Download The Interwar Period

The Interwar Period
1917-1939
Interwar Period

1917-1939

The Years between
WWI and WWII

Characterized by
political, and economic
instability  rise of
dictators
Europe in the Interwar Period
 Communism
in the USSR
 Fascism in Italy
 Nazism in Germany
Communism in the USSR
Bolshevik Revolution: November 1917 
new gov’t
 Lenin signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, ends
Russian involvement in WWI
 Lenin introduces New Economic Policy:
Blends Communism with limited
Capitalism
 Lenin dies, Stalin Rules as Dictator

Stalin’s Five Year Plans

Introduces Five Years
Plans to industrialize
Russian economy and
increase agricultural
output
Industrialization increases
 Collectivization leads to
protests, famine and
widespread deaths (4 -6
million died)

Stalin’s Totalitarian Methods
Campaign of Terror: The Great Purge
 Propaganda: Socialist Realism Secret
Police
 Censorship
 Closes Churches
and replaces w/
Communist
ideology

Fascism in Italy
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Right-wing radicalism: antiCommunist, anti-capitalist, antidemocratic. Hyper nationalism
Mussolini uses political and
social upheaval to gain control
Great Depression  dictatorial
characteristics: secret police,
censorship, state control of
press, etc.
Nazism in Germany

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Nazi and German Communist
Party undermine Weimar
Republic
Enabling Act (March 1933)
gives Hitler total control
Hitler rules as dictator: bans
all other political parties,
controls press, censorship,
secret police, massive public
works projects, Nuremberg
Laws (1935)
Nationalism and Modernization in
the Middle East
 Turkey
 Persia
 Egypt,
North
Africa, and Arabia
Turkey Modernizes

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
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
creates Turkish Republic
(1923)
Rules as dictator, acts like
democratic ruler
Modernizes Turkey: western
industry, dress, education,
roman alphabet, separates
church and state
Persia
Controlled by Russia (North) and Britain
(South) prior to WWI
 Qajar rulers had little real power
 1921 Reza Khan leads mutiny against
Qajar Dynasty and expels British
 1925 takes name Reza Shah Palovi, new
dynasty; renames Persia Iran
 Westernization and rule similar to Turkey

Egypt, North Africa, and Arabia

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Remain under control of
British, French, and Italians
sue to gain League of Nations
“Mandates”
Blatant snub by Allied Powers
Nationalist movements gain
momentum
Balfour Declaration of 1917
creates Israel, becomes a
symbol for Arab Unity
Militarism and Revolution in Asia
 China
 Japan
 India
China in the Interwar Period

Yuan Shikai forces Sun Yat-Sen out of the
presidency; forms a military dictatorship
that governs Beijing through the 1920s

Conflict between conservatives and
intellectuals who desire greater democratic
freedoms


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Mao Zedong forms
Communist Party and
works with Nationalists
Sun Yat-Sen dies.
New Nationalist leader
Chaing Kai-Shek
declares war on
Communists
Mao and followers flee
into mountains: The
Long March
In mountains Mao
rebuilds Communist
party
Military takes over Japan
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At end of WWI, Japan growing
into a strong democracy
Great Depression destroys
economy
Japan looks to China for wealth
and begins conquest
Rape of Nanjing is one of the
worst atrocities in the pre-WWI
world
India in the Interwar Period


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Gandhi and Nehru work
for Indian independence
Gov’t of India Act of 1921:
5 million Indians to vote for
parliament
Salt March: Gandhi leads
50,000 people to protest
against British salt tax
1937 Quit India Campaign:
to convince Britain to give
up total control of India
Dictatorship in Latin America
US’s role in Latin America
 Mexico
 Brazil
 Argentina

Economy helps Latin American
Dictators Gain Power
Major economic control
 Good Neighbor Policy: Goal to pull US
troops out of Latin America and ease
tension
 Great Depression destroys most Latin
American economies
 Dictators come to power in Mexico,
Argentina, and Brazil

World War II
The Road to War
 Early Axis Victories (1939-1942)
 Allied push leads to Victory
 The Holocaust and other War Crimes
 Creation of the United Nations

The Road to War!
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Aggressive actions by Italy,
Germany, and Japan show
the ineffectiveness of the
League of Nations
League of Nations
attempts appeasement to
prevent war
Hitler’s invasion of Poland
 Britain and France
declare war on Germany
The Axis Triumphs(1939-1941)
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Italy and Germany win
many key battles
1941Lithuania, Albania,
Bosnia, Yugoslavia,
Luxembourg, Belgium,
Poland, Denmark, Norway,
Finland, and FRANCE fall
to the Axis
The Battle of Britain shows
Britain will not be easily
defeated
Germany begins
Operation Barbarosa
The Turning Points of the War
Pearl Harbor brings US into WWII
 Allied Victories weaken Axis offensive in:

Midway
 El Alamein
 Stalingrad

D-Day June 1944 leads to V-E Day
 US Drops A-bombs on Japan forcing V-J
Day in 1945

Holocaust and Atrocities

Japanese War Crimes

Nazi

War Crimes Trials

Creation of United Nations
Japanese War Crimes

Rape of Nanjing 1937: Hundreds of
thousands butchered, raped and mutilated
as Japan takes Nanjing

Bataan Death March

Prisoners of War tortured and used as test
subjects
Nazi War Crimes
Nuremberg Laws strip away basic rights
from Germany’s Jewish population
 Ghettoization
 12 Million killed

6 Million Jews
 6 Million non-Jews: Rom, Slavs,
Homosexuals, Physically and Mentally
Handicapped, Political Dissidents

War Crime Trials
Leaders of the Japanese and Nazis were
put on trail in international tribunals in
Nuremberg, Germany and Tokyo, Japan
 Many important rulings made

Soldiers “following orders” are responsible for
atrocities they commit
 Commanders are responsible for their
subordinates
 Manufacturers of Zyklon-B and death camp
owners responsible for murders

United Nations Established
Keep Peace
 Protect Human Rights

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights
adopted by General Assembly