Download Interwar Years

 America had a lot of
money!
 Avoided the destruction
that Europe experienced
during WWI
 Made a lot of money
helping to rebuild Europe
 Made massive loans to
France, England &
Germany
 Why not Soviet Union?
 Poised to become a
world power
 But isolationist urge
strong
 At the end of WWI, the
British Empire was at its
greatest extent
 They took over Palestine,
Iran & Iraq from Ottoman
Empire
 BUT Britain was
dramatically changed
 2.6 million casualties
 Women entered workforce
 Inflation hurt people on
fixed incomes
 6.97 million casualties
 Political desire to avoid
another war with Germany,
at any cost
 “Appeasement Policy”
 France didn’t protest when
Hitler violated the
Versailles Treaty
 Built Maginot Line along
German-French border
 Elaborate system of forts to
protect against German
attack
 Germany’s new government
= Weimar Republic
 Democratic republic with an
elected president and
parliament, the Reichstag
 Government was blamed for
losing WWI and the Versailles
Treaty
 Economic problems
 Couldn’t pay war reparations
 In 1923, France occupied
Ruhr industrial region
 But by 1928, Germany’s
economy had recovered to
1913 levels
 After WWI, militarism,
racism and nationalism
became powerful forces
in Japan
 Began establishing their
empire
 Korea, 1904-05
 German colonies in
Pacific, WWI
 Manchuria, 1931
 China invaded, 1937
 Created out of Versailles
Treaty
 Goals
 Disarmament
 Prevent war through collective
security
 Settle disputes diplomatically
 League had no military
force of its own (Great
Powers)
 Incapable of preventing
aggression, during 1930s
 Member states = 44,
including UK, France, Italy
 But NOT USA
 Wages were not keeping
up with inflation
 Falling crop prices hurt
Europe’s recovery
 Economic Nationalism
 Tariffs were high
 That meant European
countries couldn’t sell to
US, each other
 High inflation + high tariffs
meant European countries
couldn’t afford US goods
 Causes
 Inflation (prices up)
 Wage stagnation
 High debt levels of individuals
& business (interest payments)
 Businesses began to fail =
unemployment = less $ being
spent = more business fail
 International trade declined
due to high tariffs
 NY Stock Exchange
collapsed on 10/29/29 (Black
Tuesday)
 Worldwide effect
 Prices and wages
plummeted
 Unemployment skyrocketed
 Germany stopped payments
to allies
 European countries stopped
interest payments to US
 US banks began closing as
people demanded money
from them
 America raised tariffs, cut off
Europe from loans
 British raised tariffs,
increased trade within
Empire
 French weren’t as
industrialized, so less effect;
but political unrest was high
 Germany’s Weimar Republic
died
 Inflation made $ worthless;
currency was worth more as
bulk paper
 Strengthened National
Socialist German Workers
Party (Nazis)
 Dictatorships rise to power during the 1920s-1930s
 · people are desperate for strong leadership during the
Depression
 · Treaty of Versailles failed to establish lasting peace
 1922 Mussolini establishes fascist dictatorship in Italy
 1920s Joseph Stalin's communist dictatorship in the
Soviet Union (U.S.S.R.)
 1931 Japanese establish militaristic fascist dictatorship
 1933 Adolf Hitler fascist dictatorship in Germany (The
Third Reich)