The West Between the Wars, 1919-1939

The Futile Search for Stability The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes Hitler and Nazi Germany Cultural and Intellectual Trends

The Futile Search for Stability

Objectives: 1. Explain why peace and prosperity were short-lived after World War I 2. Describe how a global economic depression weakened the Western democracies after 1929

The peace settlement created new boundaries and new states The settlement left nations unhappy and Germans vowed to revise the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

Uneasy Peace, Uncertain Security

A Weak League of Nations The peace settlement included unwise provisions that could serve as new causes for conict The League of Nations was not very effective in maintaining the peace Failure of the united States to join the league was one serious problem with the organization

French Demands
Desire for security led the French government to demand strict enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles Reparations to be paid by Germany peaked at 132 billion German marks (33 billion dollars)almost a Trillion dollars today The German government could not afford this and France occupied the Ruhr Valley and mine the region

10,000 dollars

1 Billion Dollars 100 Million dollars

1 Trillion Dollars 15.5 Trillion Dollars in debt

Double Stacked

Ination in Germany German workers went in strike due to loss of nancesthe government printed money as a solution to this The deutsche mark soon became worthless: 19144.2 marks to 1 dollar 19234.2 trillion marks to 1 dollar

*The Dawes Plan was an American attempt to balance Germany by loaning them 200 million dollars, leading to a heavy American investment in Europe

A spirit of cooperation was fostered by the foreign ministers of Germany and France *The Treaty of Locarno, guaranteed Germanys new western borders with France and Belgiumleading to an era of European peace The Kellogg-Briand pact led nations to renounce war as an instrument of national policy but such promises proved worthless without a way to enforce these promises

The Treaty of Locarno

The Great Depression Economic collapse and Great Depression emerged in 1924 *Depression is a period of low economic activity and rising unemployment

Causes of the Depression

Two factors played a major role in the start of the Great Depression: (1) A series of economic downturnsprinces for farm products, especially wheat (2) International nancial crisis involving the US stock market During the 1920s, the US stock market was booming but by 1929, the stock market crashed; Germanys market in reaction completely collapsed

Responses to the Depression One British worker in every four was unemployed 40 percent of the German labor force was out of work and homeless These desperate time led to increased government activity in the economy and led to renewed interests in Marxist doctrines and Communism

Democratic States after the War

Germany A German democratic state known as the *Weimar Republic was created but faced serious economic problems Savings disappeared and pushed the middle class toward more radical political parties as Germany was struck by the Great Depression

France became the strongest power on the European continent In June 1936, a coalition of leftist partiesCommunists, Socialists, and Radicalsformed the Popular Front government The French New Deal gave workers the right to *collective bargainingthe right of unions to negotiate with employers over wages and hours The Popular Fronts policies failed to solve the problems of the depression

Great Britain

Coal, Steel, and Textile manufacturing after the war declined dramatically, leading to a rise in unemployment The Labour Party failed to solve the nations economic problems *John Maynard Keynes General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money condemning free economies and that governments should nance labor projects, even through *decit spending

The United States By 1932, US industrial production had fallen almost 50 percent from its 1929 level The Democrat *Franklin Delano Roosevelt led an active government intervention in the economy known as the *New Dealthe public works and the Works Progress Administration (WPA)

The Social Security Act created a system of oldage pensions and unemployment insurance None of these resolved the US spiraling economyonly the US entry into WWII and weapons industry brought full employment and industry

Objectives: 1. Explain why peace and prosperity were short-lived after World War I 2. Describe how a global economic depression weakened the Western democracies after 1929

The League of Nations was less than effective for all of the following reasons except 1.the United States did not join 2.the United States did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles 3.League members could not agree to use force against aggression 4.President Wilson did not support the idea

The Great Depression was caused primarily by 1.economic downturn and the U.S. stock market crash 2.failure of nations to reduce their military forces 3.new interest in Marxist theory 4.strengthening of European banks

The Weimar Republic was hurt by all of the following except 1.lack of strong political leadership 2.serious social problems 3.too much spending on the German military 4.the Great Depression

The economist John Maynard Keynes argued that 1.depressions should be allowed to resolve themselves 2.depressions were incurable 3.unemployment came from decline in demand for goods and services 4.free economies never worked

The French New Deal program started by Frances Popular Front 1.solved the depression in France 2.failed to solve the depression in France 3.weakened workers rights 4.improved condence in the French political system

The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes

Objectives: 1. Characterize the modern totalitarian state established by Mussolini 2. Report how Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, eliminated people who threatened his power

The Rise of Dictators By 1939, only two major European states remained democratic France and Great Britain *Totalitarian states emerged to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens

These totalitarian states wanted to conquer the minds and hearts of their subjects inuencing through mass propaganda A single party emerged as the head of the state and all were expected to achieve the goals of the singular vision

Fascism in Italy
*Benito Mussolini established the rst European fascist movement in Italy He organized a new political groupFascio di Combattimento (League of Combat)from which the term *fascism derives This philosophy which glories the state above the individual by emphasizing the need for a strong central government led by a dictatorial ruler

Rise of Fascism Italy experienced severe economic problems after World War I Socialists spoke of revolution and Mussolini formed bands of armed fascists called *Blackshirts whom crushed socialists and would-be communists Either we are allowed to govern, or we will seize power

Mussolini was named prime minister by the King of Italy in 1922, making movements toward a Fascist dictatorship Formed a secret police called the OVRA and created new and more authoritarian laws

The Fascist State

Mussolini used various means to establish complete control over the Italian people, particularly media Fascist youth groups included about 66 percent of the population from 8 to 18, focused on military activities and values

Mussolini never maintained complete control over the Italian state nor did he gain totalitarian control seen in Hitlers Germany Mussolinis regime also gave the Church land and money. In return, the Catholic Church urged all to support the Fascist regime

A New Era in the Soviet Union Once civil war in Russia was over, peasants began to sabotage the communist program by hoarding food Agricultural disaster led to industrial collapse Down with Lenin and horseesh. Bring back the czar and pork.

Lenins New Economic Policy *New Economic Policy (NEP)a modied version of the old capitalist system Once stability returned, the new state was formalized under the name Union of Soviet Socialist Republics USSR or Soviet Union

The Rise of Stalin

*Politburoa committee responsible for policy-making A faction emerged: One group, led by Leon Trotsky, wanted to end the NEP and launch a rapid industrialization leading to a global exporting of Communism Another group, led by *Joseph Stalin, wanted to continue Lenins NEP and built a stable state internally

Five-Year Plans

Stalin made a signicant shift in economic policy in 1928, ending the NEP *Five-Year Plans are economic goals for ve-year periods They sought to transform Russia virtually overnight from an agricultural into an industrial country

The First emphasized maximum production of capital goods and armaments; The Second focused on steel production in Russia numbers of workers increased by million but housing actually declined *Collectivization was a system in which private farms were eliminatedgovernments owned all of the land while the peasants worked it Resistance from peasants led to hoarding crops and killing livestock

Costs of Stalins Programs

Collectivization was done at tremendous cost 10 million peasants died in the famines of 1932 and 1933 The Old Bolsheviks were put on trial and condemned to death; Millions were sent to forced labor camps in Siberia

Objectives: 1. Characterize the modern totalitarian state established by Mussolini 2. Report how Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, eliminated people who threatened his power

Parliamentary systems failed in most eastern European states, in part, because A. These states had little democratic tradition B. The systems were weakened by repayments C. The citizens were too well educated D. They all had large middle class

Francos military regime in Spain was supported by A. The United States and Britain B. Germany and Italy C. Stalin and the Communists D. France and Britain

Stalins Five Year Plans were intended to transform Russia into A. an agricultural society B. an industrial society C. a democracy D. a monarchy

Lenin intended his economic policies to A. replace communism B. create a permanent capitalist system C. allow the economy to re-build itself D. restore the Romanov dynasty

Mussolinis regime compromised with A. opposition parties in Italy B. Italian Protestants C. Italian Socialists and Communists D. Italys traditional institutions

Hitler and Nazi Germany

Objectives: 1.Characterize the totalitarian state in Germany established by Hitler and the Nazi Party 2. Explain why many Germans accepted the Nazi dictatorship while other Germans suffered greatly under Hitlers rule

Hitler and His Views

*Adolf Hitler was born in 1889 and wanted to become an artist but was rejected by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts The core of his idea was racist and extreme nationalism He joined the German Workers Party, eventually taking total control and renaming it *National Socialist German Workers Party in short the Nazi party

He formed a militia known as Storm Troops, or Brownshirts; He attempted to lead an uprising against the government but was quickly defeated *Mein KampfMy Struggle It was laced with antiSemitism, anticommunism and liked to Social Darwinian thoughthe and his party sought lebensraum (living space)

Rise of Nazism Hitler expanded the Nazi Party, soon becoming the largest party in the *Reichstag the German parliament Hitler promised to create a new Germany, appealing to national pride, honor, and militarism

Victory of Nazism
Right-wing elites looked to Hitler for leadership which allowed him to become chancellor and create a new government 1933, the Reichstag passed the *Enabling Act, giving the government the power to ignore the constitution for four years while it issued laws to deal with the countrys problems

Hitler became a dictator appointed by the parliamentary body itself The civil service was purged of Jews and democratic elements; *concentration camps were established for such undesirables Hitler soon garnered the title *Fhrer or Leader

The Nazi State, 1933-1939 The development of an *Aryan racial state that would dominate Europe and possibility the world for generations to come Aryansancient Greeks, Romans, Germans, the Holy Roman Empire, German Empire of 1871 *Third Reich

The State and Terror Nazi totalitarian state used used terror and repression Schutzstafen (Guard Squadrons) known as the SS headed by *Heinrich Himmler For Himmler, the goal of the SS was the further the Aryan master race

Economic Policies Hitler used public works projects and grants to private construction rms to put people back to work He undertook a massive rearmament program, leading to economic prosperity

The Nazis announced new racial laws at the annual party rally in Nuremberg *Nuremberg laws excluded Jews from German citizenship and forbade marriages between Jews and German citizens; Yellow Star of David *Kristallnachtnight of shattered glass; Nazis burned synagogues and destroyed some seven thousand Jewish businesses

Objectives: 1.Characterize the totalitarian state in Germany established by Hitler and the Nazi Party 2. Explain why many Germans accepted the Nazi dictatorship while other Germans suffered greatly under Hitlers rule

Hitler inaccurately associated the concept of an Aryan race with all of the following groups except A. ancient Greeks and Romans B. Germans C. Scandinavians D. Jews

Hitler ended Germanys economic woes, unemployment, and the depression by A. putting women to work in factories B. passing the Nuremberg Laws C. public works projects and a rearmament program D. building more churches and universities

The Kristallnacht, which happened on November 9, 1938, was A. the inspiration for the anthem of the Nazi Party B. a destructive rampage against German Jews led by Nazis C. the signing of Hitlers agreement with Russia D. the creation of Hitler;s secret police under Heinrich Himmler

Hitlers goal was to create a A. Third Reich, or German Empire B. Third Workers party C. Third Depression D. Third Reichstag

Hitlers political theories were based on all of the following except A. racism, especially anti-Semitism B. Darwinian social struggle C. communism D. nationalism

Cultural and Intellectual Trends

Objectives: 1. Relate how radios and movies were popular forms of entertainment that were used to spread political messages 2. Summarize the new artistic and intellectual trends that reected the despair created by WWI and the Great Depression

Advent of new Radio wireless radio waves and radio broadcasting New Technology allowed for the creation of lm The Nazi party used this in the creation of propagandaThe Triumph of the Will (a documentary of the 1934 Nuremberg party rally)

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