Populate or Perish (Europe 1870–1945)

Chapter 4 investigates the birth of a new era in population politics in the years 1870–1945, focusing on France, Germany, and Russia/Soviet Union. The militarization and securitization of childbearing are explored to reveal how and why governments of all stripes chose to manipulate the breeding habits of their people in the name of the greater glory of the state. The chapter explores the creation of Mother’s Day as a national holiday; the execution of a woman in Vichy France for having performed abortions; the Stalinist “Medal of Maternity” for women who had large numbers of children; and Nazi SS breeding camps, where the German elite could pair with young women willing to fulfill their patriotic procreative duties.