Sections 1-4

In the West

Chapter 17

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?

1 Section 1

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 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

•The Kellogg-Briand Pact outlawed war but there was no war to enforce the pact

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

The Great Depression1

•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

•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

•Vast unemployment and misery•Protective tariffs imposed •Loss of faith in capitalism and democracy•Authoritarian leaders emerge

•Rise of fascism and Nazism•Governments experiment with social programs•People blame scapegoats •World War II begins

Long-Term Causes Immediate Causes

Immediate Effects Long-Term Effects

Unemployment, 1928 – 1938

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Britain and France in the Postwar Era

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.

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.

BRITAIN FRANCE

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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.

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The United States in the Postwar Era

• 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 American prosperity.

• President Franklin Roosevelt introduced the New Deal, a massive package of economic and social programs, to help combat the Great Depression.

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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?

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New ideas and scientific discoveries challenged long-held ideas about the nature of the world.

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.

Albert Einstein advanced his theories of relativity:

Measurements of space and time are not absolute.

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.

PSYCHOLOGYRELATIVITYRADIOACTIVITY

New Views of the Universe

2

Artistic and Literary Trends

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.

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.

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.

LITERATUREARCHITECTUREART

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A Changing Society

New technologies helped create a mass culture shared by millions in the world’s developed countries.

Rebellious young people rejectedthe moral values of the Victorianage and chased excitement.

Labor-saving devices freed women from many time-consuming household chores. Women pursued careers in many arenas.

The war changed social values and the class system itself.

Affordable cars gave middle-class people greater mobility.

Radios brought news, music, and sports into homes throughout the western world.

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.

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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 MinisterWithout 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 terrorCritics were thrown in jail, forced into exile, or even murderedSecret police and propaganda strengthened the hold Mussolini had on Italy

Mussolini’s Italy

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.

Mussolini brought the economy under state control.

Unlike socialists, Mussolini preserved capitalism.

Workers received poor wages and were forbidden to strike.

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.

SOCIAL POLICIES

ECONOMIC POLICY

POLITICAL STRUCTURE

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

• 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?

Section 4

and the Rise of NAZI Germany

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 Republic4

• 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 anti-democratic 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

The Third Reich

School courses and textbooks were written to reflect Nazi racial views. The Nazis sought to purge, or purify, German culture.

Hitler sought to replace religion with his racial creed.

The Nazis indoctrinated young people with their ideology.

Hitler spread his message of racism.

The Nazis sought to limit women’s roles.

Hitler launched a large public works program.

Hitler began to rearm Germany, in violation of the Versailles treaty.

Hitler repudiated, or rejected, the hated Treaty of Versailles.

Hitler organized a system of terror, repression, and totalitarian rule.

POLITICAL POLICIES ECONOMIC POLICIES

SOCIAL POLICIES CULTURAL POLICIES

4

Hitler’s Campaign Against the JewsHitler 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-JewsNot 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.

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Work will make you Free

Work Frees Work Clears