With reference to sources 1 and 3 and your understanding of the historical context which of these two sources is more valuable at explaining the impact of the Great Depression on Germany? [25 marks]

German artist Lea Gruding recalls in her autobiography that the unemployed suffered massively during the great depression not only financially but mentally, having no job to go to anymore. This source was published in 1964, 35 years after the Great Depression making it a secondary source. Some may argue that due to it being a secondary source it is less reliable as it wasn’t written primarily at the time and could differ from the actual events that happened during the Depression. It also maybe exaggerated. Despite this however Gruding doesn’t use statistical evidence which means even though this source could be exaggerated it is not numerically exaggerated. This source on the other hand from historical knowledge is fairly accurate and so is useful because what happened in Germany during the time is represented accurately. It’s true the Weimar Republic was devastated by the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and the Great Depression that followed. The Crash had a devastating impact on the American economy but because America had propped up the Weimar Republic with huge loans in 1924 (the Dawes Plan) and in 1929 (the Young Plan), what happened to the American economy impacted the Weimar Republic’s economy and society due to them being so dependent on American loans (the USA was also Germany’s biggest trading partner which affected Germany massively). America now needed those loans back to assist her faltering economy. America gave Germany 90 days to start to re-pay money loaned to her. Companies throughout Germany primarily in the industrial zones such as the Ruhr went bankrupt and workers were laid off in their millions. Unemployment affected nearly every German family just 6 years after the last major economic disaster hyperinflation had hit Weimar. Most, though not all, of the unemployed were male. These men were almost certainly family men who could see no way ahead with regards to providing for their families. Money was required for food, heating a home, clothes etc. With no obvious end to their plight under the Weimar regime, it is not surprising that those who saw no end to their troubles turned to the more extreme political parties in Germany the Nazi and Communist Parties. Suicide rates were also the highest ever to be recorded. Work was simply not available.

Source 3 is a magazine article ‘twilight for women’ written in 1931 by journalist Hilde Walter. This is a primary source written at the time of The Great Depression. The source talks about the impact on women in the Weimar Republic during the crash. As the crisis years of the Great Depression dawned there was widespread belief in what Hilde Walter refers to on Germany that the exclusion of women from the workplace is unfair and a set back in time a modern term known as the glass ceiling. This is demonstrated by the passing of the ‘Law on the Legal Position of Female Public Servants’ in 1932 which legally permitted the civil service to dismiss married female workers. This law also reveals the persistence of patriarchal attitudes in Germany. The presence of women in the workforce was tolerated if a woman did not have a husband but once she was married she was expected to return to her place in the domestic sphere. The discrimination against women in the area of work highlights a degree of misogyny in Weimar society and reveals a tendency to scapegoat women as the cause of economic crisis. The new gender roles, therefore, became a highly charged class issue. This source is useful to an extent; however it could be biased due to it being one woman’s point of view and doesn’t represent the view of the majority of women living in Germany. Furthermore because it is a magazine article it could be exaggerated to appeal to its specific target audience which in this case is women. It is useful due to it being written at the time of the great depression and what she is stating is backed up with historical evidence but despite this the article only gives us the impact on women in Germany and not on German society as a whole.

In conclusion source 1 is much more valuable in explaining the impact of the great depression on Germany because it shows the impact of the Depression on the whole of German society unlike source 3 which only states the impact on women. Even though source 3 is written during the time the source being from a magazine article its purpose is to entertain and fit a certain target audience (women) whereas source 1 is to specifically inform its readers. Both sources are useful to evaluate from because what they state are backed up with historical evidence. In spite of this source 1 gives us the overall impact on Germany society which relates to the question ‘impact on Germany’ and not ‘impact on women in Germany’ which is what source 3 is limitedly giving us.