Transcript The West Between the Wars

1919-1929
Define and develop an understanding of the following
terms: disarmament, general strike, overproduction,
finance, totalitarian state, fascism, command economy,
collectives, kulaks, russification, atheism, and
chancellor
Identify the following people, places, and events:
Maginot Line, Kellogg-Briand Pact, Great Depression,
Franklin Roosevelt, New Deal, Black Shirts, Benito
Mussolini, Gulag, Comintern, Ruhr Valley, Third
Reich, Gestapo, Kristallnacht, and Nuremberg Laws
Prosperity and Purchasing Power in the U.S.
1.Expansion of the auto industry
2.Expansion of construction
3.New consumer products
 Electrification of America
 Durable Products
 Non-durable products
4.Introduction of mass advertising
 America’s increasing literacy
 Proliferation of radios
5.Creation of new industries
6.Installment buying
7.Efficiency of production
 Transition from steam power to electric power
 Decrease in per-unit cost of manufactured items
The Coming of the Great Depression
1.Poor Distribution of Income
 1929 1% of U.S. pop. – 60% of nation’s wealth
 Low wages? Corporate profit?
 Corporate profits spent on speculative buying
2.Decline in auto production and construction
3.Technological unemployment
 Increased production but no pay increases
4.Weaknesses in corporate structure
 8,000 businesses disappeared
5.Defects in the banking system
6.Agricultural depression
 overproduction
 1919-1929 income for farmers decline
 inability to pay debts = foreclosures
7. Sick Industries
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Textiles, coal, railroads
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bull market- prices are rising
bear market- prices are falling
marginal buying- 5-10% down on stock
confidence lost
8. Stock Market Crash
*** All of these factors contributed to a
major loss in consumer purchasing
power, facilitating low economic activity
and rising unemployment (economic
depression).
1919-1939
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Europe faced severe economic problems
after World War I, including inflation and the
Great Depression.
Dictatorial regimes began to spread into
Italy, Germany, and across eastern Europe.
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The peace settlement at the end of World War I
created repeated border disputes among new
nations and left many Germans determined to
change the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
Though President Wilson and others hoped that
the League of Nations could solve many of the
new conflicts, the league was not able to
maintain peace.
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The United States never ratified the Treaty of
Versailles and could not become a member of the
League of Nations.
Americans did not want to be involved in European
affairs.
The remaining league members could not agree to
use force against aggression.
The French demanded that the Treaty of Versailles
be strictly enforced.
Germany’s inability to pay back the $33 billion
that was required.
French occupation of the Ruhr Valley
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People suffered under the high inflation.
Economic problems resulted in political unrest in
Germany.
The Dawes Plan began by reducing reparation
payments and coordinating Germany’s payments
with what the nation could afford.
 $200 million loan
 American investments
 economic recovery 1924-1929.
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As Germany began to recover, the French and
Germans became more cooperative.
 Treaty of Locarno, 1925
 German membership in the League of Nations, 1926
 Kellogg-Briand Pact
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While Germany had been forced to reduce its
military, no other European nation was willing to
take this step.
The brief period of European prosperity ended in
1929 with the onset of the Great Depression.
 During a depression there is very low economic
activity and high unemployment.
Two Main Causes for the Great Depression:
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• Economic failures during the second half of the 1920s.
• The collapse of the U.S. stock market in 1929.
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Since 1924, Germany had been borrowing money
from U.S. banks to make reparations payments.
After the stock market crashed, American
investors pulled their money out of Germany.
Responses to the Depression
 Governments did not know how to deal with
the crisis.
 The Depression increased government
activity in the economy.
 It drove new energy into Marxist doctrines.
 The Great Depression created conditions
which led people to follow political leaders
who proposed simple solutions in return for
complete power.
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Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations
 Republican opposition in the House and Senate
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The United States came out of the war in
better condition than its allies.
 No battles on American soil
 Fewer casualties than its allies
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The war and U.S. economy
 The U.S. economy remained strong until 1929
 Debtor to Creditor status
 1920s prosperity and production in the U.S.
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Stock Market Speculation
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Stock Market Crash
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Tuesday, October 29, 1929
Business and bank failures
Drop in sales and production
Wages fell and workers were cut
Massive unemployment
By 1933, ¼ of nation’s workforce unemployed
Dawes Plan
President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New
Deal
 1932, elected on the promised that he would provide a
“new deal” for the American people.
 First Hundred Days
 Restored the nation’s confidence
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Britain’s loss of economic status
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Britain lost its status in world trade
British colonies
Creditor to Debtor status
U.S. and Japan
Britain’s factories were outdated
 U.S. and Japan
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1926 General Strike
1932 ¼ of British were unemployed
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After the war, France was in worse shape than
Britain
 Loss of farmland and forests
 Destruction of villages and cities
 Tremendous casualties
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Severe Economic Problems
 High unemployment and inflation
 Government on the verge of bankruptcy
 Inability to rebuild economic infrastructure
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Bleak Political Picture
Desire to prevent another war
 Locarno Agreements (1925)
 Maginot Line
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Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Party in
Italy
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in
Germany
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Post-war Dissatisfaction
 Empty Allied promises
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Economic Problems
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High debts incurred during the war
Few jobs for returning soldiers
Lack of industrial resources
No markets for products
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b. 1883
Working-class background
Worked as a journalist
Formed the Fascist Party (Fasci di Combattimento) in
1919
Benito Mussolini
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Fascism was a totalitarian form of
government.
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The state had absolute power
Defended private property and class structure
The cause of the nation was most important
War and conquest were considered essential to
achieving nationalistic goals
Mussolini’s rise to power
 Steady degradation of Italy’s economy after the war
 Widespread social unrest throughout Italy (urban and
rural)
 Middle-class worries?
 Mussolini offered reforms to appease all groups
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Mussolini’s promises
 To landowners and the middle-class he promised
to end social unrest and protect private property.
 To workers he promised full employment and
workers benefits.
 To nationalists he promised to restore Italy to its
former greatness.
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Fascism was a major force in Italy by 1921
 The Blackshirts were Mussolini’s followers; they
used violence to deter political opponents and
promote the Fascist Party’s policies
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In 1922, the Fascists invaded Rome
 King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
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Dictatorship in Italy
The end to democratic rule in Italy
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1924 Elections
Mussolini (Il Duce)
Government reorganization
Banned non-fascist parties
Formed syndicates
Fascist Opposition and Support
◦ “The masses must obey. They cannot afford to
waste time searching for the truth.”
Mussolini and Italy
 Reduced Italian unemployment through a
military rebuilding program
 Renewed Italian spirit of nationalism and
patriotism
 Vowed to recapture for Italy the former glory
of ancient Rome
Copy and then answer the following study questions using
pp.891-917 in your textbook.
Who was Benito Mussolini and what kind of state was formed
in Italy under his leadership?
2. How did totalitarian states such as Fascist Italy recruit
supporters and gain power?
3. What was the result of the march on Rome in 1922?
4. What was most important to Fascists?
5. What were some of the basic features that all forms of fascism
shared?
6. Why did fascism appeal to many Italians?
7. In what ways were fascists different from communists and
socialists?
8. Which European states aided Francisco Franco’s army during
the Spanish Civil War?
9. What was the name of Hitler’s political party?
10. Why was Hitler sent to prison in 1923?
11. How did the Nazis gain power in Germany in 1933?
12. What were the Nuremberg Laws?
13. Explain what happened in Germany on November 9, 1938?
1.
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The Weimar Republic
 Germany elected delegates to a national assembly in
1919
 The assembly drafted a constitution that provided for a
democratic republic
 The republic was called the Weimar Republic (19191933)
 Opposition to the newly formed republic?
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Reparations and the Treaty of Versailles
 France and Great Britain demanded payment
 Allied bill for the cost of the war- $35 billion
 Economic problems in Germany. In 1922, Germany
announced that it could not pay.
 French occupation of Germany’s Ruhr Valley (1923)
 German workers went on strike (paid by government)
How did Germany’s government (the
Weimar Republic) plan to meet its growing
expenses?
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Inflation (printing large quantities of money)
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1914, $1 U.S. Dollar = 4 German Marks
1924, $1 U.S. Dollar = 4 trillion German Marks
Dawes Plan (1924)
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Compromise with Allies that eased Germany’s
reparations payments
American loans ushered in a 5-year period of
relative prosperity ( but also created a German
economy dependant on foreign markets)
Nevertheless, discontent still loomed overhead.
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The Rise of Nazism
 The National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP)
or Nazi Party
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Adolf Hitler
b. 1889 in Austria
Early life of Hitler
Veteran of the First World War
Moved to Munich, Germany, after the war and joined
in what became the Nazi Party
 Formed the Brownshirts (Storm Troopers or SA)
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The Beer Hall Putsch (Nov. 8-9, 1923)
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Radical Revolution
Munich, Germany
“The Revolution has begun!”
The coup failed but brought attention to the Nazis
 Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison but served
only nine months
 Mein Kampf
 Denied Germany’s fault in losing the war
 Declared the Germans to be a “master race” (Aryans) with a
destiny to dominate and rule the world
 Hitler as leader of a unified Germany
 After the unsuccessful Beer Hall Putsch Hitler sought
the achieve revolution through legal means (gaining
Nazi votes in the Reichstag)
 Resurge in Nazi popularity in 1929
 1932, Nazi Party gained a majority of votes in the
Reichstag
 January, 1933 President Paul von Hindenburg
appointed Hitler his chancellor (reluctantly)
 The Nazis and Hitler began to rise to power through
legal means
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Hitler’s Rise to Power
 Hitler desired Germany to become a totalitarian state
 Hitler called a new election
 The Burning of the Reichstag Building (blamed on the
Communists)
 1933 Election
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The Jews
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Jews in Germany suffered bitter attacks
Nuremberg Laws, September 15, 1935
Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938
Concentration Camps
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Hitler as Dictator (Der Führer)
 The Third Reich
 Germany’s rearmament
 The provisions of the Treaty of Versailles were ignored
 German factories began to manufacture guns,
ammunition, airplanes, tanks and other weapons
 The press was used (propaganda) to retain support for
the Nazi cause
 Propaganda emphasized a strong military and devotion
to the nation and its leader