Option 31: Key topic 4: Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39 - 1 Nazi policies towards women — Edexcel GCSE History
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Option 31: Key topic 4: Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39 - 1 Nazi policies towards women explained
The Nazis held highly traditional and biologically deterministic views on women and the family, encapsulated by the slogan 'Kinder, Küche, Kirche' (Children, Kitchen, Church).
Read the full explanation
They believed a woman's primary duty was to be a mother and raise a large number of racially pure Aryan children to secure the future of the Thousand Year Reich. The family was viewed as the foundational unit of the state, essential for breeding the next generation of soldiers and mothers. Consequently, women were actively discouraged from pursuing higher education, politics, or professional careers, which were deemed unnatural and detrimental to their biological function. Men were expected to be the providers and defenders, while women were strictly the nurturers.
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. 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.
Your focus
- Articulate the core Nazi ideological views regarding the role of women in society.
- Explain the significance of the family unit within the context of the Thousand Year Reich.
- Compare the Nazi ideal of womanhood with the reality of women's lives in the Weimar Republic.
Show all 6 objectives
- Identify specific Nazi policies designed to increase the marriage and birth rates.
- Analyse the impact of Nazi policies on women's employment between 1933 and 1939.
- Describe the Nazi ideal of female appearance and how it was promoted.
Option 31: Key topic 4: Life in Nazi Germany, 1933–39 - 1 Nazi policies towards women exam tips
Marking Points
- Identify the core Nazi belief that women's primary role was domestic, summarised by the phrase 'Kinder, Küche, Kirche'.
- Explain the ideological importance of the family as the breeding ground for the Aryan race and the foundation of the state.
- Describe the Nazi view that men and women had distinct, biologically determined roles, with men as fighters and women as mothers.
- Note the Nazi opposition to Weimar-era female emancipation, viewing female professionals and politicians as unnatural.
- 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.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Use the phrase 'Kinder, Küche, Kirche' to demonstrate specific knowledge of Nazi attitudes towards women.
- 💡Link Nazi views on women directly to their broader goals of racial purity and military expansion.
- 💡Contrast Nazi views with the progressive freedoms women enjoyed during the Weimar Republic to highlight the scale of the ideological shift.
- 💡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.
Common Mistakes
- Error: Stating that the Nazis hated women. Correction: The Nazis highly valued women, but strictly in their capacity as mothers and homemakers, not as independent professionals.
- Error: Claiming women had no role in the Nazi state. Correction: Women had a crucial role in securing the future of the Reich by raising the next generation of Aryan children.
- Error: Confusing Nazi views with general 1930s conservatism. Correction: While sharing some traditional views, Nazi ideology was uniquely driven by racial purity and the need to breed soldiers.
- Error: Stating that women never worked in Nazi Germany. Correction: Women were initially pushed out of professions, but agricultural and domestic work continued, and many returned to factories during rearmament.
- Error: Claiming the Mother's Cross was given to all mothers. Correction: 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).
- Error: Believing appearance rules were strictly laws. Correction: Appearance guidelines were heavily enforced through social pressure and propaganda rather than formal criminal laws.