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The Years Between the Wars. Political Extremism and Economic Depression in Europe A. Fragile Peace and Crisis for Democracy 1. The 1920s saw a period of peaceful relations among nations but that peace was fragile.
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The Years Between the Wars • Political Extremism and Economic Depression in Europe A. Fragile Peace and Crisis for Democracy 1. The 1920s saw a period of peaceful relations among nations but that peace was fragile. 2. The years of 1919 to 1921 were racked by revolutions, civil wars, and military clashes. 3. Inevitably, Europe became frustrated by this and became too weak or exhausted to fight.
4. The League of Nations, idea of Woodrow Wilson, was intended to prevent war and human rights abuses. 5. While it did a lot of Humanitarian good, it was largely ineffective. 6. There were attempts to outlaw war through such treaties as the Treaty of Locarno and the Kellogg-Briand Pact – but most countries refused to take the necessary steps to ensure long-term peace.
7. Democracy did not flourish in Europe either during this time period – In 1920 there were 23 democratic governments in Europe, by 1939 that number had dwindled down to 12. 8. The only independent country in the Middle East was founded in 1932 by an Arab Prince by the name of Ibn Saud. 9. By 1923 Mustafa Kemal forced the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to flee creating a Turkish Republic. 10. China was undergoing a period of uncertainty with Beijing attempting to revive Confucian principles and intellectuals embracing progressive concepts.
B. The rise of “-isms” 1. Capitalism – defined as private industry and the controls of the means of production by those who own capital or money. 2. Socialism – mixed economy where the means of production is controlled by the state and/or private enterprise. (produce for use rather than for profit) 3. Communism – state controls the means of production and all property. Their aim is for classless, stateless, oppression-free society through a single-party state. 4. Fascism – radical, authoritarian nationalist ideology. They are anti-communist and anti-capitalist. They advocate the creation of a single-party state.
C. Fascism in Italy and Germany 1. Fascism first came to Europe through the Dictator Benito Mussolini, a right-wing radical or revolution from the right. 2. Generally speaking, conservatism seeks to prevent change while Fascism seeks to bring about change to accomplish the primary goal of stopping communism. 3. Mussolini was very successful in modernizing Italy through a series of reforms by describing himself as totalitarianism – using modern technology to control every aspect of its subjects lives.
4. Mussolini’s biggest claim to fame was to make Italy’s inefficient trains run on time. 5. His economic policy was based on syndicalism – corporate leaders are required to work directly with the government and labor unions are suppressed. 6. However, the Great Depression of the 1930s led Mussolini closer to the Fascist regime in Germany, the Nazis.
7. From 1919 the 1933, Germany’s government was governed by the democratic regime known as the Weimar Republic. 8. The Weimar Republic was dogged by economic trouble (hyperinflation), war payments, resentment of the Treaty of Versailles, and extremist political parties. 9. From the political right appeared the charismatic leader Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party: an anti-communist, anti-democratic, and anti-Semitic group.
10. In 1923, Hitler and the Nazis made a failed attempt to take over the German government – as a result he was sent to jail. 11. During his short time in prison, Hitler wrote his infamous memoir, Mein Kampf(My Struggle). 12. By 1932, due to the Great Depression, 6 million Germans were unemployed. A series of elections that same year made the Nazi Party the largest in Germany. 13. In January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany.
D. The Great Depression 1. GDP – Gross Domestic Product is a measurement of a countries income by adding the value of all final goods and services. 2. Recession – a recession is usually defined as a constriction of economic growth or GDP that must at least occur within 2 quarters. 3. Depression – is a prolonged recession usually occurring within years.
4. The Great Depression was a worldwide economic downturn starting in most places in 1929 and ending in the early 1940s. 5. The Great Depression started in the United States with the Stock Market crash on October 29th, 1929 known as Black Tuesday. 6. Depressions are generally caused by bank failures and stock market crashes. The specifics of the Great Depression are still under debate today.
