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The Interim War Period An Age of Anxiety Unit 6 Unit Contents • • • • Challenges to European Preeminence Alterations in the Cultural Realm Global Depression Alteration in the Political Realm; Challenges to the Liberal Order An Age of Anxiety Challenges to European Preeminence Weakened Europe • The Great War did irreparable damage to European power an prestige • Set the stage for decolonization • Growth of nationalism accelerated in the colonial world calling for self-determination • European economies fail under the strains of total war – – – – Huge public debts High rates of inflation Loss of overseas investments and markets U.S. becomes creditor Revolutionary Ideas Around the World • Revolutionary ideas spread to colonies • Fourteen Points gives hope to people under imperial rule, calling for national independence and self-rule • Nationalist organize anti-imperialist resistance movements, sometimes inspired by the Soviet Union (denounced imperialism) An Age of Anxiety Alterations in the Cultural Realm Postwar Pessimism • In 1914, intellectuals rallied enthusiastically to the war viewing it as a splendid adventure. • Industrialized warfare left no room for heroes • Intellectuals and artists quickly became disillusioned • The “lost generation” is in reference to those who expressed disillusion through literature – Ernest Hemmingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” (1929) – Erich Maria Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” (1929) – Oswald Spengler’s “The Decline of the West” was seen as an obituary of western civilization Religious Uncertainty • Theologian Karl Barth sharply attacked the liberal Christian theology that God’s purpose is man’s limitless improvement • Many believed contemporary human society was not God’s purpose • Nikolai Berdiaev summed up these sentiments: “Man’s historical experience has been one of steady failure, and there are no grounds for supposing it will be ever anything else.” Attacks on Progress • The 19th century scientific progress promised a beneficial conquest of nature • Instead, early 20th century science brought death and destruction • Intellectuals become disgusted with democracy, perceiving it as the tyranny of the average person or “rule of inferiors” • German people associated democracy with corruption and inefficiency party politics during the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) • A widely read essay “The Revolt of the Masses” warned that masses would destroy the highest achievements of Western society Revolutions in Physics and Psychology • Albert Einstein introduces the Theory of Relativity • This meant that space and time was relative to the person measuring it • Science reached its limit of what would be known with certainty • Werner Heisenberg published the “Uncertainty Principle”, classical physics is replaced by probability calculations Revolutions in Physics and Psychology • Broader philosophical ramifications of the “Uncertainty Principal” includes the questioning of objectivity • An anthropologist studying another society must be alert to the fact that her presence becomes an integral part of the study • In an indeterminate universe governed by relativity morals and values become impossible to judge • Sigmund Freud finds conflict between one’s conscious and unconscious mental processes • Freud set out to understand human behavior • Freud theorized that psychoanalysis provided the key to understanding human behavior Experimentation in Art and Architecture • Poets, painters, and novelists in the 1920’s acknowledged Freud as they focused on the hidden depths of memory and emotion of their character • Painters avoided realism, because photographs captured reality so well • Painters no longer wanted mirror reality, but create it Experimentation in Art and Architecture • A variety of pictorial schools formed promising an entirely new art • Expressionism, cubism, abstractionism, dadaism, and surrealism • No longer depict recognizable objects from the every day world • Beauty expressed in pure color and shape • Characterized by violent distortions of form and explosive colors • Some artists works portray inner vision or dream Expressionism-Kandinsky Cubism-Braque Abstractionism-Pollock Dadaism Surrealism-Dali Experimentation in Art and Architecture • Architecture transforms in the interim war period • Key focal points of modern architectural designs – – – – – Functional design Integration of engineering and art Simplicity of shape Extensive use of glass Form must follow function • This functionalism well suited the design of large apartment and office complexes Bauhaus by Walter Gropius Cubism in Architecture Frank Lloyd Wright An Age of Anxiety Global Depression Rebuilding • The Great War consumed all resources • Governments around the world worked to restore normality and prosperity • The early 1920 seemed to bear fruit of this effort • Industrial productivity returned to prewar levels as businesses repaired plants, equipment, and transportation facilities • Serious problems remained in the international economy, however. International Economy • The economic recovery depended upon a tangled financial system among allies and others • Examples are war debts incurred, reparations paid by Germany and Austria, and the flow of U.S. funds to Europe • France and Britain owed money to the U.S. • France and Britain relied on war reparations from Germany and Austria to pay back debt • Germany and Austria relied on U.S. loans and investment capital to pay France and Britain The Great Depression • By 1928, U.S. lenders and investors began to withdraw capital from Europe • This placed a strain on the financial system • Demand for raw materials reduces due to improvements in technology reducing the income from colonies • The economies of the colonial world declined Industrial Economies • In the wake of financial chaos business activity decreases • Between 1930 and 1932 U.S. industrial production fell to 50% of 1929 levels • 40% of U.S. banks went out of business • National income dropped to half • The worlds prosperity depended the U.S. capital and imports • The weakened U.S. economy sends a ripple effect around the world Europe in Depression • U.S. investors “call in” loans from abroad • Banking houses in Germany and Austria lost the influx of U.S. capital • The loss of capital resulted in a precipitous economic slide for major European economies • The German economy experienced a 35% unemployment and 50% decline in industrial production by 1932 • The stalled German economy stalled the economy of all other European nations • Economic experimentations and changes in the political realm begin Economic Experimentation • Classical economic thought held that capitalism was a self-correcting system • Initially governments did nothing to correct the economic crises believing in classical economics • John Maynard Keynes (British) published his work titled The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money • Keynes advocated that the problems can be solved by increasing demand through increasing money supply thereby decreasing interest rates and increasing investments • Keynes also advocated public works projects • F.D.R. implemented these ideas in the New Deal An Age of Anxiety Alteration in the Political Realm; Challenges to the Liberal Order Communism • Marxists believed that capitalism was dead and advocated rule by the proletariat • Lenin and Stalin transform Russia into a communist state called the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) • In 1928, Stalin triumphed over his rivals in the Bolshevik Party clearing the way for a dictatorship of the Soviet Union • Stalin replaces the NEP with the First Five-Year Plan • Aims of the five year plan included transferring the agricultural society into a leading industrial power, emphasized the production of heavy industry; steel and machinery at the expense of consumer goods Fascism • People uncomfortable with the abolition of private property and the “dictatorship of the proletariat” offered an alternative that defied traditional liberal democratic means • Fascist movements, as they were called, were most prominent in Italy and Germany • Fascism was a political movement and ideology that sought to create a new type of society • It developed as a reaction against liberal democracy and the spread of communism Purpose of Fascism • Attract the middle class and rural population • Remove the perceived threat from the political left Communism Liberalism Conservatism Terrorism Fascism Democracy • Attract nationalists that denounced their government for failing to realize the glorious objectives of the Great War • Reassertion of the nation-state made of a unique ethnic or racial group Fascist Ideology • Fascism demanded the subordination of the individual to the service of the state • Fascism relied on strong and charismatic leaders like Mussolini and Hitler who embodied the state claiming indisputable authority • Fascism viewed liberalism weak and decadent • Fascism emphasized a confrontational form of nationalism called chauvinism and xenophobia or fear of foreigners • Fascism embraced militarism (large military, uniforms, parades) Italian Fascism • Fascism began in Italy between 1912 and 1920 as it grew in popularity • Mussolini and “Il Popolo d’Italia” supported the Great War as a turning point for the nation • Once a socialist himself, Mussolini demanded the repression of socialists • Fascist armed squads known as Blackshirts gained support by effectively using violence against socialists • Socialists organized militant strikes in response • Italy was on the verge of civil war • Blackshirts march on Rome to seize power • Mussolini is named prime minister by King Emmanuel in 1921 The Italian Fascist State • Between 1925 and 1931 fascists consolidate their power through a series of laws • Italy becomes a one-party dictatorship • The regime eliminated all other political parties; curbed freedom of the press; outlawed free speech and association • A Special Tribunal supervised military officers and silenced political dissent • Il Duce (Mussolini) crushed labor unions to the benefit of business interests, but established corporatism under which the different interest came under the control of the state. Hitler and the Nazi Party • Hitler joins the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NAZI) • In 1921, he became chairman • In 1923, Nazis attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic which replaced the German empire after WWI • Hitler is jailed and the Nazis descend into obscurity • In 1924, Hitler is released launching the “path of legality” to gain power through the ballot box The Struggle for Power • In 1929, National Socialism regained a broad appeal because of – – – – – Inflation Depression Political infighting among many parties Hitler’s promise to end it all Hitler’s vague collection of promises led all societal groups to believe they were the primary beneficiary • By 1932 the Nazi Party became the single largest party in parliament • The reactionary president Paul von Hindenburg offers Hitler the chancellorship Consolidation of Power • Hitler and the Nazis move quickly to eliminate all working-class and liberal opposition • Nazis outlawed all other political parties and made it a crime to create new ones • Hitler and the Nazis abrogate virtually all constitutional and civil rights • Nazis destroy trade unions • Nazis purge the police and judiciary to remove enemies of the regime (both real and imagined) • Ministry of Propaganda controlled media and gauged public response to make adjustments. • One police officer for every 155 people (1/435 in U.S.) The Radical State • Once securely in power Nazis translate their racist ideology into practice • Leaders of the “Third Reich” (Third Empire) set out to create a race-based national community • The goal is to improve the quality and quantity of the German “race” • Nazis launched a campaign to increase births of “racially valuable” children • The regime initiated a compulsory sterilization program for men and women who identified as having a “hereditarily determined” sickness • The Nazi state also sponsored euthanasia as precursor to the wholesale extermination Jews and Gypsies Communism in Russia • By 1928, Stalin triumphed over his rivals in the Communist Party • Stalin replaces Lenin’s NEP with the First Five Year Plan • Stalin repeatedly told his people, “We are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries. Either we do it or we shall go under.” • Stalin reforms agriculture by collectivizing farms • Collectivization was enforced most ruthlessly against the Kulaks • Kulaks (3-5%) or wealthy peasants mostly as a result of the NEP • Proclaiming success collectivization is halted in 1931 • About 3 million peasants lost their lives in the process The Great Purge • The disaster of collectivization and the ruthlessness with which it was carried out raises doubts about Stalin’s administration • In 1934, the Communist Party prepared for the seventeenth congress • Delegates plan to bring more pluralism back into leadership; Stalin learns of this • Former Bolshevik elites were tried for treason • Between 1935 and 1938, Stalin removed from office – two-thirds of the Central Committee – two-thirds of the delegates – More than half of the highest ranking army officials • The victims faced execution or long term suffering in labor camps (3 million/8 million)