Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-13T10:36:42.792Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Conclusion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2013

Michelle Mouton
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
Get access

Summary

During both the Weimar and National Socialist eras, many Germans perceived the family to be the critical foundation upon which Germany's future depended. In political debate, policy formation, and unofficial discourse, Germans articulated the view that the nation's survival rested on a revival of marriage and motherhood. Providing German men and women with the security needed to bear children would, they hoped, usher in economic prosperity, create social stability, and raise moral standards. Through family-directed legislation, both Weimar and National Socialist policymakers sought to raise the birthrate, decrease infant mortality, and improve public health. Since the two regimes had a number of aims in common, some historians have viewed their family policies as developing in a continuous line. Indeed, certain programs introduced by the Weimar governments were continued by the Nazis once they took power. During both eras, policymakers advocated the use of marriage certificates, financed kindergartens, and celebrated Mother's Day. And yet, as this study has demonstrated, a dramatic transformation in family policy followed the Nazi takeover. Parliamentary debates gave way to monolithic decrees as the Nazis introduced a race-based ideology and showed a much greater willingness to intervene directly into families. The result was fundamental change in both the aim and impact of family policy.

During the Weimar era, lawmakers across the political spectrum agreed that the German family was critical to social stability and that the war had dangerously weakened the family.

Type
Chapter
Information
From Nurturing the Nation to Purifying the Volk
Weimar and Nazi Family Policy, 1918–1945
, pp. 272 - 282
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Conclusion
  • Michelle Mouton
  • Book: From Nurturing the Nation to Purifying the Volk
  • Online publication: 05 January 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511806964.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Conclusion
  • Michelle Mouton
  • Book: From Nurturing the Nation to Purifying the Volk
  • Online publication: 05 January 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511806964.008
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Conclusion
  • Michelle Mouton
  • Book: From Nurturing the Nation to Purifying the Volk
  • Online publication: 05 January 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511806964.008
Available formats
×