The West BETWEEN Wars

Chapter 24

Chapter 24: OverviewWhat happened between the World War I and World War II? There is an age of prosperity (the 1920’s) followed by a financial depression. This low economic place lead to the rise of totalitarian leaders. People needed something to believe in.

Section 1 The Futile Search for Stability

• The peace settlement at the end of World War I left many nations unhappy and left border disputes simmering throughout Europe.

• The League of Nations proved a weak institution. • Economic problems plagued France, Great Britain, and the German Weimar

Republic. • When Germany declared that it could not continue to pay reparations,

France occupied Germany's Ruhr Valley as a source of reparations. • The Dawes Plan reduced the burden of reparations and led to a period of

prosperity and American investment in Europe. • Democracy was widespread, and women in many European countries gained

the right to vote. • The prosperity ended with the economic collapse of 1929 and the Great

Depression. • European governments tried different approaches to ending the depression.

With the Great Depression, many extremist parties gained political support. The new U.S. president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, pursued a policy of active government intervention in the economy that came to be known as the New Deal.

Section 1 The Futile Search for Stability

Weak League of Nations

French Demands Inflation in Germany Treaty of Locarno

-The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace.-US never joined (the Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles), making the league weak.-Nations could not approve using force against aggression.

-France wanted Germany to pay their debt for WW1 which was $33,000,000,000 or 33 billion dollars. By 1922, Germany said that they could not pay. So, France sent troops into the Ruhr Valley (Germany’s industrial area) to collect money by using the mines and factories.

German workers went on strike and refused to work for the French. -Germany printed more money, causing prices to go up (you can’t simply print more money…it has to be backed by gold)-1914: German Inflation: 4.5 German marks =1$-Nov 1st, 1923 130 BILLION marks = 1$-Nov 30th (30 days later) 142 TRILLION marks = 1$-Printed money was worthless.

-Written by France and Germany, it guaranteed Germany’s new western borders with France & Belgium.-Seemed to encourage Peace.-Germany joined the League of Nations.-Weak because it was just a promise and did not have enforcement to back it up.

Section 1 The Futile Search for Stability

The Great Depression

Causes

Prices on farm goods dropped

Oct. 1929, US stock market crashed partly because US withdrew funds from Germany.

Responses

40% of Germans were out of work.Governments did not know how to handle

this.Governments became very involved in

economic affairs increasing Marxist ideas.People followed political leaders that

wanted to solve this problem. Hitler was perfect for this

Section 1 The Futile Search for Stability

Germany France Great Britain USWilliam II led to the Weimar Republic:: Had many problems inflation, no real leader, other than Hindenburg

Became the strongest European power. 1930’s brought political chaos. People that were politically ‘left’ communists & socialists from the Popular Front government. They started ‘collective bargaining’ (the right of unions to negotiate with employers) to get a 40hr work week and 2 weeks paid vacation.

Lost much of its industry to the US and Japan. This led to unemployment. The Labour Party lost control to the Conservatives. They brought GB out of depression. Economist John Maynard Keyes felt the government should ‘spend’ their way out of a depression

After Germany, the US was the worst hit by the depression, with 12million unemployed.President FDR (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, created the New Deal where the government became more involved in putting people back to work. The New Deal did not solve unemployment. WWII does.

DEMOCRATIC STATES AFTER THE WAR

I started programs that built Hoover

Dam. I’m FDR.

A zeppelin named for

Hindenburg

Section 2 The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes

• By 1939 most European democracies had collapsed. • Only France and Great Britain remained democratic. • Benito Mussolini of Italy began his political career as a Socialist, but he

abandoned socialism for fascism, which glorified the state and justified the suppression of all political dissent. • In Italy, Mussolini outlawed most political opposition and controlled the

mass media, but never achieved complete totalitarian control. • After the Russian civil war, Lenin restored capitalist practices in his New

Economic Policy, which prevented economic and political collapse. • After Lenin's death, Joseph Stalin emerged as the most powerful Communist

figure. • Stalin sidelined the Bolsheviks of the revolutionary era and established

totalitarian rule. • His program of rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture

forced horrendous sacrifices on the population. • His political purges caused millions to be arrested, imprisoned, and

executed. • Elsewhere in Eastern Europe and in Francisco Franco's Spain, authoritarian

regimes were mainly concerned with preserving the existing social order.

Section 2 The Rise of Dictatorial RegimesJosef Stalin: Leader of the USSR. He was in a powerful position in the USSR, and took advantage by grabbing power from Leon Trotsky (later found murdered)

Benito Mussolini, establish first European fascist movement in Italy. Fascism glorifies the state above the individual with a strong central government. He formed bands of squadristi (blackshirts) to attack socialists. This gave him support from the landowners.

Military leader Francisco Franco, led forces against the Spanish government. Italy & Germany sent forces to help Franco. Troops from the US and USSR went over to volunteer and help. Franco establish a dictatorship. It was ‘authoritarian’ not ‘totalitarian’.

Adolf Hitler: joined the Worker’s Party, ‘right’ wing extreme nationalism. By 1921 he was in control and named the

head of the Nation Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party).

USSR

Section 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

At the end of World War I, Adolf Hitler joined a small right-wing extremist party in Munich and eventually became its leader. Hitler staged an uprising against the government in Munich, the Beer Hall Putsch, which failed. In prison, he wrote Mein Kampf —an account of his movement and his views. Once out of prison, he expanded the Nazi party in Germany. As democracy broke down, right-wing elites looked to Hitler for leadership. In 1933 Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Amid constant chaos and conflict, Hitler used terror and repression to gain totalitarian control. Heinrich Himmler led the SS, or Schutzstaffeln (Guard Squadrons), a police force that maintained order. Meanwhile, a massive rearmament (building weapons for war) program put Germans back to work. Mass demonstrations and spectacles rallied Germans around Hitler's policies. All major institutions were brought under Nazi control. Women's primary role was to bear Aryan children. Hitler's Nuremberg Laws established official persecution of Jews. A more violent anti-Semitic phase began in 1938 with the Kristallnacht – the night of “shattered glass” – when the Nazis destroyed synagogues and Jewish businesses and killed or rounded up Jews to send to concentration camps. Increasingly drastic steps barred Jews from attending school, earning a living, or engaging in Nazi society. Jews were also encouraged to emigrate.

Section 3 Hitler and Nazi GermanyHitler & his views Rise of Nazi’s Victory of Nazism The Nazi State

Born: Austria, failed secondary school. Wanted to be an artist.Served 4 years on the Western Front during WWI.1919 Joined German Workers’ Party (right wing)1921 Controlled the party1923 Staged an armed uprising (Beer Hall Putsch) he was sentenced to prisonIn Prison, wrote Mein Kampf (My struggle)Book about German Nationalism, linked to social Darwinism.

Nazis’ would need to gain power legally1929 Nazi’s were a national party (like the Democrats or Republicans) in German Parliament called the ReichstagHitler promised a new Germany with jobs, showing national pride.

1930 President was Hindenburg.1933 Hindenburg was pressured to make Hitler ‘Chancellor’ and create a new governmentMarch 23, 1933: Parliament pass Enabling Act: allowed 4 years to ignore the constitution.This gave Hitler all of the power. Concentration camps were setup for people who opposed them.1933 Germany was a totalitarian state

1933-1939: Aryan state was to be establish, 3rd Reich (1st was the Roman Empire, 2nd was German Empire) Terror was used to control the people.1935: Nuremberg Laws, excluded Jews from German citizenship, forbade marriages between Jews & Germans. 1941 – Jews had to wear Yellow starsNov. 9, 1938, Kristallnacht, a destructive rampage against the Jews

Section 3 Hitler and Nazi Germany

• After World War I, radio and film became sources of entertainment as well as propaganda tools.

• Hitler and the Nazis made wide use of both radio and film. • Eight-hour workdays allowed many people to enjoy mass leisure activities such

as professional sporting events, as well as train, bus, and car travel. • The uncertainty of the post-war world became a prominent theme in art.

• Dadaism and the surrealism of Salvador Dalí reflected absurdity in the world.

• Nazi art was intended to be a new German art form. In fact, it was largely derived from nineteenth-century folk art.

• Literary interest in the unconscious produced the "stream of consciousness" technique of James Joyce's Ulysses .

• The German novelist Hermann Hesse was influenced by psychology and Asian religions.

• The revolution in physics begun by Albert Einstein continued in the 1920s with Werner Heisenberg's “uncertainty principle. “

Section 4 Cultural and Intellectual Trends

Section 4 Cultural and Intellectual TrendsSalvador Dali, was the ‘high priest’ of surrealism. He painted everyday objects, but separated them from their normal contexts by placing recognizable objects in unrecognizable relationships.

Hitler rejected modern art as ‘degenerate’ and believed that they could create a new genuine German art. (very Nationalist)

Dada Movement: The world doesn’t make sense so why should art? Life has not purpose. Hannah Hoch

Surrealism: portrayed fantasy, dreams & nightmares. Salvador Dali. Recognizable objects in unrecognizable places.

Modern Art between WarsHeroic Age of Physics: Heisenberg’sUncertainty Principal: subatomic particles are unpredictable. This challenged Newton’s theory. Albert Einstein continued working.

Section 4 Cultural and Intellectual Trends