UNIT IX

1. UNIT IX Ch. 28 & 29

2. The Age of Anxiety • Uncertainty in Modern Thought • Modern Philosophy • Nietzche: before WWI said the optimistic Christian order was obsolete • WWI accelerated change in modern philosophical thought • Existentialists • Believed there was no universal meaning to life • Generally atheists • Height during and after WWII

3. Revival of Christianity • Loss of faith in human reason turned many back to Christianity (contrast to existentialists) • New Physics • Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, 1905 • German-born • Challenged Newton’s ideas of gravity • Freudian Psychology (Sigmund Freud) • Believed much of human behavior is irrational (called it the unconscious) • Conscious mind is unaware of what the unconscious mind wants • Weakened faith in reason • The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900

4. 20th century literature • Came out of the disillusionment of WWI • Expression of anxiety • Examples: Yates, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T.S. Elliot, Franz Kafka • Modern Art • Cubism (1907): transformed natural shapes into geometrical ones • Dada movement (1916-1924): works meant to be absurd, nonsensical and meaningless • “hobbyhorse” • Surrealism (1924): sought to link the world of dreams with real life (beyond or above reality) • Inspired by Freud Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937

5. Music • Moved away from traditional styles • Example: jazz • Came out of the U.S. • Captured the new freedom of the age • New dances were soon to follow (i.e.: The Charleston) • Shocked society before being embraced • Movies and Radio • Replaced traditional arts for entertainment purposes • Radios were a powerful tool for political propaganda • Spread information quickly and effectively

6. Society becomes more open • Women • Broke with traditions • Wore loose fitting clothing rather than the restrictive clothing and hairstyles of pre-WWI era (i.e.: flappers) • Wore make-up, bobbed their hair, drove cars, smoked, drank, etc. • Women suffrage • Women gained the right to vote in many countries • U.S., Britain, Germany, Sweden, Austria

7. The Great Depression1929-1939 • After WWI • every major European nation was nearly bankrupted • U.S. and Japan came out of WWI in better financial shape (not wartime battlefields) • Sudden rise in new democracies • Europe’s last absolute rulers had been replaced by constitutional democracies • i.e. Hapsburgs in Austria-Hungary, Hohenzollerns in Germany, Ottomans in Turkey

8. The Weimer RepublicGermany, 1919 • Weak government • Lacked a strong democratic tradition • Several political parties trying to gain power • Economic instability • Did not tax enough • To pay for the war effort, and eventually their reparations, they simply printed more paper money • Led to outrages inflation (and deflation of the value of a mark) • Helped by the Dawes Plan (1924) which slowed inflation and moved Germany on the path to economic recovery • Blamed for the German loss in WWI • Weimer Republic had signed the Treaty of Versailles

9. The Stock Market Crash (1929) • European economies were being held together by the stability of the U.S. economy • U.S. econ was flawed • 1) uneven distribution of wealth • 2) overproduction by business and agriculture • 3) lessening demands for consumer goods • When the stock market crashed, the U.S. started to recall private loans from Europe • Led to a global depression

10. Responses to the Great Depression • The New Deal (U.S.) • 1933, under F. D. Roosevelt • Hit both the industrial and agricultural spheres with reforms • Scandinavian Response • Increased social welfare benefits and used gov’t deficit spending to finance public works projects • Very successful • Recovery and Reform in Britain and France • British: manufacturing reorientation from international to national • France: political disunity hurt their efforts; only attempt was Leon Blum’s Popular Front gov’t a coalition of communist and moderate parties

11. Totalitarianism: What is it? • Government takes control over EVERY aspect of public and private life • Challenges Western (France, Britain, U.S.) values • Freedom, reason, individual worth, etc.

12. Characteristics • Dictatorship and one-political party rule • Dynamic leader • Unified ideology • State control over all sectors of society • State control over the individual • Dependence on modern technology • Organized violence

13. JOSEPH STALIN“THE MAN OF STEEL” • 1922-1927 climbed to power taking various offices in the Russian Communist Party • 1928: Stalin takes over complete control of the party • Sends Leon Trotsky, founder and commander of the Red Army and leader of the Left Opposition, into exile in 1929 during the Great Purge • His vision: to transform the Soviet Union (created in 1922) into a totalitarian state • “socialism in one country”

14. Stalin’s Economics • Command economy: gov’t makes all the economic decisions • Collective farms: farms owned by the gov’t, people were forced to work toward a quota (numerical goal) • Controls lives of the workers • Work hours & conditions • Police arrest or execute those that don’t follow the rules • Kulaks: a class of wealthy peasants who resisted • many were executed or sent to work in camps • Five Year Plan: 1928- set quotas for output of steel, coal, oil and electricity; limited production of consumer goods • Leads to shortages • Also led to impressive economic gains for Russia

15. Weapons of Totalitarianism • Police used tanks and armored cars to stop riots • Monitored phone lines, read mail, and planted informers (spies) in society • Great Purge: 1934-Stalin turned against members of the Communist Party

16. Indoctrination and Propaganda • Stressed the importance of sacrifice and hard work to build the Communist state • Propaganda: biased or incomplete information to sway people to accept certain beliefs or actions • Social realism: an artistic style that praised Soviet life and Communist values

17. Fascism: What is it? • Definition: militant political government which emphasizes loyalty to the state and the leader • Characteristics: • Extreme nationalism • Revival of the economy • Authoritarian leader • One political party • Did not want a classless society

18. Italy: Benito Mussolini • Newspaper editor and politician • Founded the Fascist Party in 1919 • Criticized Italy’s gov’t • Led a campaign of terror against communists and socialists • Gained support from the middle class, aristocracy, and industrial leaders

19. Mussolini’s Policy • Abolished democracy • Outlawed all political parties except the Fascists • Censored communication • Controlled the economy by working with industrialists and large landowners *despite his attempts, Mussolini never had total control in Italy*

20. Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany • Background: • Born in Austria in 1889 • Fought in WWI • After WWI he settled in Munich, Germany • Failed as an artist • Found his calling in the new Nazi political party

21. Rise of the Nazis • Nazi: National Socialist German Workers’ Party • Right winged (conservative) group • Believed that Germany needed to overturn the Treaty of Versailles • wanted to rebuild their army/navy • Did not agree with the clause that placed the blame for WWI on Germany

22. Supported by the middle and lower classes • Set up a private army called “stormtroopers” • Wore brown shirts and adopted the swastika as their symbol

23. Hitler: Der Fuhrer • “the leader” • Successful in the party as an organizer and charismatic speaker • Attracted many members to the party

24. Munich Putsch 1923 • Nazis plotted to seize ultimate power in Germany • Failed  Hitler arrested • Sentenced to 5 years in jail • Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) • Blamed communists and Jews for Germany’s problems • Declared blond and blue-eyed Germans as the “master race” • Aka: Aryans

25. Hitler becomes Chancellor • By 1932 Nazis were the largest political party in Germany • Jan. 1933: Hitler elected • Acted quickly to strengthen his position • Called for new elections, but the Reichtag (German gov’t building) caught fire before the elections could be held • Blamed Communists for the fire • Helped Nazis win a majority in the gov’t *Hitler begins to set up a dictatorial rule in Germany*

27. The Second World War • Aggression and appeasement (1933-1939) • Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of Nations (Oct. 1933) • Appeasement: the making of concessions to an aggressor in order to avoid war • British policy that prevented the formation of a united front against Hitler • Isolationism: belief that political ties with other countries should be avoided • U.S. policy beginning in 1935 and lasting until 1941

28. Hitler’s Third Reich • Empire Building • 1936 Mussolini and Hitler form an alliance • 1938: Hitler takes Austria and the Sudetenland with British approval • Appeasement at its finest! • 1939: takes all of Czechoslovakia and then demands territory from Poland • France and Britain give an ultimatum • If Hitler invades Poland, they will declare war against him

29. Blitzkrieg • Hitler’s forces overran Poland with his “lightening war” • Conquered Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France by the summer of 1940 • France: captured by Germany in June 1940; took control of the northern part and left the southern part to a puppet government headquartered in the city of Vichy (VEESH·ee) • Battle of Britain (fall 1940 to May 1941) • Germans met strong British resistance • British Royal Air Force (RAF) • German air force = Luftwaffe (LOOFT·vahf·uh) • British victory shifted Hitler’s focus to the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean

31. Hitler vs. Stalin • 1941: Hitler conquered Greece and Yugoslavia • Winter 1941-1942 • Soviets stopped German advance just outside Moscow • Called: Operation Barbarossa • Soviets had 5 million men in their army • Yet, poorly equipped • As the Russians retreated they used the “scorched earth policy” they had used to defeat Napoleon • That along with a harsh Russian winter kept Hitler out of the capital and took 500,000 German lives

32. Japan in WWII • December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor • Brought the U.S. into WWII • Isoroku Yamamoto • Leader of the Japanese fleet • Quickly conquered Hong Kong (previously held by the British), Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Burma • 1 million square miles of land, 150 million people • Came as conquerors • Bataan Death March

33. The Grand Alliance(The Allies) • Britain, the U.S., and the U.S.S.R. • Focused on defeating Germany, then face Japan • Unified them economically • Tide of Battle • Turned in Soviet, North Africa, and the Pacific • Battle of Midway: huge success for the U.S. against Japan • By spring 1943, North Africa freed from the Axis Powers

34. End of WWIIMay 1945 • In spite of huge increases in German production between 1942-1944, the Allies conquered much of Italy, invaded France, and finally defeated Hitler. • Hitler committed suicide April 1945 • FDR dies in April 1945 • Japan surrendered in Sept of 1945 • “V-J” Day • Hiroshima and Nagasaki

36. End of WWII • May 8, 1945—”V-E Day” • 60 million casualties • Europe left in ruins • Nuremberg Trials • 22 Nazi leaders charged with committing “crimes against humanity” (the Holocaust) • Hitler, SS chief Heinrich Himmler, and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels escaped trial by committing suicide • 12 sentenced to death • 11 executed on Oct. 16, 1946

37. Japan • 2 million lives lost • Allies had stripped Japan of its colonial empire • Emperor Hirohito urged the Japanese to work together to rebuild Japan • U.S. occupies Japan • Under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur • Democratization • MacArthur and his advisors drew up a new constitution • Went into effect on May 3, 1947 • Emperor’s power significantly diminished • Established a 2-house parliament (the Diet) • All over the age of 20 could vote • Article 9: Japan could no longer declare war • Demilitarization • Disbanding the Japanese armed forces **Sept. 1951, U.S. and 48 other nations sign a peace treaty with Japan—officially ending WWII**