CHAPTER 24— The West Between the Wars

7/30/2019 CHAPTER 24 The West Between the Wars

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The Futile Search for

Stability

The Rise of Dictatorial

Regimes

Hitler and Nazi

Germany

Cultural and

Intellectual Trends

The West Between the Wars,

1919-1939

The Futile Search for Stability

Objectives:

1. Explain why peace

and prosperity were

short-lived after

World War I

2. Describe how a

global economic

depression

weakened theWestern democracies

after 1929


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Uneasy Peace, Uncertain SecurityThe peace

settlement

created new

boundaries and

new states

The settlement

left nations

unhappy and

Germans

vowed to revisethe terms of the

Treaty of

Versailles

A Weak League of Nations

The peace settlement included

unwise provisions that could

serve as new causes for

conflict

The League of Nations was

not very effective in

maintaining the peace

Failure of the united States to

join the league was one

serious problem with the

organization

French Demands

Desire for security led the Frenchgovernment to demand strictenforcement of the Treaty of

Versailles

Reparations to be paid byGermany peaked at 132 billion

German marks (33 billiondollars)almost a Trillion

dollars today

The German government couldnot afford this and France

occupied the Ruhr Valley andmine the region


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10,000 dollars

Million dollars100

1 Billion Dollars

1 Trillion Dollars

Double Stacked

15.5 Trillion Dollars

in debt

Inflation in Germany

German workers went in

strike due to loss of

financesthe government

printed money as a

solution to this

The deutsche mark soon

became worthless:

19144.2 marks to 1 dollar

19234.2 trillion marks to

1 dollar


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*The Dawes Plan

was an American

attempt to

balance

Germany by

loaning them 200

million dollars,

leading to a

heavy American

investment in

Europe

The Treaty of LocarnoA spirit of cooperation wasfostered by the foreign ministers

of Germany and France

*The Treaty of Locarno,

guaranteed Germanys newwestern borders with France and

Belgiumleading to an era ofEuropean peace

The Kellogg-Briand pact lednations to renounce war as aninstrument of national policybut such promises provedworthless without a way to

enforce these promises

The Great

Depression

Economic

collapse and

Great

Depression

emerged in 1924

*Depression is a

period of low

economicactivity and

rising

unemployment


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Causes of the Depression

Two factors played a major role inthe start of the Great Depression:

(1) A series of economicdownturnsprinces for farm

products, especially wheat

(2) International financial crisisinvolving the US stock market

During the 1920s, the US stockmarket was booming but by 1929,the stock market crashed;

Germanys market in reactioncompletely collapsed

Responses to the

Depression

One British worker in every

four was unemployed

40 percent of the German

labor force was out of work

and homeless

These desperate time led to

increased government activity

in the economy and led to

renewed interests in Marxist

doctrines and Communism

Democratic States

after the War

Germany

A German democratic state

known as the *Weimar

Republic was created but faced

serious economic problems

Savings disappeared and

pushed the middle classtoward more radical political

parties as Germany was struck

by the Great Depression


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France became the strongestpower on the European continent

In June 1936, a coalition of leftistpartiesCommunists, Socialists,

and Radicalsformed thePopular Front government

The French New Deal gaveworkers the right to *collective

bargainingthe right of unions tonegotiate with employers over

wages and hours

The Popular Fronts policies failedto solve the problems of the

depression

Great Britain Coal, Steel, and Textilemanufacturing after the war

declined dramatically, leadingto a rise in unemployment

The Labour Party failed tosolve the nations economic

problems

*John Maynard KeynesGeneral Theory of Employment,

Interest, and Money

condemning free economiesand that governments should

finance labor projects, eventhrough *deficit spending

The United States

By 1932, US industrial

production had fallen

almost 50 percent from its

1929 level

The Democrat *Franklin

Delano Roosevelt led an

active government

intervention in the

economy known as the

*New Dealthe public

works and the Works

Progress Administration

(WPA)


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The Social Security Act

created a system of old-

age pensions and

unemployment insurance

None of these resolved

the US spiraling

economyonly the US

entry into WWII and

weapons industrybrought full employment

and industry

Objectives:

1. Explain why peace

and prosperity were

short-lived after

World War I

2. Describe how a

global economic

depression

weakened the

Western democracies

after 1929

The League of Nations was less than effective for all of

the following reasons except

1.the United States did not join

2.the United States did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles

3.League members could not agree to use force against

aggression

4.President Wilson did not support the idea


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The Great Depression was caused primarily by

1.economic downturn and the U.S. stock market

crash

2.failure of nations to reduce their military forces

3.new interest in Marxist theory

4.strengthening of European banks

The Weimar Republic was hurt by all of thefollowing except

1.lack of strong political leadership

2.serious social problems

3.too much spending on the German military

4.the Great Depression

The economist John Maynard Keynes argued that

1.depressions should be allowed to resolve

themselves

2.depressions were incurable

3.unemployment came from decline in demand for

goods and services

4.free economies never worked


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The French New Deal program started by

Frances Popular Front

1.solved the depression in France

2.failed to solve the depression in France

3.weakened workers rights

4.improved confidence in the French

political system

The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes

Objectives:

1. Characterize the

modern totalitarian

state established by

Mussolini

2. Report how Stalin,

the leader of the

Soviet Union,

eliminated peoplewho threatened his

power


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The Rise of Dictators

By 1939, only two major

European states

remained democratic

France and Great Britain

*Totalitarian states

emerged to control the

political, economic,

social, intellectual, andcultural lives of its

citizens

These totalitarian states

wanted to conquer the

minds and hearts of

their subjectsinfluencing through

mass propaganda

A single party emerged

as the head of the state

and all were expected

to achieve the goals of

the singular vision

Fascism in Italy

*Benito Mussolini establishedthe first European fascist

movement in Italy

He organized a new political

groupFascio di Combattimento

(League of Combat)fromwhich the term *fascism derives

This philosophy which glorifies

the state above the individualby emphasizing the need for a

strong central government ledby a dictatorial ruler


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Rise of Fascism

Italy experienced severe

economic problems after World

War I

Socialists spoke of revolution

and Mussolini formed bands of

armed fascists called

*Blackshirts whom crushed

socialists and would-be

communists

Either we are allowed to

govern, or we will seize power

Mussolini was named

prime minister by the

King of Italy in 1922,

making movementstoward a Fascist

dictatorship

Formed a secret

police called the

OVRA and created

new and more

authoritarian laws

The Fascist State

Mussolini used various

means to establish

complete control over the

Italian people, particularly

media

Fascist youth groups

included about 66 percent

of the population from 8 to18, focused on military

activities and values


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Mussolini nevermaintained complete

control over the Italianstate nor did he gain

totalitarian control seenin Hitlers Germany

Mussolinis regime alsogave the Church land

and money. In return, theCatholic Church urgedall to support the Fascist

regime

A New Era in the

Soviet Union

Once civil war in Russia

was over, peasants beganto sabotage the communist

program by hoarding food

Agricultural disaster led to

industrial collapse

Down with Lenin and

horseflesh. Bring back the

czar and pork.

Lenins New Economic

Policy

*New Economic Policy

(NEP)a modified

version of the old

capitalist system

Once stability returned,

the new state was

formalized under thename Union of Soviet

Socialist Republics

USSR or Soviet Union


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The Rise of Stalin *Politburoa committee

responsible for policy-making

A faction emerged:

One group, led by Leon

Trotsky, wanted to end the

NEP and launch a rapid

industrialization leading to a

global exporting of

Communism

Another group, led by *JosephStalin, wanted to continue

Lenins NEP and built a stable

state internally

Five-Year Plans

Stalin made a significant shiftin economic policy in 1928,

ending the NEP

*Five-Year Plans areeconomic goals for five-year

periods

They sought to transformRussia virtually overnight

from an agricultural into anindustrial country

The First emphasized maximumproduction of capital goods and

armaments; The Second focused onsteel production in Russia

numbers of workers increased bymillion but housing actually

declined

*Collectivization was a system inwhich private farms were

eliminatedgovernments owned allof the land while the peasants

worked it

Resistance from peasants led tohoarding crops and killing livestock


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Costs of Stalins

Programs

Collectivization wasdone at tremendous cost

10 million peasants diedin the famines of 1932

and 1933

The Old Bolshevikswere put on trial andcondemned to death;Millions were sent toforced labor camps in

Siberia

Objectives:

1. Characterize the

modern totalitarian

state established by

Mussolini

2. Report how Stalin,

the leader of the

Soviet Union,

eliminated people

who threatened his

power

Parliamentary systems failed in most eastern

European states, in part, because

A. These states had little democratic tradition

B. The systems were weakened by repayments

C. The citizens were too well educated

D. They all had large middle class


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Francos military regime in Spain was supported

by

A. The United States and Britain

B. Germany and Italy

C. Stalin and the Communists

D. France and Britain

Stalins Five Year Plans were intended to

transform Russia into

A. an agricultural society

B. an industrial society

C. a democracy

D. a monarchy

Lenin intended his economic policies to

A. replace communism

B. create a permanent capitalist system

C. allow the economy to re-build itself

D. restore the Romanov dynasty


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Mussolinis regime compromised with

A. opposition parties in Italy

B. Italian Protestants

C. Italian Socialists and Communists

D. Italys traditional institutions

Hitler and Nazi Germany

Objectives:

1.Characterize the

totalitarian state in

Germany established

by Hitler and the

Nazi Party

2. Explain why many

Germans accepted

the Nazi dictatorship

while other Germans

suffered greatly

under Hitlers rule


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Hitler and His Views

*Adolf Hitler was born in 1889and wanted to become an

artist but was rejected by theVienna Academy of Fine Arts

The core of his idea was racistand extreme nationalism

He joined the GermanWorkers Party, eventually

taking total control andrenaming it *National SocialistGerman Workers Party in

short the Nazi party

He formed a militia knownas Storm Troops, or

Brownshirts; He attemptedto lead an uprising againstthe government but was

quickly defeated

*Mein KampfMy Struggle

It was laced with anti-Semitism, anticommunism

and liked to SocialDarwinian thoughthe

and his party soughtlebensraum (living space)

Rise of Nazism

Hitler expanded the

Nazi Party, soon

becoming the largest

party in the

*Reichstag the

German parliament

Hitler promised to

create a new

Germany, appealing

to national pride,

honor, and militarism


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Victory of Nazism

Right-wing elites looked to

Hitler for leadership

which allowed him tobecome chancellor and

create a new government

1933, the Reichstag passed

the *Enabling Act, giving

the government the power

to ignore the constitutionfor four years while it

issued laws to deal withthe countrys problems

Hitler became a dictator

appointed by the

parliamentary body

itself

The civil service was

purged of Jews and

democratic elements;

*concentration camps

were established for

such undesirables

Hitler soon garnered the

title *Fhrer or Leader

The Nazi State, 1933-1939

The development of an

*Aryan racial state that

would dominate Europe

and possibility the world

for generations to come

Aryansancient Greeks,

Romans, Germans, the

Holy Roman Empire,

German Empire of 1871

*Third Reich


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The State and Terror

Nazi totalitarian state

used used terror and

repression

Schutzstafflen (Guard

Squadrons) known as

the SS headed by

*Heinrich Himmler

For Himmler, the goal of

the SS was the further the

Aryan master race

Economic Policies

Hitler used public

works projects and

grants to privateconstruction firms to

put people back to

work

He undertook a

massive rearmament

program, leading to

economic prosperity

The Nazis announced newracial laws at the annualparty rally in Nuremberg

*Nuremberg laws excludedJews from German

citizenship and forbademarriages between Jews andGerman citizens; Yellow Star

of David

*Kristallnachtnight of

shattered glass; Nazisburned synagogues and

destroyed some seventhousand Jewish businesses


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Objectives:

1.Characterize the

totalitarian state in

Germany established

by Hitler and the

Nazi Party

2. Explain why many

Germans accepted

the Nazi dictatorshipwhile other Germans

suffered greatly

under Hitlers rule

Hitler inaccurately associated the concept of an

Aryan race with all of the following groups except

A. ancient Greeks and Romans

B. Germans

C. Scandinavians

D. Jews

Hitler ended Germanys economic woes,

unemployment, and the depression by

A. putting women to work in factories

B. passing the Nuremberg Laws

C. public works proj ects and a rearmament program

D. building more churches and universities


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The Kristallnacht, which happened on November 9, 1938,

was

A. the inspiration for the anthem of the Nazi Party

B. a destructive rampage against German Jews led by Nazis

C. the signing of Hitlers agreement with Russia

D. the creation of Hitler;s secret police under Heinrich

Himmler

Hitlers goal was to create a

A. Third Reich, or German Empire

B. Third Workers party

C. Third Depression

D. Third Reichstag

Hitlers political theories were based on all of the

following except

A. racism, especially anti-Semitism

B. Darwinian social struggle

C. communism

D. nationalism


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Cultural and Intellectual

Trends

Objectives:

1. Relate how radios and

movies were popular

forms of entertainmentthat were used to spread

political messages

2. Summarize the new

artistic and intellectual

trends that reflected the

despair created by WWI

and the Great

Depression

Advent of new Radio

wireless radio waves

and radio broadcasting

New Technology

allowed for the creation

of film

The Nazi party used this

in the creation of

propagandaThe

Triumph of the Will (a

documentary of the 1934

Nuremberg party rally)


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CHAPTER 24— The West Between the Wars