Chapter 28

1. Chapter 28 Europe 1919-1939

2. Lesson 1: Instability after World War I • The peace settlement after WWI left many nations unhappy • The Great Depression swept the Western world in 1929, shaking people’s confidence in democracy

3. Uneasy Peace, Uncertain Security • From the beginning, many nations were unhappy with peace settlements after WWI • The U.S. never joined the League of Nations, weakening its effectiveness • The French made strict demands of Germany following the Treaty of Versailles and occupied the Ruhr Valley, Germany’s industrial center

4. The Weimar Republic • Germany’s new government was set up in 1919 • Called the Weimar Republic, it was named after the city where the national assembly met • Problems with this included: Germany had no democratic tradition, too many political parties, and Germans blamed the Weimar government for the Treaty of Versailles

5. Inflation in Germany • When the French occupied the Ruhr Valley, German workers went on strike • To finance the war, Germany had simply printed more money, which caused inflation problems after the war • They continued to print more money after the war to pay their reparations

6. Attempts at Economic Stability • Germany recovered from the 1923 inflation due to an international committee and a $200 million loan from the U.S., called the Dawes Plan • It also set a more realistic schedule for Germany’s reparation payments, contributing to a brief period of European prosperity

7. The Treaty of Locarno • In 1925, foreign ministers from Germany and France met in Switzerland and signed the Treaty of Locarnopromising to never again go to war with each other • Germany was admitted to the League of Nations • In 1928, almost every country in the world signed the Kellogg-Briand peace pact, renouncing war

8. The Great Depression • Several individual nations had economic problems in the 1920’s such as uneven distribution of wealth, overproduction, and people buying less • This, coupled with the crash of the U.S. stock market in 1929, began the Great Depression

9. The Stock Market Crashes • In 1929, Wall Street was booming with soaring stock prices • In September 1929, many investors started to think prices were unnaturally high, and began selling stocks causing panic • Prices plunged to a new low by October 29th, 1929, known as Black Tuesday, causing the market to collapse

10. Responses to the Depression • Factory production was cut in half by 1932 • Around 9 million people lost their money when banks closed • In 1932, 25% of Americans, 25% of British and 30% of Germans were unemployed • The Great Depression increased government involvement in the economy • Many new and unstable democracies in Europe and around the world were on the defensive

11. Recovery in the United States • In 1932, Americans elected Franklin D. Roosevelt as president • Roosevelt began a program of government reform called the New Deal, which consisted of large public works programs to provide jobs • New regulations were imposed on banks and the stock market

12. Lesson 2: The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes • By 1939, only two major European states (France and Great Britain) remained democratic • A new form of dictatorship arose called the totalitarian state, lead by a single leader and a single party • Germany, Italy, the Soviet Union, and many other states

13. Fascism in Italy • Fascism was a new, militant political movement that emphasized loyalty to the state and its leader • Fascists believed in extreme nationalism and authoritarian leaders • Fascism in Italy was fueled by disappointment over failure to win territory in WWI, as well as inflation and unemployment

14. Mussolini Takes Control • A newspaper editor named Benito Mussolini promised to rescue Italy • He founded the fascist party and demanded the king put him in charge of the government in 1922 • By 1926, Mussolini was called “Il Duce”, or the leader • He abolished democracy and outlawed political parties besides fascists, and also formed secret police and put government censors in place • Even so, Mussolini never achieved the total control that Stalin or Hitler did

15. From Russia to the USSR • During the Russian civil war, Lenin followed a policy of war communism • Peasants sabotaged this plan by hoarding food • Drought from 1920-1922, over 5 million died • Industrial collapse followed, and the revolution was in danger of failing

16. Lenin’s New Economic Policy • In March 1921, Lenin resorted to a small-scale version of capitalism called the New Economic Policy (NEP) to restore the economy • The economy slowly recovered, and by 1928, Russia was producing at pre-WWI levels

17. The Soviet Union • Bolshevik leaders organized Russia into several self-governing republics, and named the country the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) • Lenin’s NEP saved the Soviet Union from economic disaster and Lenin died in 1924 without a clear successor

18. Stalin and His Five-Year Plans • By 1928, Joseph Stalin was in complete control of the communist party in the USSR • Stalin began to outline a series of Five-Year Plans for the development of the economy • These plans called for impossibly high quotas of steel, coal, and oil • In order to reach these quotas, the government limited production of consumer goods and the people faced shortages of everything from food to clothing

19. Costs of Stalin’s Programs • Wages of industrial workers declined by 43% by 1940 • Agriculture was collectivized, followed by the “Terror Famine” in Russia and Ukraine • In 1937, Stalin launched the Great Purge, a campaign of terror eliminating anyone who threatened his power • Stalin killed 8-13 million Russians during the one-year purge

20. Lesson 3: Hitler and Nazi Germany • After the war, Adolph Hitler settled in Munich and joined the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) in 1919 • The group adopted the swastika as its symbol and set up a militia called the Brown Shirts • Hitler was chosen as der Fürher, or leader, of the Nazi party

21. Hitler and Nazi Germany, cont. • Hitler and the Nazis marched on Munich in 1923 to seize power, but were unsuccessful • Hitler was arrested and while in jail, wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle), setting forth his beliefs and goals for Germany • After leaving prison in 1924, Hitler was ignored by most Germans until the Great Depression caused them to look for firm leadership

22. The Nazis Take Control • Conservative leaders in Germany mistakenly believed they could control Hitler, so they advised the president to name him chancellor in 1932 • Once in office, Hitler called for new elections which the Nazis won • Hitler turned Germany into a totalitarian state and abolished all political parties except the Nazis • By 1936, unemployment in Germany went from 6 million to 1.5 million

23. The Nazi State 1933-1939 • Hitler wanted to develop an Aryan racial state that would dominate Europe • The Nazis used mass demonstrations and spectacles to showcase Hitler’s ideas

24. The State and Terror • The Schutzstaffen (SS), were originally created as Hitler’s bodyguards, but came to control the police force including the Gestapo (secret police) under Heinrich Himmler • The SS was based on terror and Nazi ideaology

25. Economics • Unemployment in Germany dropped from over 5 million in 1932 to less than 500,000 in 1937, due mainly to Hitler’s rearmament program • Ending the depression gave Hitler widespread support

26. Women and Nazism • Part of Nazi ideology was that women were expected to bear children to further the “Aryan race” • Women were allowed to hold jobs such as nurses or social workers, but were not expected to stay after having children

27. Anti-Semitic Policies • Anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews) was a key part of Nazi ideology • The Nazis used them for the scapegoat for Germany’s troubles since WWI • Beginning in 1933, Nazis passed laws depriving Jews of their rights, and violence against Jews mounted • On November 9, 1938, known as Kristallnacht, Nazi mobs attacked Jews in the streets and destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses