights, the downfall of this period however, was the unchanged status of women under
the civil code meaning that women, despite having made improvements throughout the Weimar
period still remained wholly unequal to men. Throughout the nazi period however, women made
significant losses in terms of legal rights with almost all rights being stripped away from them with
women having no political role and having health care to varying degrees depending on their racial
status and willingness to marry and have children, suggesting that a woman’s life had more value
depending on her willingness to conform to the attitude that women should be wives and child-
bearers. it is clear to see that women’s legal rights did in fact not progress throughout the period
and in fact significantly regressed towards the latter half and therefore it is inaccurate to say that
women made substantial gains in their position and status in society in the years 1918-1945 .
Paragraph 2-Attitudes of society and roles in society
Losses
Both nazi and Weimar Germany viewed women’s main role as domestic
o However, It was emphasised much more in Nazi Germany with measures put in
place such as reducing income tax dependant on the number of children a woman
had
Despite the new woman facing backlash they had the opportunity to be in positions in work
which women in the nazi period didn’t have the luxury of
Nazi propaganda machine heavily focused on women remaining at home and fulfilling
domestic roles
o Seen to be the accepted view even by women as they were incredibly reluctant to
work during the war 2% increase during war years compared with Britain’s 50%
Gains
At the beginning of the period Women had just gained significant legal and political rights
More women, new women, exercised more freedom and behaved more like men cutting
their hair short , wearing more revealing clothes and smoking and drinking and pursuing
careers
o Looks liberal on the surface
o However, these new women faced backlash from both men and other women
They were described as “selfish” by the writer Elsa Herman (1929)
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