1919-1939 CHAPTER 31: YEARS OF CRISIS
Jan 14, 2016
1919-1939
CHAPTER 31: YEARS OF CRISIS
SECTION 1POSTWAR UNCERTAINTY
• Einstein introduced the theory of relativity• Questioned the way we view the
world. Things change based on how you view them
• Freud popularized the idea of unconscious behavior• People often act irrationally (without
reason)
• Both of these ideas weakened the enlightenment ideals of being able to know and understand the world
CHANGES IN SCIENCE
• Disillusioned by the war, people began to doubt the world they thought they understood
• Writers wrote about “dark” topics
• Philosophers, especially Nietzsche, embraced existentialism (life has no universal purpose)• It is up to each person to develop
their own
• Encouraged abandoning Western ideas
CHANGES IN LITERATURE
• Artists began to break away from traditional styles• Emphasized emotion and
imagination
• Ex: Picasso/Cubism
• Surrealism sought to link the real world with imagination
• New styles of music developed (jazz) that used irregular rhythms and combinations of sounds
CHANGING ART
• WWI had allowed women to take on new roles
• Those new roles led to more equal rights like voting
• Women began to “fight” against the societal norms• Clothing/styles
• Driving
• Drinking/smoking
• Birth control
• New careers (especially professional)
WOMEN’S ROLES CHANGE
SECTION 2A WORLDWIDE DEPRESSION
• WWI had disrupted many longstanding rulers. New democracies replaced them
• With little experience with democracy, many nations had dozens of political parties, lacking one clear majority to run the country• These countries has to create a
coalition government, where multiple parties had to join together
• This makes long term changes very difficult to achieve
UNSTABLE DEMOCRACIES
• Post WWI (1919), the Weimar Republic took control of Germany
• Problems from the start• No history of democracy
• Multiple parties
• Took the blame for the Treaty of Versailles
WEIMAR REPUBLIC
• To pay the costs of the war, Germany printed more money• Value of the money dropped,
extreme inflation followed• Ex: Bread in 1923 cost 12.5
million times what it cost in 1918
• 160 to 200 billion marks
INFLATION HITS GERMANY
• Germany recovery was possible as a result of Charles Dawes• $200 million from American banks to
back the German economy and distribute reparations payments over time
• The success of the plan brought more investments and loans and by 1929, Germany was back to pre-WWI levels of production
• The major nations of the world also signed a pledge not to go to war with each other again• Nobody could actually enforce this
DAWES PLAN
• In the 1920s, the US economy was the foundation of the world’s economy
• The US Economy had serious problems:• Huge gap in wealth
• Americans could not buy products
• Overproduction
• Factories and farmers
• The booming market caused people to speculate (borrowing to buy stock)• Oct 29, 1929 (Black Tuesday) the
market plunged and began the…
FINANCIAL COLLAPSE
• The stock market collapse led to record unemployment and huge slumps in production/wages• This period would be known as the
Great Depression
• Our Depression spread to other places• Americans stopped buying foreign
goods and pulled their investments out/demanded repayment of debts
• Protectionist policies led to a 65% drop in world trade
GREAT DEPRESSION
• Britain enacted tariffs, increased taxes, and regulated currency to protect• They lowered interest rates to
encourage investments
• Worked slowly
• France used government reforms to help workers• It worked but also created more
socialist programs
• Socialist countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway) used cooperation to rebuild
DEMOCRACIES REBUILD IN DIFFERENT WAYS
• Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) will be elected in 1932 (first post GDep election)
• He will immediately enact reforms known as the New Deal• Public works
• Government assistance to businesses/farms
• Welfare programs
THE NEW DEAL
SECTION 3FASCISM RISES IN EUROPE
• Looking for answers anywhere, people began to turn to the extremists
• Fascists emphasized nationalism and loyalty to their leaders, who used militant policies to enact change
• Very similar to communism• Used dictators
• No rights/freedoms
• State was supreme
• The big difference is that fascism does not seek to make everyone equal
FASCISM
• The Treaty of Versailles created anger in many Italians• Add unemployment and inflation
• Benito Mussolini promised to rebuild a strong Italy• Founded Fascist Party in 1919
• Using a 30,000 man army in 1922, Mussolini forced the king to give him power• He became Il Duce (the leader)
MUSSOLINI IN ITALY
• Enacted the same reforms as the Bolsheviks/Communists in USSR• Abolished democracy
• Banned other political parties
• Used secret police to jail opposition
• Censored radio and publications
• Did some things different• Outlawed strikes
• Allied with the wealthy industrialists and landholders
IL DUCE’S POLICIES
• Hitler served in WWI and became a struggling politician immediately after the war
• In 1919, he joined a right-wing group (National Socialists) that wanted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles• His speaking/organization allowed
him to become the leader
• He tried to lead an overthrow in 1923 but was unsuccessful and imprisoned• While in jail, he wrote Mein Kampf,
where he outlined his plan to rebuild Germany
HITLER AND NAZISM
• Hitler espoused the idea that Germans were a master race meant to dominate others
• Made a vow to recapture land given away in Versailles and to gain lebensraum (living space) by capturing new lands
• When he got out of jail in 1924 (9 months), he revived the Nazi Party but had little support, until...
HITLER’S RISE TO POWER
• The Great Depression ended German recovery
• The Nazi Party had become hugely popular by 1932, leading to Hitler being named Chancellor• Immediately calls for elections
which they won (barely)
• Hitler then turns Germany into a totalitarian state with the same restrictions Il Duce had created in Italy
HITLER BECOMES CHANCELLOR
• Countries with little to no history of democracy gave in to dictators• Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia,
Albania, Bulgaria, and Romania
• The only democracies to survive the 1920s were countries that were democracies to begin with• France, Britain, Scandinavian
countries
• These new dictators were eager to show their strength through military power
COLLAPSE OF DEMOCRACY
SECTION 4AGGRESSORS INVADE NATIONS
• Japan had democracy as long as things were good (1920s), but when things went bad (Great Depression), the military took control away
• Emperor Hirohito remained as emperor but the military made the decisions
• To rebuild their economy, Japan sought to expand
JAPAN’S GOVERNMENT STRUGGLES
• Seeking resources, Japan took control (1931) of the Manchuria region of China in direct violation of the League of Nations• Nothing was done
• In 1937, Japan launched an all out invasion of mainland China, easily capturing Beijing in months• Rape of Nanking: tens, and
possibly hundreds, of thousands of unarmed and innocent Chinese are killed by the Japanese in the capital
JAPAN BUILDS AN EMPIRE
• The League of Nation’s weakness emboldened European Fascists
• Mussolini will expand into Ethiopia, 1 of 3 free African nations
• Britain and the rest of the League allowed it to happen
• Hitler will continue to disobey the League when he begins rebuilding the German Army in 1935
EUROPEAN AGGRESSION
• Hitler used his army in March, 1936 to invade the Rhineland (buffer between Germany and France)
• Britain urged appeasement (giving in to an aggressor in order to keep peace)
• Result:• Hitler becomes more popular
• Germany becomes stronger than neighbors
• France and Britain look weak
• Italy and Japan will join Hitler in 1936 to create the Axis Powers
HITLER EXPANDS
• Spain had fallen into a civil war in 1936 between the liberal Socialists controlling the government and the military, who were Fascists
• Hitler and Mussolini gave troops, tanks, and airplanes to the Fascists while the West remained neutral• The Soviets helped but it was not
enough
• In 1939, Francisco Franco (Spanish Fascist) took control
SPANISH CIVIL WAR
• America embraced isolationism (avoid political ties to other nations) – Neutrality Act banned supporting any nation at war
• Hitler creates the Third Reich (German Empire) with the goal of annexing Austria
• France, Britain, Italy, and Germany meet (Munich Conference) to decide the future of Czechoslovakia
ATTEMPTS TO PRESERVE PEACE
• Germany gets Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia) in exchange for promise not to expand further• 6 months later, he expands
• Mussolini then takes Albania
• Hitler turns his sights on Poland, recognizing Britain and France’s desire to avoid war
• Everybody wanted the USSR• 1939 - Hitler and Stalin sign the
nonaggression pact, promising not to attack one another
MUNICH CONFERENCE FAILS
Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler, Mussolini, and Ciano