changes in society after world war i in the twenties, many americans were ready for a more carefree...

Changes in Society After World War I

In the twenties, many Americans were ready for a more carefree existence. Others rallied against the trend

and pushed Prohibition through Congress. Jazz became the soundtrack in the underground world of

speakeasies and flappers.

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The Rise of Totalitarianism

Section 1: Postwar Social Changes

Witness History Audio: The Jazz Age

Note Taking Transparency 166

History Interactive: Pop Culture in the Jazz Age

The New Literature

The postwar years ushered in many original works of literature. It was a time of experimentation with language

and structure. Some writers—such as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce—employed stream of consciousness.

Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and other African American writers in Harlem told about the

experiences of a people who had not been heard from.

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New Scientific Theories

In the early 20th century, scientists made many breakthroughs that would greatly advance their fields. Marie

Curie and others worked with radioactivity; Albert Einstein developed his theory of relativity; Alexander Fleming

discovered penicillin; and Sigmund Freud pioneered psychoanalysis.

Modern Art and Architecture

Art moved away from the traditional in the early 1900s. Some of the new styles were called fauvism, cubism,

abstract, dadaism, and surrealism. Architects also rejected the work of the past and began to work with glass,

steel, and concrete structures (in the Bauhaus school) and with materials and designs that blended with the

environment (Frank Lloyd Wright).

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Color Transparency 168: The Persistence of Memory, by Salvador Dali

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Looking Ahead

The growing sense of hope and relief that came after World War I would soon be devastated by an economic

crisis.

QuickTake Section Quiz

Progress Monitoring Transparency

The Rise of Totalitarianism: Section 1


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Politics in the Postwar World

After the war, Europe faced economic instability as jobs were scarce and cities were ravaged. These factors

led to political unrest. The U.S. was not affected so much economically, but was uneasy about the radical

ideas immigrants might bring in, so it limited immigration from Europe.

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Section 2: The Western Democracies Stumble

Witness History Audio: Brother Can You Spare a Dime?

Note Taking Transparency 167A

Postwar Foreign Policy

Peace seemed fragile after the war. France wanted to weaken Germany by enforcing the Treaty of Versailles,

while Britain wanted to lesson the treaty’s effect on Germany. Many countries agreed to reduce their navies,

and the League of Nations worked toward stopping aggression. Yet when Japan was allowed to invade

Manchuria, other dictators took note.

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Postwar Economics

While Europe struggled to return to a steady peacetime economy, the U.S. emerged as the economic leader.

Affluent America bolstered Europe’s recovery.

The Great Depression

The U.S. stock market crashed in 1929, ushering in the Great Depression. This was a global economic

crisis that closed businesses and left behind many jobless, homeless, starving people.

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Note Taking Transparency 167B

Witness History Video: The Great Depression and American Farmers

The Democracies React to the Depression

The governments of Britain, France, and the United States struggled to help their people. President

Roosevelt’s New Deal programs went a long way toward helping suffering Americans. Political radicals

gained ground during this difficult time.

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Color Transparency 169: WPA Mural





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Color Transparency 169: WPA Mural

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Progress Monitoring Transparency (1 of 2)

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Mussolini’s Rise to Power

Italian nationalists, led by Benito Mussolini, felt betrayed by the government and the Allies from World War I.

They revolted and became powerful through terror. These Fascists, as they were known, were finally handed

the reins of government by the king in order to avoid a civil war.

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Section 3: Fascism in Italy

Witness History Audio: A New Leader: Mussolini


Mussolini’s Rule

Although Italy was officially a parliamentary monarchy, under Mussolini, it became a dictatorship. He used

propaganda and terror to control the people. The Fascists wanted everyone to live and work only for the state.

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Color Transparency 170: The Triumph of Mussolini

The Nature of Fascism

Fascism glorified action, violence, discipline, and blind loyalty to the state. They pursued foreign expansion

through warfare. They distrusted reason and used emotion to their advantage. The state was all.


Looking Ahead

Democracy, Communism, and Fascism competed for influence in postwar Europe. Fascism was on the fast

track during the Great Depression.

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Color Transparency 170: The Triumph of Musssolini

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A Totalitarian State

In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin set up a totalitarian state. He took away all free market rights and made

every enterprise and farm state owned. This gave workers little incentive to produce quality products or extra

food and the country struggled to feed its people.

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Section 4: The Soviet Union Under Stalin

Witness History Audio: The Heart of the Party


Stalin’s Terror Tactics

Stalin was ruthless against anyone perceived as being disloyal. He set up Gulags where people would be

sent to work and he even took food away from farm families in what was called the Terror Famine. The

country lost many of its best and brightest.

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Color Transparency 170: Gulag Prisoners, by Nikolai German

Geography Interactive: The Soviet Union, 1928-1941

Communist Attempts to Control Thought

Stalin used propaganda to boost his popularity. Posters, loudspeaker announcements, and newspaper

articles extolled Communism. Books, music, and other art forms that were critical of Stalin were censored. He

also tried to replace religion with communist ideology.

Witness History Audio: Anna Akhmatova

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Soviet Society Under Stalin

There was still a class order under Communism, but this one put party members at the top. All others endured

shortages of food and consumer goods, although they did get free education and health care, and women

were treated as equals to men in the workplace.

Soviet Foreign Policy

The Soviets encouraged communist revolutions in other countries through an organization called Comintern.

This organization supported revolutionary groups around the world and created a “Red Scare” in the United

States.

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Looking Ahead

Stalin succeeded in making his country a military superpower, but it was also home to people with a much

lower standard of living than the rest of the developed world.





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Color Transparency 170: Gulag Prisoners, by Nikolai German

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The Weimar Republic’s Rise and Fall

The democratic government known as the Weimar Republic suffered from the competition of too many small

parties and economic disasters. Still, it was a prolific time for artists, who stimulated new movements, such as

Dadaism.

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Section 5: Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Germany

Witness History Audio: The Nazis in Control of Germany


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The Nazi Party’s Rise to Power

The Great Depression and the feeling that the Weimar government was weak, led to the rise of Adolf Hitler.

He appealed to veterans, workers, the lower middle classes, and business people with his promises to rearm

Germany, create jobs, and end reparations.

Color Transparency 172: Hitler at Nuremburg Stadium

The Third Reich Controls Germany

Hitler and the Nazis moved quickly to change Germany’s course. They put people to work through public works

programs; they terrorized dissenters; they placed restrictions on Jews, who were blamed for Germany’s loss in

World War I; and they denounced modern art and Christianity.

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Authoritarian Rule in Eastern Europe

Just as in Germany, many nations in Eastern Europe came under dictatorships. Ethnic and religious conflicts rose

in the new states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia and elsewhere.

Color Transparency 173: Ethnic Groups of Eastern Europe, 1936



QuickTake Chapter Test



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Color Transparency 172: Hitler at Nuremburg Stadium

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Color Transparency 173: Ethnic Groups of Eastern Europe, 1936

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changes in society after world war i in the twenties, many americans were ready for a more carefree...

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