These revision notes provide an in depth summary of this specific chapter of AQA History in the Study of The quest for political stability: Germany, 1871–1991. They can be used directly as lecture notes or can be reduced further to more of a summary of the topic.
History revision – Social and cultural developments (21)
Standards of living and social tensions
- First years post WW2 were years of poverty for the Gr’s
o Land, homes and property ruined
- Many Gr’s had been expelled from Central and E EU with very little
- Tens of millions didn’t have enough to eat or wear
- Money was of little value
The 1950’s
- By 1952 450,000 houses were built
- Between 1949 and 1955, wages and salaries rose over 80%
- Insurance based health and social welfare system had been integral part of the social
market economy since its beginning in 1949
- Pension entitlement was given boost in 1957, just prior to national election, when
Adenauer’s government introduced a new Pension Act
o Established Index-linked state pensions and increased pensions roughly 75%
- The first 15 years of the FRG were characterised by almost unbroken advances in
material well-being and affluence for many Gr’s
- As real incomes rose from 1952-53, consumer demand increased as did economy
- Vehicle production boomed
- However, there was a brittle, superficial quality of life in the 1950’s
o Suggested society with refusal to enter discussions of its past
Seen in how much focus people placed on work and material benefits
- Strain on family from war memories and long working hours and cramped conditions
- Also a significant generational divide
The 1960’s
- Decade of transition
- By end, the CDU monopoly had been broken and new generation of individuals had
come through and taken to the streets
o Angry at bland conformity of W Gr society and a materialistic way of life
- Older generation was pushed out of its collective complacent amnesia about the Nazi
legacy
- The Nuremburg Trials in 1945-46 had been criticised as ‘victors’ justice’ by the
Adenauer generation but the 1960’s saw the first debates about Gr war crimes
o Trial of Adolf Eichmann in Israel in 1961 brough the Holocaust directly into the
wider public domain – could no longer be denied
o In 1963, the Frankfurt trials, bringing many Auschwitz perpetrators to justice,
broadened the debate about Gr war crimes that had been closed through 50’s
- By 1966 the FRG was entering an early-life crisis
- Student protest, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations and emergence of alternative
political movements including far R NPD and Com DKP, signalled desire to come to
terms with past and demand for greater openness in Gr society
The 1970’s
- This decade is sometimes referred to as that of the 2/3 society
- Economic recession and terrorism dominated this decade
- Increase in no of long-term unemployed to around 2 mil of working-age pop by end of
decade raised fears of a new wealth gap
o Underclass of guest workers predominated the bottom 1/3 of society
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