Transcript The Western Democracies

In the West
Chapter 17
Sections 1-4
1
Section 1
The Western Democracies
• What issues faced Europe after World
War I?
• How did the Great Depression begin
and spread?
• How did Britain, France, and the
United States try to meet the
challenges of the 1920s and 1930s?
Postwar Issues
• In 1919 three western democracies
appeared powerful, they had ruled the
Paris Peace Conference and boosted
hopes for democracy among the new
nations of Eastern Europe.
•Great Britain
•France
•United States
Underlying Issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Postwar Europe faced problems
Jobs for veterans
Rebuilding/ Reconstruction
War Debts
Spread of Communism
Spread of Socialism
Problems with the Peace of Paris
Lacked Strong Leadership
The Pursuit of Peace
• During the 1920’s diplomats worked towards a
lasting peace
•1925 seven European nations signed the Locarno
treaties settling border disputes with Germany. “France
and Germany ban war forever” New York Times
•The Kellogg-Briand Pact in 1928 promised to
“renounce war as an instrument of national policy”.
Disarmament [reduction of armed forces and weapons]
was pursued by many nations
•Many nations agreed to limit navy size but not army
•Great hope is placed in the League of Nations, based
in Geneva Switzerland. Even Germany and the USSR
eventually join.
Obstacles to Peace
•The Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawed war but
there was no war to enforce the pact
• The League of Nations was powerless to
stop aggressors
– Had been damaged by no United States
– Opposed Japan’s invasion of Manchuria
Dictators because of the Leagues weakness
rearmed their military forces and became
aggressive
Recovery and Depression
• Slowly Europe recovered from WWI
– Countries started to manufacture and trade once again
– Veterans found jobs
– Middle class families had a higher standard of living [cars,
radios, refrigerators]
• United States becomes the World economic power
– American Banks controlled world finance
– American loans and investments backed the recovery of
Europe
– As long as the American economy is strong the world
economy was prosperous
A Dangerous Imbalance
• Overproduction was one of the main causes for
growing concern among the worlds economies
– Demand for raw materials decreased after the war
thus miners, farmers, and suppliers suffered
– Wages increased for workers in factories, thus
production was increased to cover increases
– Farmers, miners, and others were unable to afford
manufactured goods because of the lack of need for
raw materials, thus there was an oversupply of goods
• Factories refused to slow production as demand
slowed, making industry ripe for disaster
Crash and Collapse
1
The Great Depression
Long-Term Causes
•Worldwide interrelationship of
governments and economies
•Huge war debts
•American loans to Europe
•Widespread use of credit
•Overproduction of goods
•Industrial wages rise as farm earnings
fall
Immediate Effects
•Vast unemployment and misery
•Protective tariffs imposed
•Loss of faith in capitalism and
democracy
•Authoritarian leaders emerge
Immediate Causes
•New York stock market crash
•Farmers unable to repay loans
•Banks demand repayment of loans
•American loans to other countries dry
up
•Without capital, businesses and
factories fail
Long-Term Effects
•Rise of fascism and Nazism
•Governments experiment with social
programs
•People blame scapegoats
•World War II begins
Unemployment, 1928 –
1938
1
1
Britain and France in the Postwar Era
BRITAIN
The Great Depression intensified
existing economic problems.
Britain set up a coalition
government made up of leaders
from all three major parties.
The government provided some
unemployment benefits.
British leaders wanted to relax the
Versailles treaty’s harsh treatment
of Germany.
FRANCE
The French economy
recovered fairly quickly.
Many political parties
competed for power and
France was ruled by a
series of coalition
governments.
France created the
Maginot Line to secure its
borders against Germany.
The government
strengthened the military
and sought alliances with
other countries, including
the Soviet Union.
1
Postwar Issues
Postwar Europe faced grave problems:
• Returning veterans needed jobs.
• War-ravaged lands needed to be rebuilt.
• Many nations owed huge debts because they
had borrowed heavily to pay for the war.
• Economic problems fed social unrest and
made radical ideas more popular.
• The peace settlements dissatisfied many
Europeans, especially in Germany and
Eastern Europe.
• Europe lacked strong leaders just when they
were most needed.
The United States in the Postwar
Era
1
• The country emerged from World War I in
excellent shape.
• The United States stayed out of the League of
Nations. However, the nation took a leading
role in international diplomacy during the
1920s.
• During a “Red Scare” in 1919 and 1920, police
rounded up suspected foreign-born radicals
and expelled a number of them from the United
States.
• Congress passed laws limiting immigration from
Europe.
• The 1929 stock market crash shattered
2
A Culture in Conflict
• How did new views revolutionize
modern science and thought?
• What artistic and literary trends
emerged in the 1920s?
• How did western society change after
World War I?
2
New Views of the Universe
New ideas and scientific discoveries challenged long-held
ideas about the nature of the world.
RADIOACTIVITY
Marie Curie and other
scientists experimented with
radioactivity. They found that:
atoms of certain elements
release charged particles.
radioactivity could change
atoms of one element into
atoms of another.
RELATIVITY
Albert Einstein advanced his
theories of relativity:
Measurements of space and
time are not absolute.
PSYCHOLOGY
Sigmund Freud suggested
that the subconscious mind
drives much human
behavior.
Freud pioneered
psychoanalysis, a method
of studying how the mind
works and treating mental
disorders.
2
Artistic and Literary Trends
ART
In the early 1900s, many
western artists rejected
traditional styles.
Instead of trying to reproduce
the real world, they explored
other dimensions of color, line,
and shape.
Cubism, abstract art, and
surrealism were some of the
styles that developed.
ARCHITECTURE
Architects rejected classical
traditions and developed new
styles to match an industrial,
urbanized world.
The Bauhaus school blended
science and technology with
design.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s work
reflected the belief that the
function of a building should
determine its form.
LITERATURE
Writers exposed the grim
horrors of modern warfare.
To many postwar writers, the
war symbolized the
breakdown of western
civilization.
Some writers experimented
with stream of
consciousness.
2
A Changing Society
After World War I, many people yearned to return to life as it had been
before 1914. But rapid social changes would make it hard to turn back the
clock.
New technologies helped create a
mass culture shared by millions in
the world’s developed countries.
Affordable cars gave middle-class people
greater mobility.
The war changed social values and the class
system itself.
Rebellious young people rejected
the moral values of the Victorian
age and chased excitement.
Labor-saving devices freed women from many
time-consuming household chores. Women
pursued careers in many arenas.
Radios brought news, music, and sports into
homes throughout the western world.
Section 3
• How did conditions in Italy favor the rise of
Mussolini?
• How did Mussolini reshape Italy?
• What were the values and goals of fascist
ideology?
Setting the Scene
• “I hated politics and politicians,” said
Italo Balbo. Like many Italian
veterans of World War I , he had
come home to a land of economic
chaos and political corruption. Italy’s
constitutional government, he felt
“had betrayed the hopes of soldiers,
reducing Italy to a shameful peace.”
Disgusted and angry, Balbo rallied
behind a fierce nationalist, Benito
Mussolini
•Mussolini’s rise to power in the 1920’s served as a
model for ambitious strongmen elsewhere in
Europe
Rise of Mussolini
• Italians were upset after the Peace of Paris, they
had been promised land to join the allies and
now that land became the country of Yugoslavia
• Peasants seized land, workers went on strike or
seized factories, the country was in chaos
• Veterans had no jobs after defending their
country at war
• Trade declined and taxes rose
• The government broke into factions, small
groups, and was unable to come to any
agreement on how to solve the problems.
A Leader Emerges
• Benito Mussolini who was the son of a
socialist blacksmith and a teacher had
been a socialist him self but rejected
those beliefs for intense nationalism, he
became the new voice of the Italians
• He organized the Fascist party in 1919,
made up of veterans and discontented
citizens
• Fascist comes from the Latin word fasces or
a bundle of sticks wrapped around an ax, a
symbol of authority in ancient Rome.
•A fiery speaker he promised to end corruption and replace turmoil
with order
•Spoke of reviving Roman greatness pledging to turn the
Mediterranean into a “Roman Lake” once again
Seizing Power
• Mussolini’s supporters were called Black
Shirts they were organized into “combat
squads” which broke up socialist rallies,
smashed leftist presses, and attacked
farmers’ cooperatives
• By intimidation and terror these gangs
ousted officials in Northern Italy
• Most citizens accepted these thug groups
because they had lost all faith in the
government
In 1922 at a rally in Naples the Fascists called for a “March on Rome” to
demand changes, 10’s of thousands answered the call and King Victor
Emmanuel III fearing Civil War asked Mussolini to form a new government
Benito Mussolini becomes Prime Minister
Without a shot fired Mussolini had achieved an appointment from the king
and went around any constitution the country currently had
Mussolini’s Italy
• By 1925 Mussolini had taken the title of
IL DUCE “the leader”
–
–
–
–
He suppressed rival political parties
Censored the press
Rigged Elections
Replaced elected officials with Fascists
Italy supposedly remained a constitutional
monarchy but it was really a dictatorship controlled
by terror
Critics were thrown in jail, forced into exile, or even
murdered
Secret police and propaganda strengthened the
hold Mussolini had on Italy
Mussolini’s Italy
POLITICAL
STRUCTURE
By 1925, Mussolini had assumed the
title Il Duce, “The Leader.”
In theory, Italy remained a
parliamentary monarchy. In fact, it
became a dictatorship upheld by
terror.
The Fascists relied on secret police
and propaganda.
ECONOMIC
POLICY
Mussolini brought the economy under
state control.
Unlike socialists, Mussolini preserved
capitalism.
Workers received poor wages and were
forbidden to strike.
SOCIAL
POLICIES
The individual was unimportant
except as a member of the state.
Men were urged to be ruthless
warriors.
Women were called on to produce
more children.
Fascist youth groups toughened
children and taught them to obey
strict military discipline.
What Is Fascism?
In the 1920s and 1930s, fascism meant different
things in different countries. All forms of fascism,
however, shared some basic features:
• extreme nationalism
• glorification of action, violence, discipline, and, above
all, blind loyalty to the state
• rejection of Enlightenment faith in reason and the
concepts of equality and liberty
• rejection of democratic ideas
– Believed democracy led to corruption and weakness
– Emphasized emotion and the need to the citizen to serve the
state
• pursuit of aggressive foreign expansion
• glorification of warfare as a necessary and noble
struggle for survival
Compared to Communism
• Fascists were sworn enemies of socialists and
communists
• Communists wanted internal changes, Fascists
wanted more land and a stronger homeland
• Communists were supported by the working
class and poor Fascists by the rich and middle
class
• Similarities between the two groups were the
idea of new social programs, Dictators imposed
totalitarian governments, and in both the leaders
claimed to rule out of national interests
Totalitarian Rule
• Italy was the first Totalitarian state, which became a
model for other states, even though rule by Mussolini
was not as absolute or as brutal as by Stalin in the
USSR and Hitler in Germany
•There were 6 basic features of totalitarian rule
•Single party dictatorship
•State control of economy
•Use of police spies and terror to enforce rules
•Strict censorship of media
•Use of schools and media to indoctrinate
and mobilize citizens
•Unquestioning obedience to a single leader
Appeal
• Why did FASCISM appeal to Italians?
–
–
–
–
It promised a strong, stable government
An end to political feuding
Revival of National pride
Mussolini showed power and confidence in a time of
disorder and despair
• At first IL DUCE was respected by foreign countries
“he got the trains running of time” made chaos into
an ordered, disciplined society
• After Mussolini started to call for military action, and
the increasing of the size of Italy, world powers saw
Mussolini for what he was!!!!
Looking Ahead
• After World War I three systems of government
competed for influence in Europe
– Democracy like in Britain and France
– Communism in Russia
– Fascism in Italy
• Fascism with its chest-pumping calls for action,
national unity, and dedication to the state ignited
patriotic feelings, as the Great Depression
spread other nations looked to leaders that
preached fascism
Section 4
and the Rise of NAZI Germany
• What problems did the Weimar Republic face?
• How did Hitler come to power?
• What political, social, economic, and cultural
policies did Hitler pursue?
• How did Hitler take action against German
Jews?
Setting the Scene
• In November 1923, a German army veteran and
leader of an extremist party, Adolf Hitler, tried to
follow Mussolini's example. His brown-shirted
thugs burst into a beer hall in Munich, where a
political meeting was set to start. Hitler climbed
onto a table and fired his pistol. “The National
Socialist revolution has begun!” he shouted.
• The coup failed, and Hitler was soon behind
bars. But Hitler was a force that could not be
ignored forever. Within a decade, he made a
new bid for power. This time, he succeeded by
legal means.
The Weimar Republic
4
• As WWI ended Germany was in trouble, almost
chaos at home. The Kaiser abdicated and the
new democratic government signed the
armistice and then under protest the Treaty of
Versailles
• In 1919 the Weimer Republic was created at
Weimer Germany. It was a constitutional
democracy with a parliamentary system led by a
Chancellor.
• The new government gave women the right to
vote and included a Bill of Rights
Struggles of the Republic
• The Weimar republic was weak from the start,
like France the government had many small
parties and to have control the Chancellor had to
build coalitions
• Both sides plastered the Democratic socialists in
the middle with demands
– The communists wanted reforms like those in the
USSR
– The conservatives attacked the government as too
weak
– Everyone blamed the Weimar Republic for the treaty
of Versailles and reparations
– Many people looked to scapegoats to blame, the
Jews
Inflation
• Economic problems didn’t help the Republic
• After Germany fell behind in payments to France,
France seized and occupied the Ruhr Valley, with
vast deposits of coal
• Germans resisted by refusing to work
• The Republic printed more money which caused
inflation
– An item that cost 100 marks in July 1922 cost 944,000
marks in August 1923
– Bread cost 10s of thousands of marks!
• Runaway inflation spread misery and despair,
even though wages rose they could not keep up
with costs, most lost everything they had saved
Recovery and Collapse
• The Republic eventually brought inflation
under control with the help of the United
States and the lessening of reparations
payments
• Then the Great Depression hit and all was
lost in Germany.
• Germans turned to an energetic leader
Adolf Hitler, who promised to solve the
problems and return Germany to
greatness.
Adolf Hitler
• Born in 1889 in Austria the son of a
minor customs official and a
peasant girl a poor student who
didn’t complete high school
• Applied to the Vienna Fine Arts
academy but was rejected for
lack of talent
• Stayed in Vienna until 1913 living off an orphan’s
pension and then selling some pictures he drew.
• In Vienna he developed anti-Jewish and antidemocratic beliefs, had an admiration for the
outstanding individual, and a contempt for the
masses
Adolf Hitler cont.
• Hitler moved to Germany and then
joined the German army during
World War I
• He never was promoted above the
rank of private 1st class because his
superiors thought him lacking in
leadership qualities
• After the war he joined the
nationalist German Worker’s party
and in 1920 went to work full time
for the party now known as the NAZI
party.
Mein Kampf
• While in prison Hitler wrote a book titled “Mein
Kampf” translated to “my struggle” it reflected
Hitler's obsessions:
–
–
–
–
Extreme Nationalism
Racism
Anti-Semitism
A Master Race of “Aryans” light skinned Europeans
whose greatest enemy was the Jews
• He believed Jews were not a religion but a race
anyone with one grandparent that was Jewish was a
Jew to Hitler
• He claimed that Germany had not lost the war
but had been betrayed by Marxists, Jews,
corrupt politicians, and business leaders
• Hitler urged Germans to unite and gain
Lebensraum or living space.
• He believed Germany needed a strong leader
and that he was that Fuhrer
The Road to Power
• Hitler served less than a year in prison, on
release he returned to his speech giving
• People listened and followed Hitler
because of the depression and
unemployment
• The Nazi party soon had over a million
members, appealing to workers, the lower
middle classes, small-town Germans, and
business people.
• Hitler promised to end reparations, create
jobs, and defy the treaty of Versailles by
rebuilding the military
• The Republic government was divided,
and the Nazis and Communists won seats
in the Reichstag, the conservative leaders
turned to Hitler even though they despised
him, because they thought they could
control him
The Road to Power cont.
• Hitler was elected chancellor in
1933
• Within a year he was master of
Germany, he suspended civil
rights, destroyed the socialists and
communists, and disbanded other
political parties.
• Germany became a one party
state, Nazi flags waved across the
country replacing the Weimer
Republic flags.
• Hitler purged his own party, by
brutally executing Nazis he
believed were not loyal
• Hitler demanded unquestioning
obedience
4
The Third Reich
POLITICAL POLICIES
ECONOMIC POLICIES
Hitler repudiated, or rejected, the
hated Treaty of Versailles.
Hitler launched a large public works
program.
Hitler organized a system of terror,
repression, and totalitarian rule.
Hitler began to rearm Germany, in
violation of the Versailles treaty.
SOCIAL POLICIES
CULTURAL POLICIES
The Nazis indoctrinated young
people with their ideology.
School courses and textbooks were
written to reflect Nazi racial views.
Hitler spread his message of
racism.
The Nazis sought to purge, or purify,
German culture.
The Nazis sought to limit
women’s roles.
Hitler sought to replace religion with
his racial creed.
4
Hitler’s Campaign Against the Jews
Hitler set out to drive Jews from Germany.
In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws placed severe restrictions on
Jews. Jews could:
No longer marring non-Jews etc.
No longer teach non-Jews
Not hold government jobs, practice law, or publish books
Many German Jews fled Germany and sought refuge in other
countries.
In 1938, Nazi-led mobs attacked Jewish communities all over
Germany in what came to be called Kristallnacht, or the “Night
of Broken Glass.”
Hitler sent tens of thousands of Jews to concentration
camps, detention centers for civilians considered enemies of
the state.
Hitler planned the “final solution”—the extermination of all
Jews.
Work will make you Free
Work Frees
Work Clears