TheGreat Depression

BONUS MARCH

THREE STOOGES

SHIRLEY TEMPLE

WIZARD OF OZ

ALICE IN THE WONDERLAND

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

SUPERMAN

CHARLIE CHAPMAN

SLAPTICK COMEDY

MARX’S BROTHERS

Chapter 17: The West Between the Wars 1919 – 1939

Section 1: The Futile Search for StabilityA. Uneasy Peace, Uncertain Security: Peace Settlements at the end of WWI created border disputes among new nations and left many Germans determined to change the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

- A Weak League of Nations:

President Wilson had hoped that the League of Nations could solve many of the new conflicts, but the league was not able to maintain peace.

Reasons why the League of Nations was unsuccessful:

1. The United States never ratifies the Treaty of Versailles and therefore did not become a member of the League of Nations,

2. League of Nations had no way to use military force and had to rely on economic sanctions to stop aggression

- French Demands:

• The French demanded that the Treaty of Versailles be strictly enforced; held a tough policy over the issue of reparations

• By 1922, Germans announced they could no longer pay back the 33 billion dollars due to economic problems, therefore the French army occupied the Rhur Valley, an industrial and mining center; the French took reparations by operating German industries themselves

- Inflation in Germany:• In response to the French, German workers went on

strike; eventually the government paid them by printing more money; this devalued the German currency and caused inflation to go up; Result: German mark became worthless

• Huge inflation meant the Germans suffered terribly; led to political unrest therefore an international commission stepped in to help; Result: The Dawes Plan – it reduced reparation payments and coordinated Germany’s payments with what they could afford; the plan also loaned Germany 200 million and led to heavy American investments from 1924-1929

B. The Great Depression:

• - Causes of the Depression:

• Two main causes: 1. downturn in the economies of nations during the second half of the 1920s; characteristics -overproduction and unemployment 2. collapse of the U.S. stock market in 1929

• Germany had been borrowing money from U.S. banks to pay reparation payments, after the crash, American investors pulled their money out of Germany; this weakened all European countries

Responses to the Depression:

• Governments mismanaged the depression; they lower wages and raise tariffs on foreign goods

• U.S. government becomes more involved in business despite their laissez-faire tradition and Communism and Marxist ideas become more popular

• Depression leads many people to follow political leaders who proposed simple solutions in return for complete power – democratic governments were challenged everywhere

Stock Market Crash

THE DUST BOWL IN THE GREAT PLAINS

Dust Bowl

Dust Bowl

Dust Bowl

Dust Bowl

Dust Bowl

BANK RUNS

HOOVERVILLES

HOOVERVILLES

HOOVERVILLES

HOOVERVILLES

MIGRANT WORKERS

“ROUTE 66”

“ROUTE 66”

“ROUTE 66”

MIGRANT WORK CAMPS

BREADLINES AND SOUP KITCHENS

BREADLINES AND SOUP KITCHENS

BREADLINE

AL CAPONE AND SOUP KITCHENS

“APPLE SALES”

HOBOS

HOBOS

HOBOS

HOMELESS

HOMELESS

MULLIGAN STEW

HOBO SIGNS

DORTHEA LANGE

C. Democratic States after the War:

• - Germany:

• The Weimar Republic was created in 1918 but had many problems:

1. Hindenburg was elected president but was not a strong leader

2. economic problems existed – runaway inflation and high unemployment

France:

• After WWI, France became the strongest power on the European continent. When economic instability occurred in France in 1932, there was political chaos.

• 1936, Communists, Socialists, and Radicals formed the Popular Front government; they began programs for workers called the French New Deal; workers were given the right to collectively bargain – however, the government was not able to solve the larger problems of the depression

- Great Britain:• 1936, economist John Maynard Keynes

argued unemployment came not from overproduction but from a decline in demand; he said if people went back to work, demand would increase therefore governments should finance projects such as highway building to create jobs even if it means deficit spending; his ideas were ignored by the British

• The Conservatives come to power and bring Britain out of the depression by using balanced budgets and protective tariffs

United States:• U.S. was terribly effected by the Great Depression.

By 1932-33, production had fell by 50% and 15 million people were out of work – 1932, FDR – democrat was elected president

• Roosevelt instituted a policy called the New Deal; under this program, the government created jobs by funding programs of public works; FDR also pushed through the Social Security Act

• New Deal prevented a social revolution, but did not solve the problem of unemployment. It was not until WWII that Americans regained full employment

GREAT DEPRESSION VIDEO

(ST. PETERBURG COLLEGE)

Section 2: The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes

D. The Rise of Dictators:• - between 1919 – 1939, all major countries of

Europe except France and Great Britain had adopted a form of a dictatorship

• Totalitarian governments aimed to control all aspects of their citizens’ lives and used mass propaganda and modern communication to achieve their goals.

• - A single leader and a single party led the totalitarian states; no individual freedoms or limits to government power; individuals were considered subservient to the will of the masses and the state demands that its citizens actively support all of its goals

E. Fascism in Italy:• Benito Mussolini established the 1st European Fascist

government in the 1920s.

• Fascism glorifies the state above the individual; has a strong central government and a single dictator runs the state.

• - Rise of Fascism:

• Italy suffered economic problems after WWI. There was a great deal of social upheaval; many were afraid of a communist takeover; therefore Mussolini’s movement gained wide support.

• Mussolini formed groups of armed Fascists called Blackshirts, who attacked socialists and strikers and anyone who opposed the Fascists.

MUSSOLINI OF ITALY

“II DUCE”

• Mussolini appealed to national pride and demanded Italy get more land from the peace treaties of WWI.

• By 1922, Mussolini had enough followers that he forced King Victor Emmanuel III to make him prime minister; as prime minister, Mussolini created a Fascist dictatorship, added extensive powers to the government, and was given the power to pass laws by decree

• 1926, The Fascists outlawed all opposition; set up a secret police called the OVRA and Mussolini was considered the only ruler of Italy; called Il Duce “The Leader”

The Fascist State

• Mussolini never achieved the total control over Italy that Hitler and Stalin did in Germany and the Soviet Union. For example Victor Emmanuel was retained as king, the army remained largely independent, and the Vatican City in Rome was given independence and Catholicism is recognized as the state religion

F. A New Era in the Soviet Union:• Early 1920s, millions died in Russia during a famine

caused by a drought; industrial output dropped 20%; the country and government were on the verge of collapse

• - Lenin’s New Economic Policy:

• 1921, Lenin abandoned war communism in favor of the New Economic Policy (a modified system of capitalism); peasants could sell produce, and small businesses could be privately owned but the government still controlled heavy industries and banking

• 1922, Communist created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). NEP saved the USSR from economic ruin, but Communist saw it as a temporary measure

The Rise of Stalin:• 1924, Lenin died and a bitter struggle for power in the

Politburo (committee that controlled the policies of the Communist party) ensued

• One faction was led by Leon Trotsky – they wanted to end NEP, industrialize the nation at the expense of the peasants, and spread communism to other countries – The other faction led by Joseph Stalin rejected worldwide communism and wanted to continue NEP while building a socialist state.

• Stalin held the job of general secretary and had appointed thousands of officials throughout Russia; his position helped him gain control over the Communist Party; by 1929, he had removed all the Bolsheviks from power and became a dictator

• Leon Trotsky was expelled and ended up in Mexico, where he was killed, probably on Stalin’s orders

RUSSIA

LENIN TROTSKY STALIN

-Stalin’s Five-Year Plans:• 1928, Stalin ended NEP and instituted the first Five-

Year Plan; it set economic goals for that period; the first emphasized industrialization and production of capital goods; the first Five-Year Plan greatly increased the output of heavy machinery and production of steel and oil

• Five-Year plans took a heavy toll on the Russian people; housing for workers was terrible; wages declined; government dealt with these problems by using propaganda to boost morale

• Stalin collectivized agriculture; many peasants resisted by hoarding food and killing livestock; Stalin responded by increasing the number of farms in the program

- Costs of Stalin’s Programs

• 1930s, millions of Russians starved to death due to food shortages from collectivization; those who resisted Stalin’s programs were sent to Siberian forced labor camps

• 1930s, Stalin conducted the Great Purge; first purged old Bolsheviks; many were executed; other sent to Siberia; purges spared no part of society

• Stalin overturned social legislation that had allowed women to divorce and work outside the home

G. Authoritarian States in the West:

• similar to totalitarian states; they were concerned with maintaining social order; they did not try to create a new mass society that had complete control

• - Eastern Europe:

• Parliamentary systems failed in Eastern Europe in part because there was no tradition of democracy and most of the peasants were illiterate; landowners and churches feared that democracy would lead to revolution and therefore supported authoritarian governments to keep order; Czechoslovakia was the only one to keep a democratic government

Spain

• 1936, General Francisco Franco used the military to revolt against the democratic government; civil war broke out; Germany and Italy supported Franco;

• The Soviet Union and volunteers from other countries supported the republican government; Franco won the civil war and then began an authoritarian dictatorship