THE WEST BETWEEN THE WARSChapter 17

Section 1

The Futile Search for Stability

UNEASY PEACE,

UNCERTAIN SECURITY

A Weak League of Nations

• Ineffective in maintaining peace• US didn’t join the League–Americans didn’t want to be

involved in Europe’s affairs–US Senate refused to ratify the

Treaty of Versailles

French Demands• France demanded war reparations

from Germany–$33 billion paid in annual installments

of $2.5 billion–First payment in 1921

• 1922 Germany said they were unable to pay more–France outraged; sent troops to

Germany to occupy Ruhr Valley (their industrial/mining center)

Inflation in Germany• Passive resistance to French occupation• German workers went on strike• Gov’t printed more paper money, adding to

inflation–German marks were

worthless• 1914 - 4.2 marks = $1• 1923 – 130 billion marks

= $1

INFLATION!!

• If you print more money than the amount of gold you have, the money becomes less valuable

• Hyperinflation– government prints more money businesses

raise prices government prints more money businesses raise prices etc.

– eventually money becomes worthless

Inflation in Germany• Poor economy led to political

upheavals in Germany & France• DAWES PLAN –Reduced German reparations–Coordinated German payments with

its ability to pay–US granted $200 million loan for

German recovery

THE TREATY OF LOCARNO• Prosperity in Germany and France led to

cooperation between the two countries• Foreign ministers signed TREATY OF LOCARNO–Guaranteed Germany’s new western borders

with France and Belgium–New era of peace in Europe• “France and Germany Ban War Forever”• Germany joined League of Nations• Kellogg-Briand pact

THE TREATY OF LOCARNO• Prosperity in Germany and France led to

cooperation between the two countries• Foreign ministers signed TREATY OF LOCARNO–Guaranteed Germany’s new western borders

with France and Belgium–New era of peace in Europe• “France and Germany Ban War Forever”• Germany joined League of Nations• Kellogg-Briand pact

THE GREAT DEPRESSION

CAUSES OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION• ECONOMIC DEPRESSION – a period of

low economic activity and rising unemployment.• Causes –

1. Economic downturns in European countries in late 1920s

2. International financial crisis involving the US stock market

RESPONSES TO THE DEPRESSION• 1932 – worst year of the depression–25% of Britains unemployed–40% of Germans unemployed

• Govt’s didn’t know how to deal –Tried to cut costs by lowering wages

and raising tariffs–Only made it worse

Democratic states after the

war

Germany• After Germany’s defeat in WWI, a new

democratic state was created – the Weimar Republic.

• Problems –No outstanding leaders–Economic problems

France• France became the strongest power in Europe

after the defeat of Germany.• Due to more balance economy, France didn’t

feel effects of the Great Depression till 1932.• Political chaos – six different cabinets formed in

19-mth period• June 1936 – coalition of leftist parties

(Communists, Socialists, Radicals) formed the Popular Front government.

Great Britain• Lost many markets for industrial products during the

war– Rise in unemployment

• Rebounded / limited prosperity from 1925-1929• Labour Party (largest in Britain) failed to solve economic

problems and fell from power in 1931.• Conservatives claimed credit for bringing Britain out of

depression by using balanced budgets and protective tariffs

• JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES – argued that unemployment came not from overproduction, but from a decline in demand.

United States• Strongly affected by Great Depression• 1932 – US industrial production fell 50% from 1929 levels• 1933 – more than 12 million unemployed

• NEW DEAL - Policy of govt. intervention in the US economy– FDR– Increased program of public works (WPA)– US welfare program– Social Security Act– Prevented social revolution in the US– Did not solve unemployment problems

Section 2

The rise of dictatorial regimes

The rise of

dictators

• By 1939• Democratic states – France & Great

Britain• Dictatorial regimes – Italy, Soviet Union,

Germany.

• TOTALITARIAN STATE – government that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens.

FASCISM IN ITALY

Benito Mussolini

Rise of Fascism

• FASCISM glorifies the state above the individual by emphasizing the need for a strong central government led by a dictatorial ruler.

Rise of Fascism

• Problems in Italy after WWI–Inflation grew–Industrial and agricultural workers

staged strikes–Socialists wanted revolution

Rise of Fascism• SQUADRISTI – bands of black-shirted, armed

Fascists– Attacked socialist newspapers & newspapers– Used violence to break up strikes

• Mussolini’s movement grew quickly– Middle-class fear of socialism, communism, and

disorder made Fascism attractive– Mussolini played on Italy’s sense of nationalism by

demanding more land for Italy (from WWI peace settlement)

Rise of Fascism• 1922 - Fascists threatened to march on Rome if

they weren’t given power. • Italian king gave in and made Mussolini P.M.• Mussolini used his power as P.M. to create a

Fascist dictatorship.– Police given unrestricted authority to arrest/jail– 1926, all other political parties in Italy outlawed

• Mussolini ruled Italy as Il Duce, “The Leader.”

The Fascist State

• Complete control over the people–Secret police–Controlled all media propaganda–Organizations Fascist youth groups

• Mussolini never achieved the degree of totalitarianism as Hitler or Stalin

The Fascist State

• Mussolini gained the support of the Catholic Church by giving the church money and official recognition.

A NEW ERA IN

THE SOVIET UNION

Joseph stalin

Lenin’s New Economic Policy• New Economic Policy (NEP) –

modified capitalist system Lenin used to avoid economic disaster.

• 1922 – Lenin and the Communists formally created a new stated called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) or the Soviet Union.

• NEP saved the USSR from complete economic disaster, even though Lenin meant for it to be only a temporary retreat from the goals of communism.

The Rise of Stalin• Lenin died in 1924 prompting a struggle for

power among the seven members of the Politburo.

• POLITBURO – the leading policy-making body of the Communist Party was severely divided over the future direction of the USSR.– Leon Trotsky– Joseph Stalin – used his post as general

secretary to gain complete control of the Communist Party.

Stalin’s Five-Year Plans• Set economic goals for five-year periods.• There were two Five-Year Plans.

• Purpose – transform the USSR from an agricultural into an industrial economy.

• First Five-Year Plan– Stalin seized assets, including farms and factories,

and reorganized the economy. – However, these efforts often led to less efficient

production, ensuring that mass starvation swept the countryside.

– To mask the disastrous results of the plan, Stalin maintained export levels, shipping food out of the country even as rural residents died by the hundreds of thousands.

– Any protest of his policies resulted in immediate death or relocation to a gulag (a prison camp in the remote regions of the nation).

• Little provision was made for caring for the expanded labor force in the cities– The number of workers increased– Total investment in housing decreased– Result millions of workers and families lived in

pitiful conditions

• Wages declined• Strict laws limited where workers could move• Gov’t propaganda stressed the need for sacrifice

to create the new socialist state

• With rapid industrialization came an equally rapid collectivization of agriculture.

• COLLECTIVIZATION – a system in which private farms were eliminated . Instead, the gov’t owned all of the land while the peasants worked it.

• Peasants strongly resisted Stalin’s plans– Hoarded crops– Killed livestock– Led Stalin to step up the program

• 1930—10million peasant households collectivized• 1934—26million family farms collectivized into 250,000 units

Costs of Stalin’s Programs• Collectivization led to famine

– 10million peasants died– Stalin allowed each collective farm worker to have one tiny, privately

owned garden plot

• Stalin strengthened control over party bureaucracy – those who resisted were sent to forced labor camps

• Great Purge of 1930s– Old Bolsheviks, army officers, diplomats, union officials, party members,

intellectuals, ordinary citizens– 8million Russians arrested or sent to labor camps

• Social legislation overturned– Families thought of as collectives; parents responsible for teaching

children hard work, duty, discipline– Divorced fathers fined for not supporting children

Authoritarian states in the west

Francisco franco

Spain• Democracy failed• Francisco Franco – Spanish military forces

revolted against the democratic government.• 1936 Bloody civil war began– Fascist Italy and Germany aided Franco’s forces with

arms, money, men– USSR aided Spanish republican govt with men, trucks,

planes, tanks, military advisers

• 1939 civil war ended when Franco’s forces captured Madrid

Section 3

HITLER and NAZI

GERMANY

HITLER AND HIS VIEWS

ADOLF HITLER

Hitler’s Ideas

• Racism, especially anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews)

• Extreme nationalist who understood how political parties could use propaganda & terror

• Need for struggle

Hitler’s Rise in Politics

• 1919 – joined German Workers’ Party (right-wing extremist nationalist party)

• 1921 – controlled the party which was renamed National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) or Nazi for short– 55,000 members– 15,000 in the party militia• SA , Storm Troops, Brownshirts

Hitler’s Rise in Politics

• 1923 – he staged the Beer Hall Putsch (an armed uprising against the govt in Munich)– Quickly crushed– Hitler sentenced to prison where he wrote Mein

Kampf (My Struggle)• Extreme German nationalism• Strong anti-Semitism• Anticommunism• Right of superior nations to lebensraum (living space)

through expansion.• Right of superior individuals authoritarian leadership over

the masses

Rise of Nazism

• While in prison, Hitler realized the Nazis would to have to attain power legally thru politics, not thru violent overthrow of the Weimar Republic.

• After his release, Hitler expanded the Nazi Party to all parts of Germany. By 1932 it had become the largest party in the Reichstag (German parliament).

Rise of Nazism

• A factor in leading many Germans to accept Hitler and the Nazis was the belief that he had ended Germany’s economic depression.

• Hitler promised to create a new Germany– Appealed to national pride – Appealed to national honor– Appealed to traditional militarism

Victory of Nazism• After 1930, the Reichstag had little power• Hitler saw that controlling the parliament

wasn’t very important• More and more right-wing elites looked to

Hitler for leadership– He had mass support to create a right-wing,

authoritarian regime that would save Germany and people in privileged positions from a Communist takeover

• 1933—Hindenberg agreed to allow Hitler to become chancellor and create a new gov’t.

Victory of Nazism• Within 2 months, Hitler had laid the foundation

for the Nazis complete control over Germany.• His crowning step of his “legal seizure” of

power was the Enabling Act (1933)– Allowed Hitler to establish a totalitarian state by giving the

government the power to ignore the constitution for four years while it issued laws to deal with the country’s problems.

– This act gave his actions a legal basis• He no longer needed the Reichstag or President Hindenburg• He became a dictator appointed by the parliament

The Nazi State, 1933-1939• Hitler wanted to develop a totalitarian Aryan

racial state to dominate Europe & the world for generations to come.– Term misused by the Nazis to identify their master

race

• Nazis believed there had already been two German empires (or Reichs)– The Holy Roman Empire– German Empire of 1871 to 1918

• Hitler wanted to create a Third Reich, the empire of Nazi Germany

• Nazis used different ways to create this totalitarian state–Economic policies–Mass spectacles–Organizations–Terror• Toward women• Toward Jews

• All German youth ages 10-18 were expected to join

• Oath – “In the presence of this blood banner [Nazi flag], I swear to devote all my energies an my strength to the savior of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am willing and ready to give up my life for him, so help me God.”

Hitler Youth

• Uniforms• Males – camping /hiking

trips, sports, evenings in youth “homes.” All activities were competitive and meant to encourage fighting and heroic deeds.

• Training included military arts

• 10-14 yr old boys trained with small arms and practiced with dummy hand grenades.

• 14-18 yr old boys bore army packs and rifles on camping trips

• League of German Girls, 10-18 yr old

• Uniforms – white blouse, blue ankle-length skirt, sturdy hiking shoes

• Camping & hiking• Mainly taught domestic skills• Nazi women were expected

to be faithful wives and dutiful mothers

• Nazi Germany was the scene of constant conflict, resulting in administrative chaos.

• Schutzstaffeln (“Guard Squadrons”) known as the SS–Created as Hitler’s bodyguards–Heinrich Himmler was director–Controlled the secret police forces AND the

regular police forces– SS based on two principles• Terror – secret police, criminal police,

concentration, execution squads, death camps• Ideology – to further the Aryan master race

• Hitler’s plan to end the depression–Public works projects–Grants to private construction firms–Rearmament program

• Unemployment dropped• Regime claimed full credit• Many people accepted Hitler and the Nazis

because of their part in bringing an end to the depression

• Women were crucial to the Aryan state as bearers of children, who would bring about the triumph of the Aryan race.

• Men were destined to be warriors / political leaders

• Women were to be wives / mothers– Couldn’t hold jobs which might hinder them from bearing

healthy children– Married women couldn’t be university teachers, doctors,

or lawyers– “Get ahold of pots and pans and broom and you’ll sooner

find a groom!”

• Nuremberg Laws –excluded Jews from German citizenship –forbade marriages between Jews and

German citizens–required Jews to wear yellow Stars of

David and carry ID cards saying they were Jewish

Anti-Semitism

• More violent phase–Kristallnacht – “night of shattered glass”

–A destructive Nazi rampage against the Jews• Burned synagogues, destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses• 100 Jews killed, 30,000 males sent to concentration camps• Jews barred from all public transportation and public buildings

(schools, hospitals)• Jews prohibited from owning, managing, or working in retail stores• Jews forced to clean up all debris and damage due to Kristallnacht• Jews encouraged to “emigrate from Germany”

Section 4

Cultural AND intellectual

trends

• Joseph Goebbels – propaganda minister of Nazi Germany.• The Triumph of the Will – documentary of

the 1934 Nuremberg party rally that forcefully conveyed to its viewers the power of National Socialism.• Kraft durch Freude – program that offered a

variety of leisure activities to fill the free time of the working class.

• Dadaists - artists who tried to express in their art their revulsion for what they saw as the insanity of life.

• Salvador Dali – Surrealist artist who painted everyday objects but separated them from their normal contexts; painted a world in which the irrational became visible.

• Hermann Hesse – author of Siddhartha and Steppenwolf.

• James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, is the most famous example of the “stream of consciousness” technique.

• The Triumph of the Will – documentary film of the 1934 Nuremberg Nazi party rally.

Things you WILL see again!!

Describe the goals of Joseph Stalin’s Five-Year Plans.• Set economic goals for five-year periods •Purpose--transform the USSR from agricultural to industrial country•The first Five-Year Plan emphasized maximum production of capital goods and armaments– Quadrupled production of heavy machinery– Doubled oil production– Steel production increased from 4 million to 18 million tons per

year– With rapid industrialization came a rapid collectivization of

agriculture– Private farms eliminated as government took ownership of all the

land

Explain how the uncertainty of post-World War I society was mirrored in the world of physics.• Classic Newtonian physics—all phenomena could be completely defined and predicted. •German physicist Werner Heisenberg explained the uncertainty principle. – Physicists knew atoms were made of smaller parts. – Behavior of these subatomic particles is unpredictable (thus

the foundation for Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle)– Heisenberg’s theory all physical laws are based on

uncertainty. – The emphasis on randomness challenged Newtonian physics

and thus, in a way, represents a new worldview, mirroring the uncertainty that was present in post-World War I society.

Describe the two factors that played a major role in the start of the Great Depression.• A series of downturns in the economies of individual nations in the second half of the 1920s.

– Prices for farm products, especially wheat, were falling rapidly because of overproduction.

•International financial crisis involving the U.S. stock market. – October, 1929, the US stock market crashed, stock prices plunged. – Panicked US investors withdrew funds they had invested in

Germany and European markets weakened the banks of Europe. • Trade slowed down• Industrial production declined• Unemployment rose

• The Great Depression had begun.

Describe the role of women under Hitler’s Nazi regime.•Women played a crucial role•Bearers of children who would bring about the triumph of the Aryan race•Nazis believed men were destined to be warriors and political leaders•Women were meant to be wives and mothers•Nazis discouraged women from taking jobs that might prevent them from having babies•Encouraged women to be nurses and social workers