Download Chapter 31- Years of Crisis

YEARS OF CRISIS
Chapter 31 (p. 895- 921)
Societal Changes After WWI
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Science- Einstein
Psychology- Freud
LiteratureExistentialism
Arts- Surrealism, Jazz
Societal Changes After WWI
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Women’s Roles
 Suffrage
 Education
 Jobs
Societal Changes After WWI
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Technology
 Automobiles
 Airplanes
 Radio
 Film
Postwar Europe
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Every European country is bankrupt
U.S. & Japan are the only countries to emerge from
WWI better off financially
Postwar Europe
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New, unstable democracies
Inexperienced
Frequent changes
Unstable
Weimar Republic
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Germany’s post-war government
Weaknesses:
 No
strong Democratic tradition
 Too many political parties- no unity
 Germans blamed the Weimar government for failures
of WWI
German Inflation
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Currency lost value
Burden of reparations
War debt
Example: Price of a
Loaf of Bread:
 1918-
less than 1
mark
 1922- more than 160
marks
 1923- 200 billion
marks
The Dawes Plan
Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact
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Treaty Promises:
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France and Germany will never again make war
against each other
Germany respects the existing borders of France
and Belgium
Germany is then admitted into the League of
Nations
Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact
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Problems:
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No means to enforce its provisions
The League of Nations had no armed forces
The refusal of the U.S. to join the League of Nations
weakened it
Financial Collapse
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U.S. Stock Market
Crash- 1929
Great Depression Unemployment
rates
rise
 Production, prices,
wages declined
 Spread globally
Worldwide Financial Crisis
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Contributed to financial instability
5 coalition governments formed and fell in 1933
Britain, France, U.S., & Socialist countries (Denmark,
Sweden, Norway) had success with their attempts to
address the problems
Fascism
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Militant political movement that emphasized loyalty
to the state and obedience to its leader
No clearly defined theory or program
Conditions in Italy
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Bitter disappointment over failure to win territorial
gains at Paris Peace Conference (1919)
Rising inflation
Unemployment
Social unrest
Benito Mussolini
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Promised to rescue
Italy by reviving
economy & rebuilding
armed forces
Founded the Fascist
Party in 1919
Began to gain
support- especially
from middle class
March on Rome
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October 1922
Demanded King put Mussolini in charge of
government
King agreed
Mussolini took power “legally”
Il Duce
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The Leader
Abolished democracy
Political parties
(except Fascists)
outlawed
Government censors
Strikes outlawed
Adolf Hitler
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Little known political
leader
Awarded Iron Cross
twice for military
service
Nazi Party
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National Socialist German Workers’ Party
Small right-wing political group
German form of fascism
Adopted the swastika as its symbol
Set up a private militia- The Brown Shirts
Der Fuhrer
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Hitler rises from
organizer & speaker
to party leader
Attempts a march on
Munich, fails, is jailed
Mein Kampf
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Hitler writes in jail
“My Struggle”
Asserted German
“master race”
Versailles Treaty an
outrage
Vows to regain German
lands
Gain Lebensraum
(“living space”) by
conquering Europe
Conditions in Germany
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When Hitler is released from prison:
 Great
Depression has spread globally
 American loans stopped
 German economy collapsed
 Civil unrest
 Germans hope for security & firm leadership
Hitler Becomes Chancellor
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Conservative leaders
believe they can use
Hitler for their
purposes
Urge President to
name him chancellor
Hitler came to power
legally
Elections
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Hitler calls for elections,
hoping to win a
parliamentary majority
Fire in Reichstag
building 6 days before
elections- blamed on
Communists
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Increasing fears
Nazis & allies win
elections with a slim
victory
Germany as Totalitarian State
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Banned political parties (except Nazis)
Political opponents arrested
SS (Protection Squad) created
Gestapo- Nazi secret police
Nazis Control Economy
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Banned strikes & dissolved labor unions
Government authority over business & industry
Unemployment rate drops
 Millions
of Germans constructed factories, built
highways, manufactured weapons, served in military
Control over Life
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Press, radio, literature, painting, & film become
propaganda tools
Book burning
Churches forbidden from criticizing Nazis
Hitler Youth (Boys) & League of German Girls
Jews
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Anti-Semitism a key part of Nazi ideology
Jews less than 1% of population
Nazis used them as scapegoats
Increased Anti-Semitism across Germany
Nazis deprived Jews of rights
Violence against Jews increased
Other Countries Fall to Dictators
Only in Britain, France, & Scandinavian
countries did democracy survive
Many Europeans saw dictatorship as the
only way to prevent instability
Japan
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Becomes more democratic in 1920s
Parliamentary system’s weaknesses:
 Strict
limits on powers of prime minister & cabinet
 Civilian leaders had little control over armed forces
 Military leaders report only to emperor
Militarists Take Control
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Goal: Restore traditional control of the government
to the military
Emperor becomes symbolic (Emperor Hirohito)
Extreme nationalists- solve the country’s economic
problems through foreign expansion
 Goal:
Pacific Empire
Japanese Invasions- Manchuria
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First direct challenge
to the League of
Nations
Japan ignored
protests
Japan withdrew from
League of Nations in
1933
Japanese Invasions- China
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Border incident turns
into full-scale invasion
China’s army no match
for Japan’s
 China
still split
between Nationalists &
Mao Zedong
Mussolini Attacks Ethiopia
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Ethiopian leader Haile
Selassie appealed to
the League of Nationsmembers only
condemned the attack
Britain and France
thought if they gave in
to Mussolini in Africa
they could retain
peace in Europe
Hitler Defies Versailles Treaty
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Announced Germany would not abide by the
treaty’s restrictions on the German military size
League issued a mild condemnation
This convinced Hitler to take greater risks…
The Rhineland
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30 mile-wide zone on
either side of the Rhine
river
Forms a buffer
between Germany
and France
Also an important
industrial area
German troops moved
in- March 1936
Reaction
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French were stunned… but unwilling to risk war
British suggested appeasement
Hitler later admitted he would have backed down if
the British and French had challenged him
German reoccupation of the Rhineland
marks a turning point in the march
toward war
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Strengthened Hitler’s power and prestige
Balance of power changed in Germany’s favor
 France
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and Belgium are now open for an attack
Weak response by France and Britain encouraged
Hitler to speed up his expansion
The Axis Powers
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Rome-Berlin AxisHitler and Mussolini
A month laterGermany makes an
agreement with Japan
The three form the
AXIS POWERS
Spanish Civil War
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1931- Republic replaces
monarchy
1936- Army leaders join
General Francisco
Franco in a revolt
Hitler and Mussolini
support Franco
Other side had little
support
1939- Franco becomes
Spain’s first Fascist
dictator
Democratic Nations Try to Preserve
Peace
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Britain and France repeatedly make concessions,
hoping to keep peace
U.S. follows isolationist policy
November 1937- Hitler announces plans to absorb
Austria and Czechoslovakia into the Third Reich
Sudetenland
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Three million Germanspeaking people live in
the western border
regions of
Czechoslovakia
Heavily fortified area
formed the main
defense against
German
Hitler demanded the
Sudetenland be given to
Germany
Same Old Story
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Treaty of Versailles prohibited a union between
Austria and Germany
Hitler sent his army into Austria and annexed it
France and Britain ignored their pledge to protect
Austrian independence
Hitler turns to Czechoslovakia
Czechs turn to France for help…
Munich Conference
Left to Right: Chamberlain (UK), Daladier (France), Hitler, Mussolini, Ciano (Italy)
Munich Conference and After
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Britain and France agree to let Hitler have the
Sudetenland as long as he promises to respect the
new borders
Less than six months after the meeting, Hitler seizes
Czechoslovakia
Soon after, Mussolini seized Albania
Hitler Looks at Poland
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Hitler demanded that
Poland return the former
German port of Danzig
(Polish Corridor)
Poles refuse and turn to
Britain and France for
aid
Appeasement had
convinced Hitler that
neither nation would risk
war
Nonaggression Pact between Germany
& Russia