German Society of 1900s: Main Aspects Research Paper

Introduction

The twentieth century is arguably the period that has literally shaped German society to what it is today. This is the period where the country fought two world wars, went through a crippling separation into the east and the west portions divided both physically and ideologically and was eventually united and has risen to be a world leader both economically and politically (Wu, 2006).

This paper seeks to explore various aspects of German society that were affected by the events of the 1900s; and attempts to show that the twentieth century has been both cruel and generous to the society.

Development of the Social Structure

Since the industrial revolution and spanning through the two world wars and the postwar era, the majority of the German workforce was employed in the industrial sector. However, a transformation of this to the service sector was to happen; West Germany was the first section to make this transition and by the close of the 80s decade, about two thirds of the workforce had shifted. In contrast, by the time of the reunification, most of the East German workers were still in industries and farms; a scenario that resembled its western sibling in 1965.

Transformation has led to changes in the stratification of German society; the original one being the elite class, middle class, workers class and a small services class seen in the 1950s. The new strata are elite, self-employed, salaried employees and workers.

By the end of the 80s decade, the structure in west Germany was dominated by an educated employed class that made up about 28% of the total population. These people worked either in industries or services as management staff. In this period, the people supported by agriculture (including their families made up about 6% of the population; and an elite of about 1%. The working class consisted of three groups; the elite working class who were the best educated and paid making up about 12% of the population, the skilled workers who made up 18% of the population, (and among which 5% were foreigners), and a 15% proportion of unskilled workforce (which 25% of them were foreigners) (German culture).

Role of Women in the German Society

The three K words; these words were for a long time in German culture used to describe the role of women Kinder (children), Kirche (church), and Küche (kitchen) (German culture). In some cases, a fourth role was ‘generously’ included; Kleider (clothes). The struggle for equality in the German society has been long and tortuous for the women and has spanned most of the 20^th century. A remarkable victory in this struggle was the extension of the right to vote to all German women.

However, the Second World War, which had far reaching effects on most aspects of German existence also, had a similar effect on the definition of a woman’s role; activities that were traditionally reserved for men were performed by women. Additionally, the women of that era had their hands full taking care of war casualties, interment of the dead and generally picking up the civilization that the war had reduced to a mound of rubble; the women appropriately came to be known as Trümmerfrauen or women of the rubble (German culture).

The end of the war that saw the division of Germany into the east and west sections also had an effect on the evolution of the role of women. In the west, as much as the laws declared that the two genders were equal, the situation on the ground was not similar. Various practices still discriminated against women such as dismissal from the civil service after marriage (Fuchs et al, 2001). This was despite the fact that the war had killed a large proportion of young men resulting in a severe shortage of bachelors and effectively locking many women out of the family life in a society that had reverted to the traditional view of marriage. The male yet again took the traditional position of the bread winner and the female proportion of the population withdrew back to the home. This was made worse by the policy to rely on immigrants and migrants to power the growing economy.

On the contrary, the women population in East Germany remained in the country’s workforce. This was due to the Soviet-style of administration that required everybody to participate equally in the country’s economy. Some policies that were enacted to aid women cope better with both work and domestic issues included opening of higher education centers dedicated to training female worker, legislations that catered for the working mother, development of an elaborate day-care system and legalization of abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy, (thus giving women more freedom). This support for the female workforce is understandable since the German Democratic Republic- GDR (East Germany) was steadily loosing their male workers who were escaping to West Germany; this was a risky undertaking and most women opted to stay with their family rather than leave them behind or try to escape with them.

The women of West Germany however also started to take issue with the traditional structure of the society. Starting in the 1970s, the women joined by common causes such as right of abortion and equality in a marriage. Many victories were won including passing of legislation in 1977 that gave the woman the right to file for divorce without having to seek permission from her spouse. Additionally, married women could see employment outside the house.

With time women made bigger stride toward achieving the much sought after equality. Some of them were even able to ascend to positions of power traditionally reserved for men. A good example is Rita Süssmuth a politician who became the president of the Bundestag in the 90s. Another woman, Birgit Breuel, an industrialist assumed the control of the Treuhandanstalt (Trust Agency), the influential agency responsible for the privatization of former East German industries, following the murder of Detlev Rohwedder in April 1991 (see German culture; Women in German Society). Other notable women leaders in the mid-90s include Marion von Dönhoff, coeditor of Die Zeit, and Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann, director of the Allensbach Public Opinion Institute. However, at the time, the distance which the women still had to go to achieve complete equality was highlighted in 1991 by an article in an influential weekly magazine as only 4 women appeared in a list of the 100 most influential people in the world (German culture; Women in German Society).

Race Issues in Germany

Since the introduction of the idea of social Darwinism that suggested that different races of the world were locked in a life and death struggle for limited resources and that in the end only one superior race can survive, many European had to think twice about their position on the racial scale in terms of superiority; with ancient racial divides that were at the edge of obliteration being revived. The social Darwinism theory was discriminated since the theorist had not factored in technological advances that would enable man to exploit the environment more efficiently; however, not before it caused irreparable damage.

The tension created by quest for racial superiority finally exploded in Germany as the third Reich under the leadership of Adolph Hitler took it upon themselves to create a superior German race in Europe which basically involved extermination of any race they considered inferior (Wu, 2006). The Semitic population particularly the Jews bore the brunt of this ‘purification’ exercise. The first step taken was the classification of people in Germany according to their race with ‘Aryans’, or racially pure Germans being the most superior with descending levels of classification depending on purity.

From this point, what followed were both random acts of violence and state sanctioned violence; and withdrawal of citizenship of all Jews in Germany pending expulsion. The original plan of the third Reich was to transport all the Jews to Madagascar; however, the large numbers especially in Poland and the pressure exerted by the war made this impossible. The ‘final solution’ taken by Hitler was the transportation of millions of Jews in Germany, Poland and occupied parts of the soviet union to concentration camps where they were murdered in an exercise that came to be known as the holocaust. The scale of the murder is frightening even today (Wu, 2006).

The loss of Germany in the war put an end to this genocide and to the notion of Aryan superiority as the accepted social ideology in Germany. However, from time to time there have been reports of racially instigated attacks on peoples of minority descents in German towns from the small elements of prejudice that still remain within the population. However, these are negligible compared to the Nazi genocide that resulted in the death of about 6 million people (Wu, 2006).

Family and Marriage in Germany

In a manner similar to the trend in other developed nations in the world, Germany records more divorces than marriages on average. Trends in the divide Germany showed that the couples in the east tended to marry younger than their western counterparts; this was motivated in the east by the low-cost day care services and housing benefits offered to couples with children in the east. After unification, this trend has continued. The divorce rate was however higher in the east that in the west with it hitting a record high of 46% in East Germany 1986; due to the uncertainty that came with the reunification (especially among the women of the east who had enjoyed a privileged position in the eastern workforce) the divorce rate reduced.

Both states had legislations that protected the family and offered comparatively good maternity leaves and pay packages. In the east, it was expected that the mother would soon return to work after childbirth, therefore, a comprehensive day-care system was created. On the contrary, many women in the west had to forfeit their carries for childbirth. This resulted in higher birthrates in the east than in the west. With reunification (and the accompanying privatization of business in the east that involved massive layoffs) the birthrate in the east also plummeted.

There has been a shift from the traditional patriarchal families; starting in the early 90s, many young couples have opted to live in a non-marital partnership before marriage thus pushing the average age at first marriage higher. Additionally, more children are born out of wedlock (Fuchs et al, 2001; German culture).

The lines separating the different ethnicities and religions have also blurred with the only marriages being considered mixed being those between a German and a foreigner. The children born of such a marriage are automatic German citizens.

Conclusion

For a country that was literally reduced to a mound of rubble by a devastating world war and whose history deeply stained with the blood of millions lives lost in Nazi concentration camps, the German society has taken to stride most of the challenges that they have met and in most cases triumphed in this endeavors.

However, the events of the twentieth century continue to reverberate in the social structure bringing both positive and negative effects to it.

Work Cited

Fuchs Stefan, Janina von Stebut and Jutta Allmendinger: “Gender, Science, and Scientific Organizations in Germany” Minerva: Volume 39, 2001. Web.

Wu Youfa: “Several issues influencing the course of German history” Frontiers of History in China Volume 1, Number, 2006.