World History Chapter 24 The West Between the

World History Chapter 24 The West Between the Wars 1919 - 1939

Section 1: The Futile Search for Stability Objectives • Explain why peace and prosperity were short-lived after World War I • Describe how a global economic depression weakened the Western democracies after 1929

I. Uneasy Peace, Uncertain Security • New Boundaries & new states • Nations unhappy • Border disputes in Eastern Europe • Germans wanted to revise the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

A. A Weak League of Nations • Not very effective in maintaining peace • Problem: Failure of the U. S. to join the league • Automatically weakened the organization’s effectiveness

B. French Demands • • Desire for security Reparations 1921, German makes its first payment Financial problems, unable to pay any more • France sends troops into the Ruhr Valley, Germany’s chief industrial and mining center

C. Inflation in Germany • Germany prints more money • This only added to the inflation (rise in prices) • German mark soon became worthless • Workers used wheelbarrows to carry home their weekly pay

C. Inflation in Germany • 1924, The Dawes Plan reduced German reparations & coordinated annual payments with its ability to pay • $200 million dollar loan to open the door to heavy American investment • Brief period of prosperity (1924 -1929)

D. The Treaty of Locarno • 1925, Treaty of Locarno guaranteed Germany’s new western borders with France & Belgium • New Era of European Peace • “France & Germany Ban War Forever” • “Peace at Last” • Germany joined the League of Nations

D. The Treaty of Locarno • Treaty based on little real substance • Promises were worthless without enforcement • Nations did not reduce their military

II. The Great Depression • Economic collapse, known as the Great Depression • Depression, a period of low economic activity and rising unemployment

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A. Causes of the Depression • 1. Series of downturns in the economies of individual nations in the second half of the 1920’s • Ex. Prices for farm products, esp. wheat, were falling rapidly because of overproduction • 2. international financial crises involving the U. S. stock market

A. Causes of the Depression • Oct. 1929, the U. S. stock market crashed, and the prices of stocks plunged • In a panic, U. S. investors withdrew even more money from Germany & other European markets • Industrial production was declining & unemployment was rising

B. Responses to the Depression • Britain 1 and 4 unemployed • 6 million Germany’s or 40% of labor force were out of work • Governments did not know how to deal with the crisis • Cut costs by lowering wages & raising tariffs to exclude foreign goods from home markets • This made the economic crisis worse

During the Great Depression, many people had to resort to desperate measures

B. Responses to the Depression • Increased government activity in the economy • Goes against Laissez faire tradition • Renewed interest in Marxist doctrines • Communism became more popular • Led masses to follow political leaders who offered simple solutions

III. Democratic States after the War • Women were rewarded for their contributions to the war effort by granting them voting rights • Return to normalcy was difficult

A. Germany • Germany is no longer an empire or ruled by William II, now known as the Weimar Republic. • Many problems with the Republic including no strong political leaders and economic problems. • The Great Depression also affects Germany. • *Depression led to the fear and rise of extremist parties.

B. France • Also affected by the depression, but not as bad until 1932. • This led to political chaos, six different cabinets in 19 months. • The Popular Front government is formed and they start the French New Deal.

B. France • The French New Deal gave workers the right to Collective bargaining, the right of unions to negotiate a 40 hour workweek, 2 week paid vacation, min. wage. • Popular Front’s policies fail and there is little confidence in the political system.

C. Great Britain • Many of the markets are lost to US and Japan leading to unemployment. • John Maynard Keynes believed that the gov’t should interfere in solving the depression, unlike the old theory (Laissez faire) • Wrote General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. • He believed in Deficit spending, a belief that the gov’t should spend money to get out of a depression even if it means going into debt by putting people to work.

D. The United States • The US is hit the hardest by the depression, more than 12 million were unemployed in 1933. • President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) knew the capitalist system had to be reformed. • His New Deal (or active gov’t intervention) increased public works that employed about 3 million people. • Bridges, roads, post offices, and airports are built because of the New Deal and its programs like the WPA.

FDR http: //teachpol. tcnj. edu/amer_pol_hist/fi/0000015 f. jpg

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D. The United States • Social Security for the elderly and the unemployed. • The New Deal prevents social chaos unlike the European nations, but does not fix the depression. • In 1938, more than 10 million people are still unemployed. • Not until War World II and the growth of weapons industry does the US get out of the Depression.

people standing in a line free food They are out of work and have no money to buy food.

Section 2: The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes • Objectives • Characterize the modern totalitarian state established by Mussolini • Report how Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union, eliminated people who threatened his power

I. The Rise of Dictators • *Totalitarian state is a government that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens. • Power of the Central State • Wanted passive obedience • Conquer the minds & hearts of their subjects

I. The Rise of Dictators • Mass propaganda & modern communication • Single leader & a single party • Rejected limited government power & individual freedoms • “collective will of the masses” • Determined by the leader • Active involvement of the massess

II. Fascism in Italy • Early 1920’s, *Benito Mussolini fascist ruler of Italy • *Fascism, glories the state above the individual by emphasizing the need for a strong central government led by a dictatorial ruler. • People are controlled by the government & any opposition is suppressed

Benito Mussolini http: //www. parida. com/img/benito. gif

A. Rise of Fascism • • • Economic problems Inflation Industrial & agricultural workers strike Fear of Communism & Socialism Black-shirts, armed Fascists attacked socialist offices & newspapers • Used violence to break up strikes

A. Rise of Fascism • Industrialist & large landowners supported Mussolini’s Fascist movement • He demanded more land for Italy • Mussolini threatened to march on Rome, if not given more power • King makes Mussolini Prime Minister • Created new laws, suspended publications, increased police powers

A. Rise of Fascism • By 1926, the Fascists had outlawed all other political parties • Mussolini now known as “Il Duce” (eel DOO*chay), “The Leader”

B. The Fascist State • Created a secret police, OVRA to watch citizens, but not as savage as Hitler’s • Control over most media to spread propaganda • Used simple slogans in the media • “Mussolini is Always Right” • Youth groups were used to promote ideals

B. The Fascist State • Although the Fascists tried to make Italian citizens disciplined, and warloving, they still kept their traditional values – Ex. Women were the pillars of the state, but as homemakers and mothers. • Mussolini never achieved the status that Hitler did with his Germany. – Ex. Victor Emmanuel still kept his kingship.

III. A New Era in the Soviet Union • Lenin followed a policy of war communism • Peasants began to sabotage the communist program • Drought caused a great famine between 1920 & 1922, 5 million lives were lost • Industrial output decreased to 1913 levels

A. Lenin’s New Economic Policy • Lenin abandoned war communism in favor of his *New Economic Policy (NEP), a modified version of the old capitalist system. • Peasants allowed to sell their produce, retail stores & small industries could be privately owned & operated • Heavy industry, banking & mines remained in the hands of the government

A. Lenin’s New Economic Policy • 1922, a new Communist state called the *Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR or Soviet Union was created. • NEP saved the Soviet Union from complete economic disaster, but threatened the goals of the communism

B. The Rise of Stalin • Lenin dies in 1924, a struggle for power began • Leon Trotsky vs. Joseph Stalin • *Politburo, a committee that had become the leading policy-making body of the Communist Party • Stalin used his post as general secretary of the Politburo to gain complete control of the Communist Party

Joseph Stalin http: //library. usu. edu/Specol/digitalexhibits/masaryk/images/stalin. jpg

B. The Rise of Stalin • By 1929, Stalin had eliminated from the Politburo the Bolsheviks of the revolutionary era and had established a dictatorship. • Trotsky was expelled in 1927 • Murdered in 1940, probably on Stalin’s orders

C. Five-Year Plans • 1928, *Five-Year Plans, set of economic goals emphasized maximum production of capital goods (heavy machines) & armaments • 1928 to 1937 double & quadrupled production • Little provision for caring of labor force • Housing declined, pitiful living conditions, real wages declined, movement limited

C. Five-Year Plans • *Collectivization, private farmers were eliminated, government owned all of the land while the peasants worked it. • Strong resistance to plan, peasants hoarded crops & killed livestock • By 1934, 26 million farms had been collectivized

D. Costs of Stalin’s Programs • 10 million died in the famines of 1932 & 1933 • Those who resisted were sent into forced labor camps in Siberia • Purges or removals of the Old Bolsheviks • Put on trial and condemned to death

D. Costs of Stalin’s Programs • Purged army officers, diplomats, union officials, party members, intellectuals, and numerous ordinary citizens • 8 million Russians were arrested • Millions sent to forced labor camps (Gulag) in Siberia, from which they never returned • Others were executed

596 They did not have as much power as higher officials. probably because records of the executions were not kept, and numbers could not be released while Stalin was alive

D. Costs of Stalin’s Programs • Equal rights for women • Divorce process easier • Women encouraged to work outside the home • Family values, hard work, duty, discipline to their children • Divorced fathers who did not support their children were heavily fined

IV. Authoritarian States in the West • Western world were not totalitarian but were authoritarian • Use of police powers • Create a new kind of mass society, but to preserve the existing social order

A. Eastern Europe • New states of Eastern Europe • Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary • All adopted parliamentary systems, but soon replaced by authoritarian regimes

A. Eastern Europe • Why did the Parliamentary systems failed in E. Europe? – Not used to it, a rural & agrarian society, illiteracy, ethnic problems • Landowners, the church, some middle class turned to authoritarian gov’ts to keep the old system. • Czechoslovakia only one to maintain political democracy.

B. Spain • *Francisco Franco, led a revolt against the democratic gov’t in 1936 and the Spanish Civil War began. • Aided by Italy and German with arms, money, and men. • Hitler helped Franco so he could test his air force.

Francisco Franco

B. Spain • Spanish Republican party aided by the Soviet Union with trucks, volunteers, tanks, and military advisers. • Civil War came to an end with Franco capturing the city of Madrid in 1939 and set up a dictatorship. • Franco’s gov’t not a totalitarian, but an authoritarian because it still allowed traditional groups in people’s lives.