Explain what role women had in Nazism society. Return to Chapter 1 on the French Revolution. Write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the role of women in the two periods.

The role of women in Nazi society:
(i)The children in Nazi Germany were repeatedly told that women were radically different from men. The fight for equal right for men and women that had become part of democratic struggle everywhere was wrong and it would destroy society. While boys were taught to be aggressive, masculine and steel-hearted, girls were told that they had to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children. Girls had to maintain the purity of the race, distance themselves from Jews, look after the home, and teach their children Nazi values. They had to be the bearers of the Aryan culture and race.

(ii)In 1933 Hitler had said tht in his state the mother was the most important citizen. But in Nazi Germany all mothers were not treated equally. Women who bore racially undesirable children were punished and those who produced racially desirable children were awarded. They were given favoured treatment in hospitals and were also entitled to concessions in shops and on theatre tickets and railway fares. To encourage women to produce many children, Honour Crosses were awarded. A bronze cross was given for four children, silver for six and gold for eight or more.

The comparison of role of women in two periods:
(i)From the very beginning women were active participants in the events which brought about so many important changes in French society. In order to discuss and voice women's interest, the revolutionary government did introduce laws that helped to improve the lives of women. Together with the creation of state schools, schooling was made compulsory for all girls. Their fathers could no longer force them into marriage against their will. Marriage was made into a contract entered into freely and registered under civil law. Divorce was made legal and could be applied for by both women and men. Women could now train for jobs, could become artists or run small businesses.

(ii)Women's movements for voting rights and equal wages continued through the next two hundred years in many countries of the world. The fight for the vote was carried out through an international suffrage movement during the late ninteenth and early twentieth centuries. The example of the political activities of French women during the revolutionary years was kept alive as an inspiring memory. It was finally in 1946 that women in France won the right to vote.