Between the Wars

1. Between the Wars SOL WHII.10

2. After World War I, international organizations and agreements were established to avoid future conflicts.

3. The League of Nations was formed as an international cooperative organization. It was established to prevent future wars.

4. Although the League of Nations was the dream of Woodrow Wilson, the United States never became a member. The Senate in the United States did not want to be in an organization that might involve the U.S. in future conflicts. League of Nations was Wilson’s dream

5. Eventually, the League of Nations failed because it did not have power to enforce its decisions. No Power!

6. In the Treaty of Versailles, a mandate system was created to administer colonies of defeated powers on a temporary basis.

7. The mandate system made France and Britain mandatory powers in the Middle East.

8. Worldwide Depression

9. A period of uneven prosperity in the decade following World War I (1920s) was followed by worldwide depression in the 1930s.

10. Depression weakened Western democracies, making it difficult for them to challenge the threat of totalitarianism.

11. What caused the Worldwide Depression? • Overspeculation on stocks – Stock Market Crash (1929) • Excessive expansion of credit • High protective tariffs • German reparations

12. Another cause of the depression was the expansion of production capacities and dominance of the United States in the global economy. When the stock market crashed in the U.S, investors pulled out of international investments. This impacted worldwide economies.

13. What were the impacts of the world depression? • High unemployment in industrial countries • Bank failures and collapse of credit • Collapse of prices in world trade

14. In Germany, the Nazi Party blamed European Jews for the economic collapse. The Nazi Party began its growing importance in Germany.

15. Economic dislocations following World War I led to unstable political conditions. Worldwide depression in the 1930s provided opportunities for the rise of dictators in the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Japan.

16. Soviet Union Joseph Stalin

17. A communist dictatorship was established by Vladimir Lenin and continued by Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. Lenin Stalin

18. During the Stalin years, communism became entrenched as the government policy for the Soviet Union. Stalin Stands For Communism

19. Stalin proposed two five-year plans to turn the Soviet Union into a modern, industrialized society. This plan set ambitious agricultural, industrial, and social goals for the country.

20. All farms were to be merged into collectives. Land was pooled into large farms on which people worked together as a group and shared modern farm machinery. This plan was known as Stalin’s collectivization of farms.

21. The government focused on industrialization. Efforts were focused on expanding heavy industry, especially military production.

22. Under Stalin, the Soviet people were ruled with fear. People had to obey the demands of the Communist Party without complaint or face punishment such as imprisonment or death. Stalin, like Lenin, used secret police of spies to maintain their absolute rule.

23. Stalin began a Great Purge to eliminate party members who were supposedly disloyal to him. He used brutality, intimidation, and public trials to rid the party of members who he claimed were disloyal.

24. The Purge expanded to include the general population. People could be imprisoned without a trail for the most minor offenses.

25. Poland The Soviets made a pact with Hitler to invade Poland known as the Nazi-Soviet Pact. Germany invaded Poland from the East while Russia invaded from the West. This led to a buildup for the next world war.

26. Germany Adolf Hitler

27. Germans were unhappy with the worsened economic and political conditions that followed the Treaty of Versailles. Unemployment and inflation soared! Economic Depression

28. Democratic government in Germany was weakened. The National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi Party, came into power.

29. The Nazi Party was extremely nationalistic, anti-Semitic, and anticommunist. Adolf Hitler became the leader of the Nazi Party.

30. Hitler’s emotional speeches promised to repeal the Treaty of Versailles and to restore Germany’s military power and lost territory. Hitler’s making a speech.

31. He preached nationalism and pride in a “Greater” Germany. Hitler, also, outlined his plan for racial purity through the total elimination of the Jews. Ad for the Master Race

32. Hitler began rebuilding the military and ordered troops to occupy the Rhineland and then annexed Austria. Neither France or Great Britain challenged Germany at this point. They had their own problems and did not feel the actions warranted war. Nazi Troops

33. Italy Benito Mussolini

34. When Mussolini returned from the war, he organized his own political party. He called it the Fascist Party and called its doctrine fascism. Benito Mussolini

35. Fascism relied on dictatorship and totalitarianism. It was strongly nationalistic and militaristic and opposed to communism as well as most democratic principles. Italian Fascist Flag

36. Mussolini destroyed democracy in Italy. A dictatorship under his leadership was set up that used secret police to control and spy on everyone. The government suspended basic liberties such as freedom of speech.

37. Mussolini planned to restore the glory of Rome. He stressed national pride, pledging to return Italy to the military glories of the Roman empire.

38. Ethiopia, one of the few independent nations in Africa, became the target of Mussolini’s aggressive goals. Italian forces invaded and defeated the poorly equipped Ethiopian army. Ethiopia

39. Most countries did not agree with Italy’s actions, however, no major power was willing to enforce the League’s sanctions against Italy. In addition, many countries were busy dealing with their own problems Mussolini and Hitler

40. Japan Hirohito Hideki Tojo

41. Japan emerged as a world power after World War I and conducted aggressive imperialistic policies in Asia.

42. Hirohito became Emperor of Japan in 1926 after the death of his father. With his premier general, Hideki Tojo, Hirohito pressed for Japan to become a military might. Hideki Tojo Emperor Hirohito

43. Japanese militarism and aggression led to invasions of Korea, Manchuria, and the rest of China.

44. Industrialization of Japan created a need for raw materials. This need drove Japan to seek raw materials through military might.

45. Test Yourself

46. 1. Why didn’t the United States join the League of Nations? It didn’t want to give up control of foreign policy and have the League of Nations involve them in conflicts.

47. 2. Why did the League of Nations set up a mandate system? To administer the colonies of defeated powers and guide them to self rule

48. 3. Why did the stock market crash in the U. S. spread worldwide depression? Americans backed out of European investments

49. 4. Match the dictator to the country they ruled. Joseph Stalin Germany Benito Mussolini Russia Adolf Hitler Japan Hideki Tojo Italy

50. 5. What did Stalin do to strengthen his power in the Soviet Union? The Great Purge – to get rid of nonsupporters