World After World War I
Download
Report
Transcript World After World War I
World After World War I
A Look at the World Post 1918
What was the world like politically
after WWI?
• Colonies’ participated in the war, which increased
demands for independence
– Mass amounts of colonial nationalism and resistance to
imperial rule begins
• End of the Russian Imperial, Ottoman, German, and
Austro-Hungarian empires
– Eastern Europe looks much different now
• Enormous cost of the war in lives, property, and
social disruption
– Hurts the political power of European nations
The Mandate System
• During World War I, Great Britain and France agreed to
divide large portions of the Ottoman Empire in the
Middle East between themselves.
• After the war, the “mandate system” gave Great Britain
and France control over the lands that became Iraq,
Transjordan, and Palestine (British control) and Syria and
Lebanon (French control).
• The division of the Ottoman Empire through the
mandate system planted the seeds for future conflicts in
the Middle East.
Map of Mandates in Middle East
Dawes Plan
*Americans are lending money
to the Germans to repay reparations
*Americans are owed money from
Britain and France for WWI debts
•French and British receive
reparations payments from Germany
•French and British repay debts to
US with money from Germany
•Germans receive
money from US
to repay reparations
•Germans give money
to France and Britain
for WWI reparations
Global Depression
• Causes (Starts in the US)
- high protective tariffs (taxes on imports)
- German Reparations Payments (Refer to
Dawes Plan)
- excessive expansion of credit (too much,
too fast)
- expansion of production capacities
- dominance of U.S. in world market (US
falls, so does everyone else… like
dominos)
- 1929 stock market crash (Starts in the
US)
•
“Black Tuesday” - October 29th 1929
– Stock Market (New York Stock Exchange- NYSE)
Crashes
What happened after the stock market
crashed?
• Effects
– high unemployment
– bank failures
– collapse of credit
– collapse of prices
– economic turmoil leads to unstable governments
– runaway inflation (hyper inflation)
** Economies crash when people lose
confidence in the markets**
How was the world
affected
economically?
• Hits the rest of the world
too (global depression)
– Unemployment reaches
new heights (1932)
• Ex – US – 24%
– Great Britain – 22.5%
– Germany – 30%
– Italy – 20.5%
What was Happening in France after WWI
• France won but…
– Land destroyed in north
– Large number of dead young men
– Economy weakened severely
• Problems for France
– High Prices - inflation
– US debt – debt plus high interest
– Maginot Line – huge military expense
• Leads to social unrest in country**
Destruction
of French
Cities and
Land
Maginot Line –
system of detailed
trenches built by
the French
What is happening in Britain after the War?
• Britain’s problems
– High Debt just like with France
– Outdated industrial technology
– High tariffs worldwide hurt British trade
• Britain’s Labor issues
– After War many people unemployed
• 24% in 1921
• British slowly losing control of its Empire
– Its colonies are fighting for independence and
there is not much Britain can do
India Rebellion
• Britain relied on its empire to get
support for WWI
– promised to give more self government
rights to colonies
• India - led by Mahatma Gandhi
– Both British and Indians are split on issue
– passive resistance (boycott goods/refuse
taxes)
• British try to repress it – leads moderates
to join nationalist
• True independence wont happen until
1947
British empire losses continued…
• Middle East – Arabs feel
betrayed by West
– Gave independence to Iraq and
Jordan (kept mil. presence)
– Had an issue with Palestine though –
promised to both the Arabs and the
Jews
• “Zionism” = desire for a Jewish
homeland (in Israel)
• Balfour Declaration (1917)
– Statement made by the British saying that
they desired to create a Jewish homeland in
Palestine (modern day Israel)
– Realized that both (Palestinians and Jewish
People) cannot live side by side though… big
problem in the future
British Empire after WWI
• British give independence to four other colonies in 1931
– “British Commonwealth of Nations”
• South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia
– What do all these areas have in common?
What is going on in China?
• Remember the Boxer Rebellion…
• New nationalist movement started
– Kuomintang – leader is Sun Yixian
• Industrialize, modernize and unify country
– 1912 – Qing Dynasty overthrown
• China becomes a republic (early years unstable though)
• 1925 Sun Yixian dies and Chiang Kai-shek takes over
nationalist party (more of a dictator)
– Military campaign to unite country (successful)
• Another group arises out of the nationalist party
– Chinese Communist Party (founded in 1921) *Shanghai*
– Splits nationalist party into two (Kai-shek tries to suppress
communist though)
Sun Yixian
Chiang Kai-shek
Communist come to power in China
• Inspired by Russian revolution and ideas of Marx
and Lenin
– Wanted to free country from foreign dependence and
backwardness
– Kai-shek wanted to eliminate communist
• 1927 – Communist executions in Shanghai
– Kai-shek continues trying to eliminate communist
– Long March – 100,000 communist marched 6,000
miles for over a year
• Constantly chased by Kai-shek and nationalist troops
• A new leader arises from this march – Moa Zedong
Mao Zedong’s rise to power
• Mao is born in south east china
• Believes that Chinese peasants
are the key to starting
communist revolution
– Opposed idea that proletariats had
to start it
• Starts gathering peasant support
in eastern China
– Listens to peasant demands and
helps reform their lives
– Fights Nationalist troops and starts
civil war
– Civil War is stopped by oncoming of
WWII and threat of Japan
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created in
1922.
Ukraine
Transcaucasian Region
Russia
Belarus
1918: Lenin Begins to
Change Russian Society
Treaty with Germany cedes
land in exchange for peace.
All industry nationalized.
Independent labor unions
banned.
Grain requisitions: armed
officials seize grain from
farmers to feed the poor.
Housing space seized and
distributed.
"Comrade Lenin Cleanses the Earth of Filth"
Communist poster, 1920
Leninism: The Telescoping of History
Karl Marx, considered the father of communism, wrote that history
proceeds through distinct stages: feudalism, capitalism, imperialism,
etc. Only after going through these stages, Marx thought, could society
advance to communism.
Lenin argued that under the right circumstances, such as those of
Russia in 1917, the intermediate steps could be skipped.
Marx wrote about the dictatorship of the
proletariat, a period in which the working class
would govern society while the ultimate classless
society of communism was developed.
To Lenin, the dictatorship of the proletariat
meant that a small group of dedicated individuals
would lead society forcefully so that the
groundwork could be laid for the future ideal
society.
Worldwide Appeal of Communism
Russia was the first country to attempt to put the theory of
socialism into practice.
Many workers and intellectuals around the world thought that at
last there was a chance to overcome the inequality and
exploitation of market capitalism and build a society in which
everyone was respected and cared for.
Communist parties emerged in the U.S. and
Europe, and also in Asia, Africa and Latin
America, where many countries suffered from
poverty and the remnants of colonialism.
Maoist demonstration, Nepal
Leon Trotsky
Trotsky was a key figure in the
Russian Revolution, second
only to Lenin.
From 1918 to 1925, he was
People's Commissar for Army
and Navy Affairs and
commander of the Red Army.
When Lenin died in 1924, Trotsky was widely expected to
assume leadership of the country. Instead, that role went to
Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Central Committee.
As leader of the Left Opposition, Trotsky opposed Stalin. He was
purged from the Communist Party in 1927 and exiled in 1928.
From exile, he continued to oppose Stalin and Stalinism.
Trotsky was assassinated by Stalinists in 1940 at his home in
Mexico City.
Lenin, Trotsky and soldiers
of the Red Army, 1921
"Have you signed
up as a volunteer?"
Civil war recruitment
poster
Coat of Arms
of the Soviet
Union
War Communism and
the New Economic Policy
From 1918 through 1921, the Bolsheviks implemented
radical economic changes. Under "War Communism,"
all industry was nationalized, private enterprise was
made illegal, and economic planning was centralized.
The results were disastrous for the Russian economy
and led to a major famine in 1921.
In 1921, Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy
(NEP). The state retained control of banking and major
industries, but small business ventures were allowed,
farmers were allowed to sell surplus production, and
trade restrictions were loosened.
"We are not civilized enough for socialism," Lenin said.
In 1929, Stalin abolished the NEP.
Famine of 1921-1922
Causes:
Disruption of
agricultural
production by
WWI, the
revolution and
the civil war.
War Communism
economic policy.
Drought of 1921.
Results:
Approximately five million deaths.
Permanent Revolution vs.
Communism in One Country
Lenin believed that the Russian Revolution was
merely the first step in a worldwide workers’
revolution.
Trotsky believed that the Russian Revolution
could only succeed in the context of permanent
worldwide revolution.
Stalin believed that the opportunity for
worldwide revolution had passed, and that the
USSR should concentrate on building communism
in one country.
Stalin Creates a Totalitarian State
Instituted one-man rule.
Eliminated/murdered
political opposition.
Used secret police and
informers to spread terror
and insure obedience.
Ordered massive
deportations and
executions.
Extended state control
over every aspect of Soviet
society.
Stalin’s Soviet Union
Communism under Stalin
• Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin died shortly after Communist Soviet Union formed,
1924
• Joseph Stalin became new Soviet leader after struggle for power
Different Approach
• Karl Marx predicted state would wither away under communism
• Stalin took different approach, worked to return Soviet Union to totalitarian state,
controlling all Soviet life
The Five-Year Plans
• Major part of Stalin’s plan to strengthen communism, modernization of economy
• First Five-Year Plan began 1928, factories and mines had production goals
Stalin’s Soviet Union
5-Year Plans reflected Soviet system of central planning
• Government makes major decisions about production of goods
• Differs from capitalist economic system, where market forces
are major influences on production
• Plans did lead to increases in Soviet industrial output
• During first two Five-Year Plans, oil production doubled, coal
and steel production quadrupled
• Demands on Soviet workers were high
Stalin’s Soviet Union
Political Purges
• Stalin, absolute power, but feared people plotting against him
• Began campaign called Great Purge, to get rid of people, things undesirable
• During Great Purge, thousands executed, sent to the Gulag
Totalitarian Rule
• Stalin’s regime dominated Soviet life
• Children encouraged to join youth organizations, taught attitudes, beliefs
• Religion discouraged, churches closed
Cult of Personality
• Portraits of Stalin decorated public places, creating heroic, idealized image
• Streets, towns renaming in Stalin’s honor, created cult of personality
• By ruthlessly removing opposition, Stalin gained stranglehold over society
Collectivization and Famine
Increase Farm Input
• Stalin believed millions of small,
individually owned Soviet farms would
be more productive if combined into
larger, mechanized farms
• Combining small farms called
collectivization
• Stalin tried to take land back given to
peasants after Russian Revolution
Peasant Reaction
• Peasants resisted, Stalin responded
violently
• Executed thousands, sent more to
Siberian system of labor camps, called
the Gulag
• Resistance continued, particularly in
the Ukraine
• Stalin refused to send food during
1932 famine; millions starved to death
USSR during the interwar years
• 1922 – USSR is founded with Lenin as leader
– New Economic Policy (NEP) – attempt to allow
some free enterprise
• Collective Farming – get peasants to combine efforts on
farmland
• 1924 – Lenin dies – power struggle afterwards
– Leon Trotsky vs. Joseph Stalin
– By 1928 – Stalin wins and Trotsky is exiled
• 1940 – Trotsky killed in Mexico on Stalin’s orders
Russia under Stalin
• Economy – ends NEP program
– Command Economy – gov’t controls all decisions
• Five Year Plan – ambitious growth plan
– 1st one in 1928
– Forced collective farming on peasants
• 90% of farmland turned into collective farming
– Agriculture dips sharply (millions die from famine and crop failure)
– The economy grows overall though
• 2nd Five Year Plan (1933) – more ambitious
–
–
–
–
USSR still grows as industrial country
People suffer many hardships though – scarce food and consumer goods
Life does not improve for regular citizens
USSR only cares about growth of industry though (best for country)
Government under Stalin
• Politburo (Political Bureau) runs government in
Russia (Stalin controls them)
– near absolute authority
• Uses fear to control people of USSR
– He is a dictator (one of the worst)
• Government represses religion
– Take all religious property, close churches, imprison
or execute church officials
• Government represses art, music, and writing
– Only “Socialist Realism” allowed (Soviet
propaganda)
The Great Purge
• 1934 – important communist official is
assassinated
– Stalin responds with purge of anyone he thinks is
an enemy of Communist efforts
– Starts in the Communist Party and then moves on
to rest of population
• Anyone who questions Stalin will either be
exiled, imprisoned, put into labor camps or
killed
– By 1939 he had supposedly gotten rid of 5 million
of his own people (killed, exiled, or imprisoned)
Mussolini’s Italy
After World War I, new ideas about government power promoted by Benito
Mussolini led to drastic change in the Italian government.
Fascist Ideology
Mussolini in Power
• Mussolini wanted to build a great,
glorious Italian empire
• Fascists significant force in Italian
politics, 1922
• Founded National Fascist Party, 1919
• Mussolini wanted more, wanted to
rule Italy
– from Latin fasces, Roman symbol
for unity, strength
– Fascism, authoritarian form of
government
– Good of nation above all else
• Called March on Rome
• Show of force convinced Italy’s king
to put Mussolini at head of
government
• Mussolini moved to establish
dictatorship
Mussolini’s Italy
Mussolini not satisfied merely with political control
• Used threats, violence, political skill to outlaw all opposition
• Tried to influence Italians’ thoughts, feelings, behaviors
– Government attempt to control all aspects of life, totalitarianism
– Used propaganda to promote Italy’s greatness
– Established festivals, holidays to remind Italians of proud Roman
heritage
Invasion of Ethiopia
• Mussolini set out to make Italy strong military power
• Looked for easy target, settled on Ethiopia
• Ethiopia had two serious disadvantages, located between two Italian colonies,
military ill-equipped; Italian forces crushed Ethiopia, 1935
League of Nations
• Ethiopian leader Haile Selassie appealed to League to take action against Italy’s
aggression
• No nation willing to get involved, to risk another world war
• League placed economic sanctions on Italy, took no real action
Hitler’s Germany
Germany underwent great changes after World War I. Like Mussolini and Stalin,
Germany’s Adolph Hitler rose to power during a time of conflict and political
instability.
Postwar Germany
• Germany formed new
republican government,
Weimar Republic
• Extremely unpopular
• Germans blamed it for
humiliating Versailles
Treaty
Economy
• Blamed Weimar
Republic for economic
problems
• Inflation soared
• German mark virtually
worthless
• Savings wiped out
• Depression brought
more chaos
Hitler’s Early Career
• Born Austria 1889
• Served in German army
World War I
• Soon joined Nazi Party
• Discovered he had
knack for public
speaking, leadership
Hitler’s Germany
Search for power
Mein Kampf
• Became key figure in Nazi party
• Wrote book while in prison
• Wanted greater power
• “My Struggle” described major
political ideas
• Attempted overthrow of government,
arrested, imprisoned, 1923
Hitler gains power
• Nationalism, racial superiority of
German people, Aryans
Promises
• Continued to try to gain power after
released from prison
• Germans desperate for strong leader
to improve lives
• Economic effects of Great Depression
helped cause
• Promised to rebuild military
• Talk of mighty German empire, master
race, won supporters
Hitler’s Germany
•
•
•
•
•
Nazi Party Gains Strength
Many Germans wanted to believe Hitler’s words were true
Nazis continued to gain strength in early 1930s
Most popular of many German political parties
Hitler appointed as chancellor, 1933
Most powerful post in German government
Hitler Controls Germany
Hitler’s Programs
• Began to crush opposition
• Began to rebuild German military
• Many opponents arrested, others
intimidated by Nazi thugs
• Cult of personality built up glorifying
Hitler as the Führer, “leader”
• Nazi youth organizations shaped minds
of young Germans
• Improved German economy
• Strict wage controls, massive
government spending, reduced
unemployment
• Much spending for rearmament
• Also new public buildings, roads
Hitler’s Germany
Nazis mounted more direct attacks on Jews
•
November 9 and 10, 1938, anti-Jewish riots across Germany,
Austria
•
Attack known as Kristallnacht, Night of Broken Glass
–
Nearly 100 Jews killed
–
Thousands of Jewish businesses, places of worship damaged,
destroyed
•
Greater horrors yet to come
•
Hitler’s Germany about to lead world into history’s bloodiest
war
Nazi Anti-Semitism
A key component of the Nazi system was strong anti-Semitic beliefs. Anti-Semitism is
hostility toward or prejudice against Jews. Hitler blamed Jews for many of German’s
problems, including its defeat in World War I.
Long History
Laws Excluding Jews
• Anti-Semitism had long history in
largely Christian Europe
• Nazi anti-Semitism combined this with
false beliefs that Jews were separate
race
• Combined religious prejudice with
hatred based on ancestry
• Many laws passed excluding Jews from
mainstream German life
• 1935 Nuremberg Laws created
separate legal status for Jews
• Eliminated citizenship, civil and
property rights
• Right to work was limited
Nuremberg Laws defined a person as Jewish based on ancestry of grandparents—not
religious beliefs.