Transcript Chap 7
Chap 7
Between the Wars
1. The Russian Revolution
A. Cause
- WWI was a huge disaster for the Russians
-Unprepared to fight in a huge scale war
-With Russian Leaders focused on the
war effort, Russia began to crumble internally
-Lack of food and supplies
-Famine that killed millions resulted
B. The March Revolution
-In March 1917, riots flared up across Russia over
shortages of supplies caused by WWI
-These general uprisings led to the March Revolution
-Revolutionaries forced Czar Nicholas II to abdicate
his throne
-A year later the Czar and his family were executed
-The provisional government decided to continue
fighting in WWI
-Rebels known as the Bolsheviks wanted to withdraw
from the war formed protests.
C. Bolshevik Beliefs
-Followed the views of Karl Marx
-Believed that the industrial workers (proletariat) should
overthrow the government (capitalists) due to a continual
struggle over power
-The leader of the Bolshevik radicals was Vladimir
Lenin
-The Bolsheviks began taking over local soviet
governments in April 1917
-By the end of 1917, more and more people began to
support the Bolsheviks
-In November 1917, the Bolsheviks (Red Army) attacked
the Winter Palace, the official residence of Russian
leaders
-With the takeover of the Palace,the Bolsheviks took
control of the government
-Signed a treaty with Germany ending the Russian
involvement in WWI
D. Russian Civil War
-The humiliating terms of the treaty with Germany
enraged many civilians
--The Bolshevik’s opponents (known as the White
Army) objected to the Bolsheviks policies and
execution of the Royal Family
-From 1918-1920,civil war raged through Russia
-The Bolsheviks finally won
-The Russian Civil War cost around 14 million lives
and widespread famine resulted
E. Communist Party
-WWI and the Russian Civil War destroyed the Russian
economy
-In order to fix the economy, Lenin instituted NEP (New
Economy Policy)
-This turned around Russian farms and industry to pre
WW1 levels
-In 1922, Russia changed its name to Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics (USSR)
-The Bolshevik renamed their party the Communist Party,
based on the writings of Karl Marx
-Their constitution was based on the socialist and
democratic principles but later turned into a dictatorship
of the Communist Party
F. Joseph Stalin
-In 1922, Lenin suffered a stroke and gave up control of the
Communist Party
-By 1928, Stalin became control of the Communist Party
-His belief was to transform the Soviet Union into a
totalitarian state
-He built a police state to maintain his power.
-In 1937, he launched the Great Purge to eliminate anyone
who threatened his power
-Stalin’s government controlled all newspapers, schools,
radio in order to promote the ideals of communism.
-The Russian Orthodox Church was also the main target of
persecution
-By 1938, millions has died due to this Great Purge
G. Stalin’s Changes
-Stalin overhauled the economy by instituting a command
economy
-In 1928, Stalin outlined the first of several Five-Year Plans
for economic development
-These plans set impossible high targets for industrial
outputs
-To reach these targets, the government limited production
of consumer goods and people faced severe shortages
-Stalin reformed agriculture by combing small private farms
into large government owed collective farms
-The province of the Ukraine protested these moves which
resulted in the government sponsored elimination of the
Ukrainian people
2. Reform in India
-During WWI, Indian soldiers were sent to Europe to
help British forces
-In return for their help, Britain promised to end their
control of the Indian government after the war
-However, Britain did the exact opposite after the war
by imposing more sanctions on the Indian people
-In protest, radical Indian nationalists carried out acts
of violence
-During one protest, British soldiers fired upon the
civilians killing over 400
-This massacre set the stage for Mohandas Gandhi to
emerge as the leader of the Indian Independence
movement
3. Mohandas Gandhi
-Gandhi endorsed a policy known as civil disobedience, which was a
non-violent form of protest against British rule
-Gandhi organized boycotts of British goods, pay British taxes or vote
in elections
-In 1930, Gandhi organized the Salt March to protest the increased
taxes on salt
-During the Salt March, British soldiers attacked the Indian protesters
-Newspapers from across the world publicized the story which
brought worldwide attention to Gandhi’s struggle
-During the 1930s, Britain started to ease control of India by granting
them self rule
-However, infighting between Hindus and Muslims created chaos with
Indian
-In 1948, Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindi nationalist due to
Gandhi’s sympathy toward the Muslims
4. Turkish Independence
-At the end of WWI, the Ottoman empire was
forced to give up all its territories except for
Turkey
-In 1919, Greece invaded Turkey and took over the
country
-However, in 1922, Kemel Ataturk is going to
organize the Turkish independence movement
-In 1923, Ataturk became the president of the
newly established Republic of Turkey
-Nicknamed the “Father of the Turks”
5. Zionist Nationalism
-During the late 1800s and early 1900s, Jewish
nationalists (Zionists) began to return to their
homeland in Jerusalem in Palestine
-After WWI, Britain took over Palestine from the
Ottoman Empire
-The Zionists began to pressure Britain in giving
them control of Palestine
-This struggle for control of Palestine resulted in
growing hostilities between the Palestinians and
the Jews
6. Rise of Fascism
-In 1929, the US stock market collapsed creating the Great
Depression that had worldwide effects
-Because foreign countries relied on American loans and
investments, many European economies began to fail
-People began to lose faith in the democratic style of
government and turned to other forms of government
-The countries of Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan began to
embrace an extreme form of nationalism known as
Fascism
-Fascists began to rally around a central authoritarian
political figures that preached militarism and loyalty to
the state that would restore order.
7. Italy
-Rising inflation and unemployment contributed to widespread
social unrest
-To its citizens, Italy’s democratic government seemed helpless in
trying to solve these problems
-A rising politician, Benito Mussolini, embraced Fascist ideals and
promised to rescue Italy by reviving its economy and rebuilding
its armed forces
-As the Italian economy became worse, Mussolini’s popularity
began to rise by playing on the emotions of the Italian citizens
-In 1922, the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel II, was pressured in to
naming Mussolini prime minister
-Once in power, Mussolini abolished democracy, outlawed all
other political parties, jailed opponents and instituted
censorship
-Took the Title, “IL DUCE” or the Leader
8. Germany
-In 1919, Adolf Hitler joined a radical political group that believed
that Germany had to overturn the harsh Treaty of Versailles that
had caused the collapse of the German economy
-The group adopted the ideals of Fascism and became known as
the Nazi Party
-It chose the swastika (or hooked cross) as its symbol
-In 1923, the Nazi Party tried unsuccessfully to take over the
German government and Hitler was jailed
-While in jail, Hitler wrote the book, Mein Kampf, that outlines his
goals of bringing German back to dominance
-Germany entered a period of economic recovery during the 1920s
and Hitler faded into obscurity
-However, the American Great Depression caused the German
economy to collapse and civil unrest broke out
-This chaotic time brought about the revival of Hitler and his
ideals
9. Rise of the Nazis
-As Germany fell into chaos, frightened and confused
turned to Hitler hoping for security and firm leadership
-By 1932, the Nazis became a dominant force in German
politics
-In 1933, Hitler was named chancellor of the Weimar
Republic, Germany’s government
-Hitler used his power to turn Germany into a totalitarian
state
-He created a secret police squad known as the SS to
arrest and murder Hitler’s enemies
-Hitler took command of the economy and put millions of
Germans to work constructing factories and serving in
the miltary
10. Japanese Militarism
-As fascism spreads in Europe, Japan is going to
embrace military rule
-When the American Great Depression hit, the
Japanese economy has greatly affected
-Citizens blamed the government and the military
gained support of the public
-Instead of changing the government, the militarists
made Emperor Hirohito the symbol of state power
-The militants carried a strong sense of nationalism
and wanted to strengthen Japanese traditions
11. Japanese Expansion
-In order to solve their problems, the militarist believed
in expansion into SE Asia for raw materials to fuel
new factories to increase Japanese manufacturing
-Being an island nation, Japan had few natural
resources. So, expansion into SE Asia became the
militarists’ top priority
-Throughout the early 1930s, Japan fought with China
over territories in mainland Asia
-The League of Nations disapproved of Japan’s
expansion but were powerless to stop them
-Japan withdrew from the League and fueled the
militants hatred of foreign Western countries
12. Appeasement
-The League of Nations failure to stop Japanese expansion
encouraged Germany and Italy to plan their own
aggressive expansion plans.
-Mussolini dreamed of building a colonial empire in Africa
(Ethiopia) similar to Britain and France
-Hitler decided not to follow the terms of the Versailles
Treaty and built up the German armies
-In 1936, Germany invaded the Rhineland, an area in
between France and Germany, that was set up as a
buffer zone between the two countries after WWI.
-Unwilling to start another war, the European powers of
Britain and France did nothing to stop German
expansion.
-This policy of appeasement will prove to be the wrong
approach in the near future