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BETWEEN THE WARS: Europe and America in the 1920s and the Great Depression Europe in the aftermath of the War • Germany, Austria, and Turkey were defeated powers, their empires destroyed and their governments being reorganized • France and Britain had ‘won’ the War, but at great financial and human cost • Russia was in the midst of a civil war • The USA had rejected the Treaty of Versailles (and the League of Nations) and was withdrawing again from European affairs The League of Nations Dominated by France and Britain, the League had little power to influence events if these two did not agree on what to do – they seldom did agree. Britain’s Empire at Risk A foolish decision to fire on Indian civilians at Amritsar in 1919 leads to the growing movement for Indian independence. Ireland in Revolt 1919 – British government divides Ireland into northern and southern sections, sends troops to protect the largely Protestant section in Ulster – decades of terrorist war ensues. “Should the order ("Hands Up") not be immediately obeyed, shoot and shoot with effect. If the persons approaching (a patrol) carry their hands in their pockets, or are in any way suspicious-looking, shoot them down.” -- British commander to troops in 1919 Fascism in Italy In the early 1920s, Italy came under the control of Benito Mussolini, a former socialist who created a doctatorship based on the idea that “unity” would create a new Roman empire. Anyone who did not want to be part pf Mussolini’s unity was either imprisoned or killed. Ethnic Cleansing in 1919 Turkish forces drove Greeks out of Smyrna, killing thousands and leaving entire villages deserted. In response Turks in parts of Greece were killed or forced to leave in a mass migration Southeast Europe Yugoslavia was born in the Versailles Treaty, as a reward to Serbia. Romania also gained new territory. But again ethnic minorities, like Croats in Yugoslavia and Germans in Romania, were subjected to numerous humiliations. All the enlarged SE nations regarded their Moslem populations as “heathens.” Poland Poland, recreated from lands taken from Germany and Czarist Russia, was on paper a republic, but was ruled by Marshall Pilsudski, who launched wars east and west, and encouraged mistreatment of German and Ukrainian ethnics. Russia under Stalin In the late 1920s and early 1930s Stalin used Russian agricultural crops to expand Soviet industry. Millions died in famines while the food was seized and sold to other countries. Stalin used the money to build new factories. The German “Republic” The German government was stable only as long as war hero, General von Hindenburg, was the president. Only he can induce the German army to support the republic. Wild inflation in Germany The war damage and the billions owed in reparations ruins the German economy – people use 20 billion Mark notes (like the one at right) to buy a loaf of bread and some milk. Radical Parties in Germany Inflation and anger at the Versailles Treaty led many Germans to join either the Communist Party or one of the militant ring-wing groups, like the National Socialist German Workers Party – the Nazis. Nazi Attempt to Seize Power In 1923-24 Hitler tried to take control of the government in Munich. Arrested, he and his followers were tried for treason, convicted – and sentenced to only two years in prison. Nazi Ideology • The Nazi’s were violently Anti-Semitic, blaming the Jews for Germany’s defeat in the Great War • The Nazis believed in a racial hierarchy that placed “Aryans” (Germanic peoples) as the top and Jews & Slavs at the bottom • Nazi economics were socialist on the surface, with subsidies for industry and farms, and security payments to families – but the creation of industry and labor ‘cartels’ backed by the national law allows Hitler full control of production and wages. • “Gleichshaltung” (coordination) is carried out in education, media, and culture (and, when required, with blackjacks) Nazi foreign policy • The Nazis believed that Germany has a “destiny” to rule over all of Europe, even if this meant the deaths of millions • The Nazis believed that violence was good in that it “allowed” the superior to thrive while the “inferior were destroyed in the competition for land, resources, etc. • The Nazis believed that with a strong ruler (leader— Fuhrer) their ‘Aryan’ nation would expand eastward (gaining ‘lebensraum’ – living space) at the expense of ‘inferior Slavic peoples’ (‘untermenschen’), many of whom would be ‘reduced’ in population • Gross Deutschland would dominate all of Europe – the British empire would either accept lesser status or be eliminated Aryanism Nazi doctrine decreed that blond, blue-eyed, Central European “Aryans” were the superior race, which should dominate all others. Anti-Jewish Laws Once Adolf Hitler gained power in Germany, the Nazis passed laws that restricted Jewish life – the park bench has a sign: “Aryans only” Repressing “non-German ideas” Nazis frequently burned the books of Jewish writers, of communists and of non-Germans whose ideas were considered “weak, liberal, and pacifist” Destroying Jewish businesses Nazi troopers used intimidation to prevent other Germans from shopping in Jewishowned businesses – the sign says “do not buy from Jews” Camps for the “Reich’s enemies” Hitler ordered camps constructed for the “protective custody” of Jews, communists, socialists, intellectuals, and any critics of the Nazi state – the Third Reich. Dachau was the first of many such camps. Rearmament Both Italy and Germany began to enlarge their armies (in defiance of treaties that limited military growth). Germany began to experiment with fast-moving columns of tanks, supported by large numbers of bombers. Disarmament The U.S. used its financial power to persuade Britain, Japan and others to reduce the size of their navies – the 1922 Naval Limitations agreement will remain in force for over 10 years. ‘Blitzkrieg’ – real or myth? Much-used after 1940, this term appeared in only two German military essays in the 1930s – in reference to Germany’s failure to win a “quick war” against France in 1914. No German army manual from 1939-45 used the term. In Britain, France, Germany and the US army theorists experimented with how tanks could be used to quickly advance after assaults o trenches. Heinz Guderian (right) an expert on tanks, contributed ideas for building faster, tracked vehicles for infantry to accompany tank advances. No one ‘invented’ blitzkrieg – it evolved from experience. The United States • Election of Warren Harding in 1920 opens an era of U.S. • • • • withdrawal from most European affairs. Americans are angry that most European nations are not repaying their war debts. The US foreign policy was focused on limited efforts at “containment” – by disarmament and a treaty (KelloggBriand) that renounced “aggressive warfare.” U.S. politics is dominated by prohibition and the rising power of Wall Street. Farmers are having a very hard time. Naval limitations Scraping the USS South Carolina in 1923 to meet treaty limits – Japan, Italy and (later) Germany built ships that violated the treaty limits for heavy cruisers and destroyers. In 1935 Italy openly renounced the treaty while Japan ignored it completely. The US employed financial pressure to gain a 5-power naval limitation treaty that followed a 5-5-3-1.75 ratio of ship tonnage The Dawes Plan No War? In the late 1920s, U.S. Secretary of State Frank Kellogg joined the French foreign minister in persuading world leaders to sign a pact promising to “settle all differences without resorting to war.” Every major nation signed it – and then ignored it. Prosperity on shaky ground • Despite the rising stock market, American (and world) prosperity rested on very little more than public confidence • World trade declined as many nations imposed high tariffs (taxes on foreign goods) • The gold supply was not stabilizing prices • Unemployment was slowly growing, as few people could afford modern luxury goods THE CRASH Bank Failures – 9000 banks failed in U.S., holding $7 billion (there was no deposit insurance) One in four unemployed by 1933 Unemployment BREAD LINE – NYC, 1930 Depression’s impact on labor force Depression Leads to Demands to end Prohibition Herbert Hoover – National Recovery Administration. The NRA promised recovery “in the long run.” “People don’t eat in the long run, they eat every day.” – J. M. Keynes. Franklin D. Roosevelt “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” FDR, April 1945. American Communism and the Depression The U.S. Communist Party’s presidential candidate received 103,000 votes in the 1932 election. In Europe The world depression was met in varying ways: • In France, government subsidies combined with the continuance of smaller ‘craft-manufacturing’ resulted in lower unemployment • In Britain, the pound sterling was devalued and unemployment was high – workers out of jobs received limited ‘dole’ payments for no more than 15 weeks. • Germany and Italy relied on deficit spending and massive re-armament to create jobs -- and prepare for war. • Russia’s ‘5-year plans’ and fully controlled economy made it appear that unemployment did not exist – it was untrue British rearmament Only in 1936 did Britain begin to rearm (with increased employment. In war they relied on their navy, alliance with France and ‘fast’ bombers that could wreak havoc on Germany. Russia Stalin used the 1920s-30s to purge the Communist Party of any rivals, seize crops in the countryside to sell abroad for industrial capital, and rid himself of army officers who might challenge his authority. Paranoia ruled the Soviets. Germany uplifted Hitler used the crisis years to break the Versailles Treaty, rearm Germany and in 1936 march troops into the ‘demilitarized’ Rhineland. Britain and France remain idle. German pride overseas The GermanAmerican Bund, 1936-40 Refugees German racial policies forced Jews, socialists, and many others to flee, first to neighboring countries, and then overseas. European refugees, above, wait outside the American consulate in Marseilles, France, 1940, in hopes of obtaining an immigration visa. Refugee processing The process for obtaining an American visa was complicated – requiring an American sponsor who would take care of you if you could not find a job. EXILES Bruno Walter -conductor EXILES Bertolt Brecht -- playwright EXILES Lotte Lenya -- actress Lotte Lenya in America, 1962 EXILES Albert Einstein-physicist EXILES Josef Von Sternberg -director Rising Tensions • The depression made international cooperation less likely • The depression had been accompanied by an increase in violence in many countries • Some states were threatening to resort to war to get what they wanted – Italy, Germany and Japan were seen as especially aggressive • The US passed “neutrality laws” to prevent the provocations that led it into war in 1917 • Britain and France are uncertain how to proceed – should they confront Germany without help from the Soviets, or risk “a deal with the devil” – Stalin? Italy wants a Mediterranean empire Mussolini’s seizure of Ethiopia in 193536 left the British bases in Egypt facing Italian forces in the west (Libya) and the south. Italy’s defiance of the League of Nations for this aggression essentially killed the League’s image. Civil war in Spain Germany and Italy send “volunteers” to help fascist forces overthrow the communistsupported government in Spain. Italian aircraft (left) test bombing techniques on Madrid’s civilians, 1937. Anschluss Hitler annexes Austria, in March 1938, following a campaign of propaganda and intimidation. From the wilderness “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” Winston Churchill, long out of government circles but still in the House of Commons, warns the British of the dangers of trying to “appease” Adolf Hitler. Sudetenland At Munich in October 1938, Hitler threatened war, and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain agreed to let Germany occupy the “German” region of Czechoslovakia. When Hitler seized the rest of it in 1939, the Versailles Treaty was a dead letter. Protecting Poland To save his government, Chamberlain issued a pledge to defend Poland, Romania, and Greece from “an invader.” Hitler believed he was bluffing, and Poland’s government decided to defy Germany’s demand for control of the city Danzig. Hitler orders German troops to prepare for war. September 1, 1939 After faking a border ‘incident’ with dead prisoners wearing Polish army uniforms, the German army invaded Poland. Would Britain back down nothing again? War “For the second time in the lives of most of us, we are at war. . , . [but] for the sake of all we ourselves hold dear, and of the world order and peace, it is unthinkable that we should refuse to meet the challenge.” George VI, King of England