post-settlement political and economic factors

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Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors Experimental regimes abounded The Soviets created an authoritarian state. In German and Austro-Hungarian territory parliamentary democracies sprung up.

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Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors. Experimental regimes abounded The Soviets created an authoritarian state. In German and Austro-Hungarian territory parliamentary democracies sprung up. Demands for Revision of the Paris Settlement. Objections from Nationalist sentiments. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Experimental regimes aboundedThe Soviets created an authoritarian state.In German and Austro-Hungarian territory parliamentary democracies sprung up.

Page 2: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Demands for Revision of the Paris Settlement

Objections from Nationalist sentiments.The victors felt that the terms of the settlement were not adequately enforced.

Page 3: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Postwar Economic WoesThe war had damaged the economies of Europe’s old states.

The loss of so many people was also a loss of producers and consumers.Every country had war debts, and no way to repay it.Losers also had to pay reparations.Industrial infrastructure had been destroyed

The new states had nothing to begin with.New borders separated factories from the resources they used.Railway systems were now split between multiple nations.

The US ceased to be dependent on European production

Page 4: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

New Relationship between Government and Labor

Unionism had gained new prominence during the war.

Wages were up from pre-war levels.Collective bargaining and union recognition were now permanent features of the labor market.

Page 5: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

The Beginning of the Soviet Project

The Bolsheviks had consolidated power.Party membership did not exceeded 1% of the populationSome opposition still remained.They viewed their revolution as internationally significant

Page 6: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

War CommunismLeon Trotsky (1879-1940) organized the Red Army to suppress both internal and foreign opposition.

White Russian opposition could not get properly organized.The nation was run by Lenin from the top, undemocratically.

The government ran the banks, the transport system and heavy industry.All opposition was repressed.

War Communism generated opposition.Peasants resisted the requisition of grainStrikes in 1920 and 1921Baltic fleet mutiny in March 1921.

Page 7: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

The New Economic Plan (NEP)Outlined by Lenin in March 1921

Private industry would be tolerated except for in:• Banking• Heavy Industry• Transportation • International Commerce

Peasant farming for profit was legalized.The countryside stabilized.

Page 8: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

The Stalin/Trotsky RivalryAfter Lenin’s stroke in 1922 and his subsequent death in 1924, a power vacuum was left.Two factions emerged

Trotsky FactionJoseph Stalin (1879-1953), general secretary of the party, Faction.

Lenin had criticized both before his death, but especially Stalin.

Page 9: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Trotsky’s PositionUrged rapid industrialization financed by expropriation of farm production.Collectivization of agricultureThe Soviet Union should encourage worldwide Socialist revolution

Page 10: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Stalin’s RiseHis position of general secretary allowed him to amass bureaucratic and administrative power.Manipulated intraparty rivalries

Backed Nikolai Bukharin (1888-1938) in his battle with Trotsky over rapid industrializationAlso opposed Trotsky’s position on worldwide revolution

He was thus able to eventually have Trotsky humiliated and exiled by 1929.

Page 11: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

The Third InternationalAlso called the Comintern, the Third International of the European Socialist Movement was designed by Lenin to promote the Bolshevik style of Socialism in Europe.

1920-21 conditions were imposed on any socialist party that wanted to join.Every major European party was split on whether to accept these policies.These splits helped lead to the rise of facism.

Page 12: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Facism in ItalyFacist Governments were anti-Democratic, Anti-Marxist, anti-Parlimentary and frequently anti-Semitic.

Rejected Liberalism.Dictatorial

Founded in Italy Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)

Page 13: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

The Rise of MussoliniItalian Fasci Di Combattimento, “Bands of Combat,” founded in 1919 in Milan.

Mostly Italian war veterans who rejected Versailles.Lead by Mussolini

A former socialistBroke with socialists in 1914, in order to support joining the war on the side of the Allies.Nationalism replaced socialism in his personal pantheon.

Took advantage of postwar chaos.

Page 14: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Early Fascist OrganizationMussolini initially supported factory occupation and land seizures.He later came to realize that Italians were more interested in order than abstract ideas of justice.

Formed local squads of terrorists to go after socialists and other perceived malcontentsLaw enforcement ignored them.

In 1921 Mussolini and 34 Fascists were elected to the government.The Black Shirt March

In October 1922, the Fascists marched on Rome.The Cabinet resigned in protest.

On November 23, 1922 the king and Parliament granted Mussolini dictatorial power for one year.

Page 15: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

The Fascists in PowerOnce in power, Mussolini moved cautiously

Changed election laws in 1924, so that the party which received the largest popular vote would have two thirds of the seats in parliament.In the 1924 election, the Fascists won complete control of ParliamentBy 1926 Mussolini was able to rule by decree

Violence and terror continuedLate 1924 Giacomo Matteotti, a socialist leader, was murdered

The Lateran Accord of 1929 made peace with the Vatecan

Page 16: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

France in the Postwar YearsThe French parliament was extremely conservative, opposing social reformsThey initially accepted a role as the leading European power

Wanted to keep Germany weak by enforcing the treaty.Made treaties with Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Poland intended to contain German, but the alliance was weak.

Attempts to enforce reparationsIn 1923 France occupied the Ruhr, as punishment for Germany’s defaulting on reparations.The Germans paid, but Britain was alienated.

Prosperity continued longer than anywhere else in Europe, until 1931.

Page 17: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Great Britain After the WarEconomic Confusion

The new government in 1919 was a Liberal-Conservative coalition.The economy was depressed throughout the 1920s.After 1922 government welfare was the normal means of income for thousands of British families

First Labour GovernmentIn 1923 Labour took over. Though Socialistic in outlook, they were non-revolutionary.This was the beginning of the end for the Liberal party.

The General Strike of 1926In 1924 Labour fell, and the Conservatives took power again.In order to make their industry internationally competitive, British management attempted to cut wages.In 1926 coal miners went on strike, followed by sympathetic workers in other industries.In the end, they capitulated, but there was continued unrest.

The Empire CrumbledIn the 1920s India gained independence.In 1921, most of Ireland gained independence.

Page 18: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Eastern EuropeThe fall of the Eastern Empire created a number of new states

The question became, could those who had previously been powerless rule competently?

Economic and Ethnic PressuresAll of the new states except Czechoslovakia depended on foreign loansAll of the new states except Czechoslovakia fell under authoritarian ethnic rule.

Page 19: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

PolandRestored after 130 years of being ruled by its neighbors, nationalism was not sufficient to overcome regional differences.In 1926 Marshal Josef Pilsudski (1867-1935) carried out a coup.

Page 20: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia was fortunate enough to have a gifted leader in Thomas Masaryk.

The country worked well until the 30s, when German nationalists looked to Hitler, and he Annexed the Sudetenland while the world watched.

Page 21: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

HungaryAfter the war there was a short lived Communist RepublicFollowing the fall of the Communists, an aristocratic government ruled

Page 22: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

AustriaThroughout the 20s there was dissention in Parliament between the Social Democrats and the Christian SocialistsBy the 30s the Christian Socialists had control, until the Nazis annexed Austria in 1938.

Page 23: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Weimar GermanyThe Constitution, while refreshingly Liberal, was also fundamentally flawed, as it allowed small parties to gain seats easily.

The president was permitted to rule by decree in an emergency, permitting presidential dictatorship

The republic also lacked broad popular support.It was viewed as the government that had saddled Germany with the humiliation of the Versailles treaty.In the early 20s there were a number of violent uprisings, but they failedThere was massive inflation, due to the reparations imposed by the allies.The invasion of the Ruhr caused the German people to resent the Weimar government even more.

Page 24: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

Weimar Germany(cont.)Hitler and the Early Years of Nazism

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) made his first major appearance on the political scene in 1923. Along with an number of his followers he attempted a putsch. Though it failed, and Hitler was imprisoned, it made him a hero to many Germans.Nazism was characterized by extreme nationalism, anti-Communism and anti-Semitism.

The Stresemann YearsIn order to repair inflation Chancellor Gustav Stresemann introduced a new German currency.He also agreed to a new system of reparation payments in 1924, which helped to lower inflation.In 1925, right after the French left the Ruhr, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg became president.

LocarnoThe 1925 Locarno Agreements helped to integrate Germany back into the European system.However, its conciliatory outlook continued to alienate the German nationalist public

Page 25: Post-Settlement Political and Economic Factors

ConclusionAt the close of the 1920s, Europe seemed to be finally breaking out of its postwar doldrums.However, the coming depression would bring its own set of challenges.