Pearson Edexcel · GCSE · History
Course version: 1HI0 · Version from Sept 2016
Key topic 4: Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39 - 1 Nazi policies towards…
Full specification wording
Option 31: Key topic 4: Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39 - 1 Nazi policies towards women: Nazi policies towards women, including marriage and family, employment and appearance.
Nazi policies actively enforced their ideological views on women through legislation and social pressure.
Checked against the Pearson Edexcel 1HI0 specification (opens in a new tab) on .
- Point 2 of 2
- 4 key terms
Study notes
From the checked teaching notes for this specification point.
The idea
Nazi policies actively enforced their ideological views on women through legislation and social pressure. To promote marriage and family, the 1933 Law for the Encouragement of Marriage provided loans to young couples, which were partially forgiven with each child born. The Mother's Cross rewarded women for having large families. In employment, women were forced out of professions like medicine and law, and employers were encouraged to favour men, though rearmament later forced a reversal of this trend. Regarding appearance, the Nazis promoted a 'natural' look; women were discouraged from wearing makeup, trousers, or dyeing their hair, and were expected to wear traditional German clothing and keep their hair in plaits or buns.
What earns the marks
- Detail the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) and how marriage loans incentivised childbirth.
- Explain the significance of the Honour Cross of the German Mother in rewarding large families.
- Describe the systematic removal of women from professional employment, such as medicine and the civil service, in the early 1930s.
- Outline the Nazi ideal of female appearance, which rejected makeup and modern fashions in favour of traditional dress and natural styling.
- Note the contradiction in employment policies when rearmament and war necessitated women returning to the workforce.
Common mistakes and how to put them right
Stating that women never worked in Nazi Germany.
Put it right: Women were initially pushed out of professions, but agricultural and domestic work continued, and many returned to factories during rearmament.
Claiming the Mother's Cross was given to all mothers.
Put it right: The Mother's Cross was awarded based on the number of children (bronze for four to five, silver for six to seven, gold for eight or more).
Believing appearance rules were strictly laws.
Put it right: Appearance guidelines were heavily enforced through social pressure and propaganda rather than formal criminal laws.
Exam tips
- Provide specific examples of policies, such as the marriage loans, to support your explanation of how the Nazis encouraged family growth.
- Discuss the limitations of Nazi employment policies, noting how economic necessity eventually forced them to encourage women back into factories.
- Use the topic of appearance to illustrate how Nazi control extended into the personal and everyday lives of citizens.
Try the lesson
The start of the Option 31: Key topic 4: Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39 - 1 Nazi policies towards women: Nazi policies towards women, including marriage and family, employment and appearance. lesson, made from checked teaching notes for this specification point.
Have a go first
Which Nazi policy was introduced to financially encourage young couples to marry and have children?
Listen
Nazi policies actively enforced their ideological views on women through legislation and social pressure. To promote marriage and family, the 1933 Law for the Encouragement of Marriage provided loans to young couples, which were partially forgiven with each child born. The Mother's Cross rewarded women for having large families. In employment, women were forced out of professions like medicine and law, and employers were encouraged to favour men, though rearmament later forced a reversal of this trend. Regarding appearance, the Nazis promoted a 'natural' look; women were discouraged from wearing makeup, trousers, or dyeing their hair, and were expected to wear traditional German clothing and keep their hair in plaits or buns. A strong answer earns marks for these points. Detail the Law for the Encouragement of Marriage (1933) and how marriage loans incentivised childbirth. Explain the significance of the Honour Cross of the German Mother in rewarding large families. Describe the systematic removal of women from professional employment, such as medicine and the civil service, in the early 1930s. Outline the Nazi ideal of female appearance, which rejected makeup and modern fashions in favour of traditional dress and natural styling. A common slip: Stating that women never worked in Nazi Germany. Instead, Women were initially pushed out of professions, but agricultural and domestic work continued, and many returned to factories during rearmament. Exam tip: Provide specific examples of policies, such as the marriage loans, to support your explanation of how the Nazis encouraged family growth.
See it
Key words
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Law for the Encouragement of Marriage
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Mother's Cross
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Rearmament
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Propaganda and social pressure
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See every definition
- Law for the Encouragement of Marriage
- A 1933 law that provided loans to young couples to promote marriage and family, with the loans partially forgiven with each child born.
- Mother's Cross
- An award that rewarded women for having large families.
- Rearmament
- A development that later forced a reversal of the trend of pushing women out of employment.
- Propaganda and social pressure
- The means through which appearance guidelines were heavily enforced rather than through formal criminal laws.
Label the diagram
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1Box 1
2Box 2
3Box 3
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