Interwar Period

1919-1939

POSTWAR UNCERTAINTY REFLECTED IN THE ARTS & SCIENCES

How did WWI impact the arts and literature of the 1920s?

Background• WWI Shattered Enlightenment ideas

that progress would continue & reason would prevail– Returning millions of brutalized,

incapacitated, shell-shocked veterans to society

– Many veterans harbored hostility toward civilians who protested the war instead of patriotically supporting them

– No jobs for returning veterans in some areas

• Questioning traditional beliefs– War dissolved many middle-class

conventions– More open discussions of sex &

sexuality– Marriage remained the context for

sexuality though

• Government reactions– Had to repel the appeal of communism – Supported social programs – veterans’

pensions & housing; benefits for men out of work

• Found answers in new scientific developments

• Enjoyed convenience of technological improvements– Toothpaste! – Cosmetics!– Deodorant!

• Women demanded more rights• Young people adopted new

values– Freer relationships– Equality ?

• Unconventional styles in literature, philosophy, and music reflected uncertain times

• Return to prosperity in 1920s– Consumer culture formed

• Washing machines• Vacuum cleaners• Automobiles• Radios

– Purchased with installment buying

Revolution in Science

• Albert Einstein– Ideas on space, time, energy, & matter– Theorized speed of light as constant, while

space and time are not constant– Theory of relativity– Implications for how people viewed the world

• Uncertainty replaced Newton’s belief of a world operating to absolute laws of motion & gravity

• Sigmund Freud– Treated patients with psychological problems– Constructed theories about the human mind –

much behavior is irrational from the unconscious part of the mind

– Weakened faith in reason

Literature of the 1920s• Question accepted ideas about reason & progress• Disillusioned by war• Expressed doubts about traditional beliefs• Created disturbing visions of the present & future

– TS Eliot – The Waste Land, “The Hollow Men”– William Butler Yeats – “Sailing to Byzantium”

• Horrors of War– Franz Kafka – The Trial; The Castle– Erich Maria Remarque – All Quiet on the Western Front

• Freudian Psychology– James Joyce – Ulysses– Virginia Woolf – Mrs. Dalloway

• Existentialism– Jean Paul Sartre– Influenced by Nietzsche from 1880s

Revolution in the Arts • Rebelled against tradition• Depict inner emotion & imagination rather than realistic

representations• Expressionist painters

– Paul Klee– Wassily Kandinsky

• Cubism– Georges Braque– Pablo Picasso

• Surrealism– Inspired by Freud– Salvador Dali

• Composers– Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky used irregular rhythms & dissonances– Arnold Schoenberg rejected traditional harmonies– Jazz developed by musicians in New Orleans, Memphis, & Chicago;

captured freedom of the new age

Society Challenges Convention• WWI disrupted traditional social patterns• Individual freedom increased in 1920s• Young people willing to break with past &

experiment with new valuesWomen’s Roles– War allowed them to work & take head of household

position– Right to vote gained in postwar period in US, GB,

Germany, Sweden, & Austria– Abandoned restrictive clothing & hairstyles

• Shorter, looser garments• Bobbed hair• Wore makeup• Drove cars• Drank & smoked in public

– Most still followed traditional path of marriage & family

– Birth control advocates– Number of women in medicine, education, journalism,

& other professions increased

Technological Advancements Improve Life • New drugs & medical treatments advanced in WWI• Automobiles

– Wartime innovations – electric starters, air-filled tires, more powerful engines

– Cars now sleek & polished– Headlights & chrome-plated bumpers– Prices dropped middle class can afford cars

• British production increased from 34,000 to 511,000 autos a year from 1913 to 1937

• Lifestyle changes– Travel for pleasure– New businesses to serve tourists– Movement to suburbs & commuting to work

• Airplanes– First successful flights across the Atlantic from

Newfoundland to Ireland by British pilots in 1919– Charles Lindbergh (US) completed 33-hour solo flight

from NYC to Paris in 1927• Became cultural icon• National hero• Baby was stolen

– Most of world’s passenger airlines formed in 1920s• First only the rich could afford air travel• Everyone enjoyed exploits of the pioneers (Amelia Earhart,

Charles Lindbergh)

Radio & Movies• Push for radio development in WWI

– Marconi conducted first successful experiments with radio in 1895

– Biggest commercial radio station –KDKA in Pittsburgh, PA – began broadcasting in 1920

– Every major city had radio stations• News• Plays• Live sporting events

– Most families owned a radio

• Motion Pictures major industry in the 1920s– Many countries produced films– Serious art form in Europe– Hollywood district of Los Angeles focused on movies as

entertainment• Produced 90% of all films

– Charlie Chaplin• English-born• Comic genius• Portrayed lonely little tramp bewildered by life

– Sound added in late 1920s

CLASS WORK•Brainstorm: WWI Essay – How did culture change?•Source of your choice• The Sun Also Rises Excerpt• Sigmund Freud Reading• Eliot Yeats Poems• Mrs. Dalloway Excerpt• Great Gatsby Excerpt• Henry Ford Reading

HOMEWORK• Finish WWI Essay

GLOBAL DEPRESSION

Why did the economic depression in the United States spread overseas?

Background

• European nations rebuilding war-torn economies

• Aided by loans from the US– Only US & Japan emerged better financially

than before WWI– Americans confident in prosperity

• American economy had serious weaknesses

• Great Depression will leave every major European country nearly bankrupt

Post-WWI Europe

• Unstable new democracies• Last absolute rulers overthrown by 1918• Weak provisional government fell to Communist

dictatorship in Russia• Most European nations had democratic governments• Citizens had little experience with representative

government– Large # political parties– Created need for coalition governments– Frequent changes in gov’t = hard to achieve long-term goals– Voters willing to sacrifice weak democratic gov’t for strong

authoritarian leadership…

Weimar Republic• Germany’s new democratic government, est. 1919• Serious weaknesses

– No democratic tradition– Several major political parties & many minor ones– Millions blamed Weimar gov’t for defeat & humiliation of Versailles Treaty

• Inflation – printed money in wartime instead of raising taxes currency lost value– Printed more money to pay reparations– Example – bread cost less than 1 mark in 1918, but more than 160 in 1922 and 200B in1923– Questioned value of new democratic government

• Attempted economic stability– Recovered from 1923 inflation due to international committee headed by Charles Dawes, an

American banker– Dawes Plan provided $200M loan to stabilize German currency– Set more realistic schedule for war reparations– Factories reached pre-war production levels by 1929

• Efforts at peace– Foreign minister Gustav Stressemann & France’s minister Aristide Briand tried improving

relations– Met in Locarno, Switzerland with officials from Belgium, Italy, and Britain promising to never

make war between France and Germany– Also agreed to respect existing borders of France and Belgium– Led to Kellogg-Briand peace pact in 1928

• US Secretary of State Frank Kellogg arranged agreement with France’s Briand• Almost every country in the world signed• “to renounce war as an instrument of national policy”• No efforts to enforce provisions• League of Nations had no armed forces to enforce the treaty

Weimar Republic

Financial Collapse• Recap: American prosperity largely sustained world economy

through 1920s• Flawed economy

– Uneven distribution of wealth– Overproduction– Lessened consumer consumption

• Factories turning out nearly half of all world’s industrial goods– Enormous profits– 60% of Americans earned less than $2,000 a year = too poor to buy

goods they produced– Factories reduced production & laid off workers– More lose jobs more can’t afford goods decrease production

further more people lose jobs…– Farmers couldn’t repay war loans, forcing banks to close (no FDIC

yet)

Stock Market Crash

• Wall street in NYC financial capital of the world in 1929• Many middle-income families purchased stocks on

margin– Pay small down-payment & borrow rest from stock broker– Can repay loan well if stock prices continue to increase– If they fell, investors had no money to repay the loan

• 1929 – some investors saw prices as unnaturally high, so started selling stocks– Gradual lowering of stock prices became all-out downward

slide– Panic– All selling, nobody buying– 16 million stocks sold Tuesday, Oct. 29, 1929 = market

collapse

Great Depression• People couldn’t pay back

money owed on margin purchases (credit)

• Stocks now worthless• Unemployment rates rose

as industrial production, prices, & wages decreased– Production cut in half by 1932– Banks closed– Businesses failed– ¼ American workers

unemployed by 1933

• BIG IMPACTS– Commerce & industry fell– Social order & gender roles

upset– Birth rate sank

Global Depression• American bankers demanded repayment of overseas loans• Investors withdrew money from Europe• Congress placed high tariff on imports – BAD IDEA

– Policy backfired– Hoped to keep US $$ spent on US-goods– Countries dependent on exports to US suffered– Other nations imposed high tariffs– World trade dropped 65%– Unemployment soared worldwide

• Asia – farmers & urban workers hurt as value of exports fell– Single cash-crop growers hardest hit– Fueled anger & led to nationalist action

• Colonial farmers on strike • Colonial gov’t actions added to calls for independence, esp. in India• Anti-colonial leaders protested (Example: Ho Chi Minh v. France)

– Focus on strengthening military positions worldwide allowed totalitarian gov’t to arise in Europe

• Latin America – demand for sugar, beef, copper, etc. fell & prices collapsed

Germany & Austria

• Hit very hard

• 6M Germans out of work by 1933 )1/3 of workforce)

• Many others underemployed

Responses

• Britain hit severely– Voters elected multiparty coalition known as the National

Government– Passed protective tariffs, increased taxes, & regulated currency– Slow, steady recovery– Avoided political extremes & preserved democracy

• France more self-sufficient– Heavily agricultural & less dependent on foreign trade– 1M unemployed by 1935, contributing to political instability– 5 coalition governments rose & fell in 1933 alone– Popular Front coalition of moderates, socialists, & communists

rose in 1936• Passed reforms to help workers• Unemployment remained high• But, retained democracy

Socialist Solutions

• Socialist governments in Scandinavia – Denmark, Sweden, Norway

• Also met economic crisis successfully• Built programs on existing tradition of

cooperative community action• Sweden sponsored public works

projects that kept people employed• Raised pensions for elderly• Increased employment insurance,

subsidies for housing, & other welfare benefits

• Paid for with taxes• Democracy remained intact

Recovery in the United States

• Elected Franklin D Roosevelt in 1932• Immediately began reform

programs in the New Deal– Large public works projects = jobs– Agencies formed to give financial help

to businesses & farms– Public money spent on welfare and

relief programs– Many programs deemed

unconstitutional & put down, but many still exist today too

• Reformed economic system• Leadership preserved faith in

democracy

Not Everyone Had It SO Bad

• Modernization continued– Municipal & national governments built roads & sanitation

projects– Water, electricity, & sewage pipes in homes for first

time– New factories produced synthetic fabrics, electrical

products, cars, stoves, etc.– Eastern European industry developed with gov’t assistance

• Majority still had jobs– People with steady employment benefitted from drop in

prices– Managers & business leaders prospered– But, towns with heavy industry could have half the

population out of work

Social Effects• Upset gender relations

– Women found low-paying jobs– Men stayed home or were beggars– Loiterers in German parks became ripe for

Nazism, promising to restore male dignity

• Politicians attacked low birth rate– Compulsory education reduced income children

earned– Family planning centers opened

• Ignited racism– Politicians used racism to arouse fear of national

decline– Superior peoples ‘failing to breed’ & inferior

peoples would take over– Violent in eastern Europe – rural population

growing• Blamed Jewish bankers for Great Depression & farm

foreclosures• Opened way for dictators who promised to eliminate

Jews & other ethnic minorities

CLASSWORK• Begin Journal #12 – Explain why the

Great Depression spread from the United States to become a global phenomenon AND assess which country suffered the worst conditions.

HOMEWORK• Finish Journal #12

RISE OF DICTATORS

Why did fascism arise in Germany and Italy after WWI?How did Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo rise to power?

Election Time!

• Read the current conditions of Nation X

• Read the goals of each political party• Who will you vote for?– Orange Party– Purple Party– Yellow Party

• Cast your ballot when ready!

Results• Nation X was actually Germany of the 1930s

– MANY political parties would need coalition gov’t– Biggest 3 represented by the parties on your ballot– Vast changes from 1932 election to 1933 election

• Hindenburg had appointed Hitler as chancellor• Hitler called for new elections & dissolving of Reichstag • Unleashed terror & propaganda against the Social Democrats,

Communists, & Centre Parties up to the election

• Orange Party = Social Democrats (SPD)– 1932 Election – 20.43% vote– 1933 Election – 18.25%– Lead by Otto Wels

• Purple Party = Communist Party (KPD)– 1932 Election – 16.86% vote– 1933 Election – 12.32%– Led by Ernst Thalmann

• Yellow Party = National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP)– 1932 Election – 33.09%– 1933 Election – 43.91%– Led by Adolf Hitler

• So, what’s the point?– Difficulty realizing how ‘bad guys’ come to power– Hitler was elected! – German people wanted a return to prosperity and greatness & Hitler promised that– Do you feel badly about electing him into power now that you know what happens later on?

Emergence of Fascism

• Great Depression caused loss of faith in democratic government

• Fascism – new militant political movement that emphasized loyalty and obedience to the leader– No defined theory or program (unlike communism)– Extreme nationalism– Peaceful states doomed to be conquered– Loyal to authoritarian ruler who will guide & bring order to

the state– Wear uniforms, have special salutes, hold rlalies

• Fascist leaders promised to revive economy, punish those responsible for hard times, & restore national pride

Some Similarities to Communism

• Both ruled by dictators who allowed only one-party rule

• Denied individual rights• State supreme• Neither practiced democracy• But, different

– Fascists didn’t seek classless society– Fascists believed each class had a place and function– Fascist arties made up of aristocrats and industrialists,

war veterans, and lower middle class– Fascists were nationalists– Communists were internationalists, hoping to unite

workers worldwide

Italy – Benito Mussolini• Fueled by disappointment over failure to win territorial gains

at 1919 Paris Peace Conference• Rising inflation + unemployment = social unrest

– Wanted a leader to take action

• Mussolini promised to revive economy & rebuild armed forces– First teacher, then newspaper editor & politician– Founded fascist party in 1919– Popularity increased as economy worsened– Criticized Italian government– Won support from middle class, aristocracy, & industrial leaders by

playing on fear of workers’ revolt

• Activities– Groups wore black & attacked Communists and Socialists– 30,000 marched on Rome in 1922 King Victor Emmanuel III put

Mussolini in charge• Took power ‘legally’

Il Duce• Mussolini now leader of Italy• Abolished democracy• Outlawed political parties

besides Fascists• Secret police jailed opponents• Government censors of radio

& publications• Outlawed strikes• But, never had total control

achieved by Hitler or Stalin

Attack on Ethiopia• Ethiopia was one of 3

independent African nations• Bordered Italian Somaliland• Invaded October 1935 after

border incident• Emperor Haile Selassie

appealed to League of Nations– Condemned attack– Actually did nothing!– Britain continued letting Italian

troops pass through Suez Canal– All hoped to keep peace in Europe

by letting Italy have its way in Africa

Germany – Adolf Hitler • Background

– Born in Austria– Joined WWI effort & twice awarded Iron Cross for bravery– Settled in Munich after war– Joined right-wing political group: German Workers’ Party

• Overthrow Treaty of Versailles• Combat communism• Became National Socialist German Workers’ Party

(Nazi)• Adopted swastika• Set up private militia (storm troopers / brown shirts)• Quickly became leader of NSDAP

• Plotted to seize power in Munich– Attempt (Beer Hall Putsch) failed– Arrested & imprisoned

• Wrote Mein Kampf while in jail– Established beliefs & goals for Germany– Asserted Aryans were master race– Non-Aryans were inferior: Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, etc.– Wanted to regain lands lost in Treaty of Versailles lebensraum (living space)

• Revived Nazi Party in 1924 after leaving prison• Mostly ignored until Great Depression

Becoming Chancellor

• Nazis were largest political party by 1932• Conservative leaders thought they could use & control Hitler

(leader of NSDAP)– Prompted president Paul von Hindenberg to name him

chancellor (came to power legally)

• Called new elections once in office 1933– 6 days prior, Reichstag building set ablaze & blamed on

communists– Stirred fear of communists = not elected– Allowed Hitler to gain supporters & suspend civil rights, impose

censorship, & deny meetings of political parties– Used secret police against communists & socialists– Nazis & allies won by slim majority

• All ages & classes• Especially youth

– Believed Germany would be great if Hitler was leader– Industrial working class & lower middle class

Totalitarian State• Enabling Act passed March 1933

– Suspended constitution for 4 years– Allowed Nazis to take effect WITHOUT parliamentary

approval– Hitler had unchecked power

• Banned political parties besides NSDAP• Imprisoned opponents in concentration camps

beginning 1933 (Communists, socialists, homosexuals, Jews.. Anyone interfering with Volksgemeinschaft)

• Schutzstaffel – SS – created– Led by Heinrich Himmler– Intimidating police force & in charge of concentration

camps– Night of Long Knives – June 30, 1934 = arrested &

murdered political enemies & civilians, including Ernst Rohm, leader of the Storm Troopers (SA)

– Gestapo – Nazi secret police – shocked Germans into obedience

• Laws banned strikes & dissolved labor unions• Government oversaw businesses and labor

– Millions put to work– Constructed factories, built highways, manufactured

weapons, & served in military– Unemployment dropped from 6M to 1.5M in 1936

Nazi Propaganda• “The receptivity of the great masses is very limited; their

intelligence is small.”• Shaped public opinion using radio, press, literature,

paintings, & film• Elaborate displays of strength

– Parades– Banners– Uniforms

• Burned books that didn’t conform• Churches forbidden to criticize government• Schoolchildren had to join Hitler Youth or League of

German girls• Anti-Semitism prevalent

– Less than 1% of German populace – Used as scapegoats for WWI troubles & Great Depression– Nuremberg Laws (1935) deprived Jews of most rights– Kristallnacht – November 1938 - signaled start of elimination

of the Jews• Began in retaliation for a Jewish teenager’s killing of a German official

who’d harassed his parents• Attacked 200+ synagogues• 20K imprisoned

Maintaining Hitler’s Regime• Required economic & social programs to hold support• Economic revival

– Built popular support– Strengthened military industries– Basis for German expansion

• Pump priming – stimulate economy through gov’t spending on tanks, planes, Autobahn

• Unemployment declined drastically to point of labor shortage– Women drafted as farm workers & domestics

• Set pay levels & work procedures• 4-year plan aimed to prepare for war by 1940• Controlled every day life

– Encouraged Aryans to marry & have children• Loans for newlyweds• Wife had to leave workforce• Loans forgiven on birth of 4th child

– Severely censored radio programs

Appeased by League of Nations• Violated Treaty of Versailles

– Remilitarized the Rhineland 1936 **turning point

– Rebuilt military 1925

• Left the League of Nations– Anschluss of Austria 1938 for ‘unifying Aryan

race’

• Appeasement – leaders thought giving concessions to Hitler would prevent a war… – Annexed the Sudetenland – part of

Czechoslovakia occupied by ethnic Germans & rich in industrial resources, 1938• Chamberlain, Daladier, & Mussolini all agreed NOT to

intervene• Czechs really had no say – annex or be invaded..

– Invaded Poland Sept. 1, 1939

Other European Dictators

• New democracies in Eastern Europe fell to dictators for stability

• Hungary – Admiral Miklos Horthy, 1919• Poland – Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, 1926• Kings suspended constitutions & silenced foes in:

– Yugoslavia– Albania– Bulgaria– Romania

• Only one democracy remained by 1935 - Czechoslovakia

CLASSWORK• Pact of Steel Video [25 min]• https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=N0rficY86bw HOMEWORK

• Primary Source Analysis: Mussolini or Hitler

• 1 paragraph please

Japanese Expansion• Became more democratic in 1920s, but had

problems– Constitution limited power of PM and Cabinet– Civilian leaders had little control over military– Military leaders reported only to emperor

• Militarists took control– Blamed government for Great Depression– Military leaders gained support– Wanted to restore traditional control of government

to military– Made Emperor Hirohito symbol of state power

• Extreme nationalists• Solve problems through foreign expansion• Provide Japan with raw materials & markets for goods• Room for growing population• Eyes on Manchuria & China

– Hideki Tojo rose in military in campaigns in Second Sino-Japanese War became Prime Minister launched attack on Pearl Harbor 1941

Invasion of Manchuria• Rich in iron & coal• Seized in 1931 despite objections from

Japanese Parliament– Installed puppet government– Built mines & factories

• First direct challenge to League of Nations– Protested seizure of Manchuria– Japan withdrew from League 1933– No enforcement mechanism!

• Invasion of China 1937– Beijing, northern cities, & capital Nanking

fell 1937– Killed tens of thousands of captured

soldiers & civilians in Nanking– China in middle of civil war (we come

back to this) – put this on pause• Jiang Jieshi set up new capital at Chongqing• Guerillas led by Mao Zedong continued to

fight Japanese

Appeasement Proved Faulty• Appeasement – strategy of preventing a war by

making concessions for grievances (i.e. affront to Germans in the Treaty of Versailles)– Secured “peace in our time” at the Munich Pact

(Chamberlain)• Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia in 1939 anyway• Gave Hitler time to build his army

• After invasion of Czechoslovakia, GB & France promised aid to Poland, Romania, Greece, & Turkey if Germany invaded

• Response – Hitler & Mussolini’s Pact of Steel in May 1939 – pledge of offensive & defensive support– Also made pact with Japan– Japan, Germany, & Italy called Axis Powers

• Stalin saw democracies were not going to support eastern Europe (communist)– USSR & Germany signed nonaggression agreement – the

Nazi-Soviet Pact or Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Aug. 23, 1939• If one country became involved in war, the other would remain

neutral• Secretly agreed to divide Poland and the Baltic states • Allowed Stalin time to rebuild officer corps (destroyed in the

purges)

Isolationism• United States chose

isolationism – political ties to other countries should be avoided

• Easy due to geography– How many countries border the

US?– How many countries border

Germany?

• Argued entry to WWI was a costly error

• Three Neutrality Acts passed after 1935– Banned loans and sale of arms to

nations at war– Not really followed…

CLASSWORK• Journal #13 – Analyze why dictators were able to rise to

power in the interwar period.– Hitler– Mussolini– Tojo– Treaty of Versailles– League of Nations– Appeasement– Isolationism

HOMEWORK• Study for Unit 6 Exam!– Causes & effects of WWI

– Alliances of WWI– Characteristics of WWI

– 1920s Prosperity & Culture– Russian Revolution– Great Depression– Rise of Dictators