The Years Between the Wars
I. Europe recovered from WWI.
1. $200 billion had been spent on the war and nearly every European country was bankrupt. Only the US and Japan came out more financially secure than when they entered the war. European world dominance was over.
2. New democracies rose up in Europe and were very unstable. Austria, Hungary, Germany, France and Italy all had difficulty with democracies. Being ruled for generations by monarchies was hard to overcome as well as a large number of political parties.
3. Coalition governments rose up when temporary alliances were made between political parties to gain a majority. Weak leaders and indecision are prominent and when there are major problems in a country then these weaknesses become prominent.
4. Germany was a prime example. In 1919, the Weimar Republic was established. Too many political parties and a general lack of experience with democratic practices were too much for the Weimar Republic to overcome. They also had been the government in power when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. (Traitors) The government also had SERIOUS economic problems. During the war Germany spent $37 billion but only collected $1.5 billion in taxes so when there was not enough money it was simply printed! In 1918 there was skyrocketing inflation. They blamed the government for the problems of Germany and did not admit that the War was really to blame.
5. Charles Dawes, an American banker and statesman, put into place an economic plan to strengthen the economy of Germany. The Dawes Plan provided a $200 million loan form American banks and set a more realistic goal for reparations repayment. By 1924 the economy was back on its feet and further loans and investments from the US had the factories producing as much as they had in 1913.
6. "The Spirit of Locarno" was decided in 1925 to between Germany, France Belgium, Italy and Great Britain to never again make war between each other and respect each other's borders. In 1928 this spirit led to the Kellogg-Briand peace pact. Frank Kellogg, the American Secretary of State arranged this agreement with France's foreign minister, Briand. This pact pledged to all who signed it that they would "renounce war as an instrument of national policy." Almost every country in the world signed this agreement!
7. An economic boom was on as peace reigned. America was heavily invested in the world market and everything hinged on this nation's ability to stay healthy!
II. Society faced Rapid Change.
1. Because of the war many technological, scientific and medical advances were made very rapidly. These things were hardly set-aside in the postwar years.
2. Automobile: Electric fuel pumps and starters, air-filled tires and more powerful engines all improved the automobile. They were now sleek and appealing to everyone!
3. Air Travel: During the 1920s airplanes were used as airmail letter carriers, aerial shows and people began to take their first airplane rides. In 1919, two British pilots, Alcock & Brown, traveled by air from Newfoundland to Ireland in the first trans-Atlantic flight. In 1927, Charles Lindbergh, an American pilot, made a 33-hour solo flight from New York to Paris. During the 1930s aviation pioneers enthralled the world. Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic.
4. Radio: Marconi's radio from 1895 had its first voice transmission in 1906. The advantage of radio communication in the war was invaluable! By the 1920s radio mania swept the US and many stations broadcast news and shows!
5. Albert Einstein, a German physicist, developed the theory of relativity with respect to the speed of light. He developed the formula E=mc2 and now scientific research was off and running in all directions!! The development of the atom bomb was a direct result of this discovery!
6. Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, developed new ideas about the human mind. He treated people with psychological problems and proposed that many mental illnesses were a direct result of repressed childhood memories. He said that the unconscious was "driven" and unaware of the conscious mind. His theories were often sexually driven.
7. People began to drift into a new way of life. Women did not necessarily look to get married and settle down. Since they had worked in the factories during the War they continued to want to be in the workplace. Many women won the right to vote (suffrage) during the 1920s as well as the right to be equal partners with their husbands. Many young women began to advocate the rights of women to use birth control. Young people were more willing to change than their parents and a huge "generation gap" became evident.
8. New attitudes in art reflected society's doubt about the future. T.S. Eliot, Franz Kafka, James Joyce, and other writers wrote about the horrors of war and uneasiness in the postwar years.
9. The Harlem Renaissance in America spread the American culture to new places. Jazz music was now very popular. Langston Hughes and Claude McKay were some of the best-known writers from this time.
10. In the 1920s many countries produced movies but 90% of all movies came from Hollywood!
11. Americans now turn their political back on the world and to a frame of mind called isolationism. The US still held the economic balance in their hands.
III. Wall Street's crash opened the Depression
1. The entire economic balance of the world hinged on one long street in America. Wall Street. On Thursday, October 24, 1929 the NYSE opened and within an hour the boom of the last 5 years was over. Everyone sold and no one bought. The prices plummeted and by 1:00 PM they were so far behind in recording the sales that no one could get a clear picture of the market. Rumors of business failures and attempted suicides swept the crowd and created an atmosphere of total fear. This day was known as Black Thursday. Billions of dollars in paper wealth vanished into thin air.
2. Within a few months unemployment rates began to rise and while industrial production, wages and prices declined. The Great Depression-long business slump-was underway. Banks, factories, businesses and citizens throughout America were affected by this Depression. Their standard of living decreased sharply.
3. Overproduction and underconsumption were serious economic issues in America. Unemployment rose as prices fell. Most American families were poor and there was a stark difference in the wealthy and poor.
4. Farmers also had a serious problem. Scientific farming methods and equipment increased production in the 1920s. Competition from abroad challenged American farmers for the first time. Surplus crops drove prices and profits down. Loans to farmers could no be paid off and farmers as well as the banks went bankrupt.
5. Stock Speculation was rampant in the 1920s even though there were serious negative economic indicators. Between September 1929 and July 1932 stockholders lost $74 billion. Upper class fortunes were swept away and America psychologically lost all optimism and turned to fear and doubt of the future.
6. American investors and banks called foreign loans crushing the economy of Western Europe. Germany and Austria were particularly hard hit. World manufacturing dropped and a worldwide Depression was rising fast. Democracies were forced to turn attention to the angry people of the world who were unemployed, starving and had no hope of fixing this problem.
7. Roosevelt began the New Deal. He overcame physical and political obstacles and became one of the most beloved and remembered Presidents in history. He set up large public works projects and his program promoted "Relief, Recovery & Reform". He established the Social Security Administration for the elderly. Roosevelt firmly believed in the free-enterprise system and encouraged the government to spend more than it ever had on welfare and relief programs. In order to recover a national debt was incurred for the first time in history.
8. He set up the Securities Exchange Commission to regulate the stock market and organized the FDIC. He was very popular and earned a three-term (12-year) presidency. His political strength as a leader helped America retain faith in their government even though recovery was slow! His "fireside chats" on the radio comforted people and established him as a leader of democracy in a world threatened by ruthless dictators.
9. Britain "muddled through" the Depression by creating a National Government in 1931. This government raised taxes passed high tariffs, regulated currency and lowered interested rates to slowly recover from the Depression. The mood of Britain stayed discouraged even though they had well recovered by 1937 because their leaders were lacking Roosevelt's dynamic style.
10. France was cushioned from the Depression somewhat because they were so agricultural. Even though, unemployment was still very high. The Popular Front was created to avoid France being given to a dictator. They won election in 1936 and passed reforms such as: increased pay, paid holidays, and a 40-hour workweek. However, wage gains could not outweigh price increases so unemployment remained high.
IV. Fascist leaders became dictators
1. As the Great Depression loomed over the world fascism became a prominent new focus in Italy, Germany and Japan. These nationalistic and autocratic rulers promised hope and recovery while restoring national pride.
2. Fascists believed that states must struggle and that peaceful nations would fall. Authoritarian leaders led these new fascist governments.
3. Mussolini launched the first fascist state in Italy. The Treaty of Versailles had not given Italy as much land as they wanted and many were very angry with this. Economically Italy was in a deep depression and there was wide social unrest because of the unemployment. Many people wanted a strong leader to take action for Italy. Mussolini was just that man.
4. Mussolini was a newspaper editor and boldly spoke out against the government and the problems of Italy. He organized the fascist party and gained popularity by openly criticizing the Italian democracy. Mussolini's fascist Blackshirts roamed the streets and beat up Communists and Socialists, which decreased their popularity. In 1922 Fascists took over the Italian government with relative ease. Mussolini immediately made changes.
5. He was an authoritarian leader. Individual rights were less important than the good of the state. Secret police filled the jails with "traitors". Censorship was rampant.
6. Il Duce was his new title. He promised great things for Italy and made emotionally impassioned speeches. Italy was now the model for the rise of other fascist nations.
7. Hitler had been born in a small town and showed little ambition as a boy. He dropped out of high school and moved to Vienna. He wanted to study art. He claims that his hatred of Jews and Slavs began in this city filled with Jewish leaders. Hitler was rejected by the Vienna Academy and he was shattered. He lived in charity houses and roamed the city because he refused to maintain steady employment.
8. During WWI he fought for Germany to crush their opponents. He volunteered for the Army and was honored twice with the Iron Cross. He moved to Munich and began works to overturn the Treaty of Versailles. He joined the Nationalist Socialist German Worker's Party (NAZI) in 1920 and Nazism, an extreme form of fascism, was born. The swastika was their symbol. His gift of emotional speeches and organization put him in the Furher, or leader, position. He had the abundant power to whip any crowd into an emotional frenzy. In 1923 he led an attempt to take Munich by force, failed and was imprisoned for his actions. He wrote Mein Kampf while in prison. He wrote horrible words about how Jews, Slavs and gypsies should be destroyed for their inferiority. He wanted more living space for Germany and promised to obtain this new land.
9. In 1924, Hitler began working to rebuild the Nazi party and was on his way to power. America recalled loans and the German economy collapsed. The Depression was horrible. His speeches gave simple solutions to seemingly endless problems. On January 30, 1933 Germany's president named Hitler the new Chancellor. Many thought they could control him and use him for their purposes but while they debated he acted. He had the Reichstag, or Parliament, burned and blamed the Communists. The Nazi party won a majority and no one had the courage to speak out against the Enabling Act, which would give Hitler absolute power for four years.
10. Germany was made a totalitarian state by Hitler. He had complete economic, cultural and of course political control of society. Hitler believed that people would believe even a lie if it was repeated often enough so he proclaimed that the Germans were the superior race of the world. Jews, Poles and Americans were inferior. Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat for Germany's troubles. This is known as Anti-Semitism. The Nuremberg Laws deprived Jews of the freedom of life they had known and they were all required to wear a bright yellow Star of David as ID.
11. The Kristallnacht was a night of violence against the Jews on November 9 & 10, 1938. Jewish businesses were ravaged and many were beaten and the move to concentration camps began with a terrifying vengeance.
12. During the 1920s Japan fell to a militaristic government as well. Because of the Depression Japan invaded Manchuria to get resources. This irreverently broke the Kellogg-Briand Pact. The military ruled in the emperor's name and gained great influence in Japan.
13. These dictators provided seemingly easy answers to horrible life conditions around the world. Their ideas were nationalistic and seemingly healing to economies and countries. Vast sums of money were spent on the militaries and armed aggression was the order of the day. Mussolini said, "A minute on the battlefield is worth a lifetime of peace."
V. The World Drifted Toward War
1. Two distinct sides existed in the Pre-WWII world. Democracies and dictatorships. The only country that was neither was USSR and Stalin.
2. Britain and France were too weak to lead the world in a fight against fascism so they embarked on a mission of appeasement. They made concessions to the fascists in order to keep peace.
3. Japan invaded Manchuria and set up a puppet government. They withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933. In 1937 there was a border war between China and Japan and as a small amount of gunfire was exchanged Japan moved in to attack and WWII in Asia had begun. Chiang Kai- Shek fell to Japan in less than a week and 100-200 thousand Chinese were executed in Nanking. As Kai-Shek retreated to Szechwan Mao Tse-Tung and his troops fought guerrilla style against Japan.
4. Mussolini had always dreamed of an African colonial empire. In October of 1935, Il Duce attacked Ethiopia in a massive invasion. The Ethiopians fought bravely but the much better equipped Italians used planes, guns, poison gas and tanks against spears and swords. In May 1936 the battle was over and fascist Italy conquered Ethiopia.
5. The League of Nations was asked for help and their policy of collective security was compromised. Italy was branded as an aggressor but did nothing else to help. Britain even allowed Italian troops and supplies to pass through the Suez Canal on their way to Ethiopia. Britain and France wished to appease Mussolini. The Ethiopian leader knew better than to think that Mussolini would stop with them!
6. Hitler determined that Germany would remain strong, began to unravel the goals of the Treaty of Versailles. In May 1935 Hitler began to build an army and Britain and France gave a weak reprimand. Banners, which said, "Today Germany! Tomorrow the World!" could be seen all over Germany.
7. Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland on March 7, 1936. Britain and France were too stunned to act. Hitler later admitted that he would have had to withdraw if France had challenged him. Hitler gained acceptance in Germany, had a shift of the balance of power in his favor and began a military and territorial expansion program.
8. The Axis Powers united so that "Europe would rotate around them." The first was the Rome-Berlin Axis. Then Japan joined the two.
9. The democracies of the world were recovering from the Depression and faced serious economic problems. Many could not stomach the thought of war. The Rhineland seemed a small price to pay to avoid war. Isolationism kept America from joining. Congress passed the Neutrality Acts in 1935. The banned the loans and sale of arms to warring nations and warned Americans to stay off ships of warring countries. These did not have the force needed to keep America out of the war.
10. As civil war broke out in Spain Hitler and Mussolini decided to support the Fascist dictator, Francisco Franco, defeat the democratic government. From 1936-1939 a bloody war ensued and Hitler and Mussolini sent war materials to help Franco and his Nationalists. The Republican army only received a little help from the Soviet Union. Franco remained in power for over 30 years. Spain was ravaged by the war of bombs. This "little war" was used as a test of Germany's army and weapons.
11. Hitler in November 1937 decided that Germany needed more room to grow. He made a secret agreement (anschluss) with Austria (prohibited). Austria was easily annexed into Germany because Britain and France would not help. Many Austrians supported unity with Germany.
12. Hitler then began the focus on Czechoslovakia. They had developed a working democracy, a strong army, a treaty with France and a pledge from the USSR to help defend them. A large part of Czechoslovakia was the Sudetenland where millions of Germans lived. Hitler convinced the Germans in that area to rise up. In September 1938 he demanded the area. Hitler threatened to invade by October 1, 1938. The world panicked and many readied themselves for war. Hitler then made an invitation to Mussolini, Chamberlain (Britain), and the French Premier to meet at Munich.
13. The Munich Conference began on September 29, 1938. Negotiations were made and Hitler promised that the Sudetenland was the last territorial need. All believed him. They allowed him the area and signed an agreement to never go to war again. Chamberlain's policy of appeasement had seemed successful. Less than six months later Hitler took ALL of Czechoslovakia.
14. This is a turning point in world history. Chamberlain's appeasement helped make the war inevitable. Hitler began making plans to attack Poland. The Munich Conference was a symbol of surrender and democracies vowed to never again appease a dictator.