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Western Civilization II HIS-102 Unit 11 – The Interwar Years The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) Treaty of Brest-Litovsk polarized Russian society Both nationalists and conservatives were upset at the terms Two sides: Red Army and the White Army The Reds were the Bolsheviks who had seized control with the October Revolution The Whites Contained republicans, conservatives, middle-class, army generals United by the desire to remove the Reds (Bolsheviks) from power Controlled significant parts of the empire for most of the war The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) There were also nationalist movements that were threats to the Reds The Allies were also upset with the Treaty Included movements in Ukraine, Georgia, and north Caucasus Pulled Russia from the war effort Caused worries of a Russo-German alliance Were fearful that the Soviets would not take responsibility for the massive foreign loans Russia owed them The Allies did intervene on the periphery of Russia This solidified Bolshevik mistrust of capitalist world powers The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) Eventually the Reds gained greater support from the majority of the population As the war progressed the Reds became better organized Trotsky became the new commissar of war Organized 5 million man army by 1920 Economically, the Reds had to shift their focus because of the war Adopted “war communism” Government control of industry Government requisitioned grain from the peasantry Outlawed private trade in consumer goods Militarized production facilities and abolished money The Russian Civil War (1917-1922) War communism could not counter the effects of war Russian industry was devastated and major cities emptied Industrial output in 1920 fell to only 20% of prewar levels Large-scale famine (1921) that caused 5 million deaths Large-scale strikes because of the ineffectiveness of the Bolshevik regime The war finally ended with a Red victory in 1922 Consequences: One million combat casualties Several million dead from hunger and disease Total of 100,000 to 300,000 executed (on both sides) Created permanent hatreds Whites standing over the bodies of Reds NEP Period In March 1921, the Bolsheviks issues a new economic program It was known as the New Economic Policy (NEP) Reversion to state capitalism State owned all major industry and banks Individuals could own private property Farming land for the benefit of the peasants Grain requisitioning was replaced with fixed taxes on the peasantry Lenin described it as “one step backward in order to take two steps forward” NEP Period Marxist theoretician Nikolai Bukharin argued that the best way to industrialize the country would be to tax private peasants Peasants should “enrich” themselves Their taxes would support urban industrialization and working classes The “golden age of the Russian peasantry” Divided up noble lands to level wealth disparities Reintroduced traditional social structure (peasant communes) Produced enough grain to feed the country By 1924, harvests returned to pre-war levels NEP Period Overall the NEP was a failure Created an economic imbalance Agricultural sector grew much faster than heavy industry Peasants then produced more agricultural goods This led to higher prices for manufactured goods Causing their price to fall Then peasants started hording goods to drive the market back up Peasants refused to participate in markets to benefit urban areas Kept excess grain for themselves Cities experienced grain shortages Joseph Stalin General Secretary of the Communist Party (1922-1953) “Revolution From Above” Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (1878-1953) Born in Georgia Joined the Bolsheviks in 1903 Exiled to Siberia seven times for revolutionary activity During the Civil War, he became one of the leading figures of the Reds In 1924, Lenin died Many assumed that Trotsky would take over leadership of the party However, there were other Bolsheviks would wanted control, including Stalin “Revolution From Above” Stalin’s strategy was simple: isolate all opposition Used the left to isolate the right, used the right to isolation the left By 1929, Trotsky and Bukharin were removed from positions of power Once in control he: Abandoned NEP Believed that industrialization could not go quick enough based on the taxation of the peasantry Increased tempo of industrialization Believed the Soviet Union was falling behind the West “Revolution From Above” Stalin forced the total collectivization of agriculture Peasant put up serious resistance Local party and police officials forced peasants to join collective farms There were 1,600 large-scale rebellions between 1929 and 1933 Peasants slaughtered livestock rather than turn it over to farms He targeted the “Kulaks” These were well-to-do peasants Became the term to represent any peasant who was against collectivization “Revolution From Above” Peasants’ farms were redistributed Many were moved to places that were inhospitable or had poor farm land Led to decreased agricultural production There was little incentive to produce food The famine (1932–1933) The human cost was 3–5 million lives The Bolsheviks retained grain reserves in other parts of the country Did not use the reserves to feed the population Instead, they were sold overseas for currency and stockpiled in the event of war 1930 Soviet propaganda poster designed to get people to join the kolkhoz (collective farm) “Revolution From Above” Stalin promoted a rapid campaign of forced industrialization First Five-Year Plan (1928–1932) These were known as the Five Year Plans Most stunning period of economic growth Industrial output increased 50 percent in five years Built new industries in new cities Urban population more than doubled (26 to 56 million) between 1924 and 1939 The human cost Large-scale projects carried out with prison labor “Revolution From Above” The labor camp system was known as the Gulag People were arrested and sent to camps By 1940, 3.6 million people were incarcerated by the regime This labor was used for large scale projects including the White Sea canal There were structural problems to Stalin’s plans The command economy: production levels planned from Moscow in advance Heavy industry favored over light industry Emphasis on quantity over quality Five-Year Plan in Four Years—We will complete! The Great Terror The “Great Terror” (1937-1938) The elimination of Stalin’s enemies, real or imagined Also known as the Great Purge Series of political repression and persecution Mass repression of internal enemies from the top to the very bottom Purged the old Bolsheviks One million dead 1.5 million sent to the Gulag With this purge, Stalin had complete control Victims of the Great Purge from the Butovsky landfill Italy after World War I Aftermath of World War I Problems: A democracy in distress 700,000 dead $15 billion debt Split between the industrial north and agrarian south Conflict over land, wages, and local power Government corruption and indecision Inflation, unemployment, and strikes Demands for radical reform Italy after World War I In 1920, socialists and anarchists attempted to take control of the factories Red Leagues formed in the countryside to break up large estates In the November 1920 elections, Italians abandoned the center and shifted to the extremes On the right was the Catholic People’s Party On the left was the Socialist Party Both did not want revolution but instead pushed for greater reforms The rise of socialism led to the rise of more right-wing vigilante groups Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (1883–1945) Editor of Avantia (1904-1914) Was born to a socialist father and teacher mother Fled to Switzerland in 1902 to avoid military duty Returned to Italy in 1904 Leading socialist daily Lost editorship when he urged Italy to side with the Allies during World War I As a supporter for the war, he was kicked out of the socialist party The party wanted Italy to remain neutral Mussolini We fought briefly in the war before he was wounded When he returned to Milan he had turned to the right wing Moved towards revolutionary nationalism Founded Il Poplo d’Italia Pushed his ideas for support of the war and the guarantees promised by the Allies He also began organizing the right-wing groups Attracted young, idealist, fanatical nationalists who were upset with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles Became known as fasci (“groups” in Italian) Fascism In Italy In 1919, Mussolini formed the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento Italian Combat Squad consisting of 200 members Claimed to oppose discrimination based on social class and was strongly opposed to all forms of class war Wanted to raise Italy back up to the greatness of the old Roman Empire This helped the party gain support mainly of the middle-class The national government continued to weaken In September 1922, he began negotiations with the king to allow the Fascist party into the government Fascism In Italy On October 28, 1922, 50,000 fascist militia marched on Rome on October 28, 1922 They became known as the “black shirts” Occupied the city Victor Emmanuel III responded by inviting Mussolini to form a cabinet The Fascist Party took over the Italian government without firing a single shot Failure of the Italian government was more in its weakness than the power of the Fascist Party Also partly due to the failure of Peace of Versailles Black Shirts marching on Rome Italy Under Mussolini The Fascist Party set up a one-party dictatorship Three doctrines First step was to change the government Statism - “Nothing above, outside, or against the state” Nationalism - The “highest form of society” Militarism - The “ennoblement” of man in war Got rid the electoral laws Abolished cabinet system Mussolini assumed role of prime minister and party leader (Il Duce) Introduced repression and censorship Italy Under Mussolini Ending class conflict Granted independence to papal residence in the Vatican City A managed economy A corporate state Also promised restitution for expropriations occurred during unification Roman Catholicism established as the state religion Maintaining the status quo and “making the trains run on time” Weimar Germany (1918-1933) Weimar Germany (1918-1933) November Revolution (November 9, 1918) Occurred two days before the end of World War I Bloodless overthrow of the imperial government The kaiser abdicated Social Democratic Party (SPD) announced a new German republic Socialists wanted democratic reforms within existing imperial bureaucracy Radicals and communists wanted more wide sweeping reforms Communists and independent socialists staged armed uprisings in Berlin Social Democrats tried to crush the uprisings Weimar Germany (1918-1933) Elections not held until January 1919 Violence continued until 1920 Rise of militant counter-revolutionaries The Freikorps Former army officers fighting Bolsheviks, Poles, and communists Fiercely right-wing anti-Marxist, anti-Semitic, and anti-liberal Called themselves Spartacists Weimar Germany (1918-1933) Weimar coalition Socialists, Catholic centrists, and liberal democrats Parliamentary liberalism Pluralistic framework Universal suffrage for men and women Bill of rights that guaranteed civil liberties The failure of Weimar Social, political, and economic crisis The humiliation of World War I Germany “stabbed in the back” by socialists and Jews What was needed was authoritarian leadership Germany Prior to World War II Treaty of Versailles (1919) Article 231 – “War Guilt Clause” Placed full blame on Germany for the start of the war Ordered reparations of over 132 billion marks to the Allied countries Many Germans saw this as an embarrassment since it left the country economically broke and unarmed In April 1921, the Allies first began demanding payment of war reparations from Germany This led to rapid devaluation of the German mark In 1921, the exchange rate was 75 marks to $1 U.S. In November 1923, it 4 billion marks to $1 U.S. Many lost their life savings due to the devaluation of the mark Million Mark notes being used as note paper (October 1923) Germany in the Great Depression During the 1930s, the Germany was hit harder than the U.S. by the Depression Why was it so bad? Germany had a 33% unemployment rate while the U.S. only had a 25% one By 1935, Germany literally ran out of money Before the Crash of 1929, American businesses had invested in the rebuilding of Europe After the Crash, Americans pulled out of Germany Because of the shortage of jobs and food, many Germans were willing to turn to radical groups Adolph Hitler and the Rise of Germany Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party In September 1919, Hitler was working as a police spy for the German Army One of his duties was to infiltrate the German Worker’s Party (DAP) He liked the ideas of the party and joined it It promoted the idea of nationalistic “non-Jewish” socialism This became the foundation of the Nazi party In October 1920, Hitler creates the Sturm Abteilung (SA), which became his own private army Their job was to protect Hitler and disrupt meetings of political opponents The SA became known as “storm troopers” Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party In July 1921, Hitler was elected to be Führer of the party By 1923, Germany’s economy was in rough shape He renamed it to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), or the Nazi party In September 1923, Germany resumed making reparation payments to France By November, people would be required to carry billions of marks to buy groceries, of which many could not afford The Nazi party felt this was the perfect opportunity to seize power By November 1923, the Nazi party had over 55,000 members Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party Their plan called for the kidnapping of Bavarian leaders at a Munich beer hall Munich Beer Hall Putsch (November 8, 1923) They would then force them at gunpoint to make Hitler their leader They had a famous WWI general on their side who would then help them win over the army Hitler and his SA troops stormed in to the beer hall He managed to convince the leaders to support him However, they were unable to secure the support of the army Hitler was arrested for conspiracy to commit treason Leaders of the Beer Hall Putsch Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party Hitler was put on trial in February 1924 During the trial he stated: The judges at the time were Nazi sympathizers Hitler used the trial to spread Nazi propaganda “I alone bear the responsibility. But I am not a criminal because of that. If today I stand here as a revolutionary, it is as a revolutionary against the revolution. There is no such thing as high treason against the traitors of 1918.” He was still found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison with possibility of parole He was given a large and comfortable cell at Landsberg prison Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party During his time in prison, Hitler dictated Mein Kampf It contained a number of his political ideas In included his belief in lebensraum, “living room,” for Germans It also included the concept of a “superior” race (the Aryans) and “inferior” races (Jews and Slavs) He was released from prison on December 20, 1924 By this time, he realized his mistake was not having the support of the military Instead, he was going to get support of the people and the army by using the democratic process to his advantage Hitler and the Rise of the Nazi Party While Hitler was in prison, the popularity of the Nazi party had declined When he was released from prison, he spent the next few years reorganizing the Nazi party It had even been banned in Bavaria after the Putsch Designed it to give a more legitimate appearance He used his oratory skills to win over politicians and masses He reworked his image to appeal to the middle and upper classes Hitler was able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle in Bavaria However, the Nazi party did not have any real power until 1929 Paul Von Hindenburg (1847-1934) German President (1925-1934) Rebirth of the Nazi Party The Great Depression hit Germany hard With the dramatic downturn of the economy, the Nazi party began to rise in popularity German industry came to a grinding halt without the foreign money and that led to job layoffs At its peak, unemployment reached 33% in Germany Inflation skyrocketed and people lost their life savings Prior to 1929, the Nazi party had a membership of 100,000 (less than 0.2% of Germany’s 60 million population) The government was very ineffective in 1930 The German chancellor asked President Paul Von Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call for new elections Rebirth of the Nazi Party Hitler used these new elections to his party’s advantage The Nazi party won 18.3% of the votes He campaigned throughout the country and strongly appealed to the disgruntled masses He promised jobs, a strong economy, and to bring back pride to Germany This gave them 107 seats in the Reichstag and position as the second largest party in Germany But they were not given a position in Hindenburg’s cabinet From 1930 to 1932, party members did what they could to prevent a successful coalition The longer the government was in turmoil, the stronger the Nazi party would become 1932 Nazi campaign poster “The workers have awakened - Choose the National Socialists” Fall of the Weimar Republic In February 1932, Hitler gained German citizenship That spring, he ran against President Hindenburg He came in second with 36% of the votes Hindenburg was 85 at the time In April 1932, Chancellor Heinrich Bruening banned the SA and SS from Germany This would now allow him to run for president Many were fearful that the Nazis would use the two groups to seize power Invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution which game the president power to invoke “emergency measures” Many Germans were frustrated with Bruening They sought a more conservative government Fall of the Weimar Republic In May 1932, General Kurt von Schleicher met with Hitler He made a deal with Hitler: Hitler would support a new nationalistic and conservative government under Schleicher In return, the ban on the SS and SA would be lifted Included in this was the disposal of Bruening as Chancellor and the call for new elections for the Reichstag On May 29, Hindenburg asked for Bruening’s resignation Many were upset with Bruening for using Article 48 too many times, including the President He appointed Franz von Papen as the new chancellor Papen had been hand-picked by Schleicher Fall of the Weimar Republic The Reichstag was dissolved and new elections were to take place in July The ban on the SS and SA was lifted on June 15, 1932 What followed was an immense amount of violence committed throughout Germany by the Nazis “Blood must flow, blood must flow! Blood must flow as cudgel thick as hail! Let's smash it up, let's smash it up! That goddamned Jewish republic!” “Bloody Sunday” (July 17, 1932) Nazis killed 19 and wounded close to 300 in a pro-Communist area near Hamburg Papen invoked Article 48 in response and martial law was declared in Berlin Fall of the Weimar Republic At the July 31, 1932 elections, the Nazi party won 37% of the vote This gave them 270 seats in the Reichstag The Nazi party was now the largest party in Germany Hitler demanded the chancellorship from Hindenburg but was refused The government continued to fail passing any meaningful legislation Another election was called for November The Nazis were not able to put together another strong campaign and lost seats in the Reichstag Fall of the Weimar Republic Papen resigned on November 17, 1932 On December 2, 1932, Schleicher was appointed Chancellor Hitler once again demanded the chancellorship, and was again denied However, he was not trusted by the people and had difficulty putting together a coalition Papen approached Hitler about kicking Schleicher out of power Papen and Hitler would both then be in control When Papen approached Hindenburg about this alliance, he assured him that he would be able to control Hitler Fall of the Weimar Republic On January 23, 1933, Schleicher asked Hindenburg for emergency control of the government On January 30, Hitler was named Chancellor He had been unable to secure a coalition Hindenburg refused and asked for Schleicher’s resignation Papen was named Vice Chancellor as a condition of the appointment One of the first things Hitler did as Chancellor was to Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call for new elections Hindenburg reluctantly agreed and elections were set for March 5, 1933 Hitler as Chancellor Hitler as Chancellor On February 27, 1933, a communist named Marinus van der Lubbe set fire to the Reichstag Hitler used the event for his own political plans There is some debate as to whether Lubbe acted alone or if the Nazis also participated in the arson He promoted the fire as a Communist plot and used this to his advantage Reichstag Fire Decree (February 28, 1933) Hitler invoked Article 48 of the constitution to protect public safety The decree also terminated many civil rights Hitler as Chancellor Hitler also used this event to bolster the Nazi party by spreading anti-communist propaganda When the elections were held on March 5, 1933 the Nazi party won 43.9% of the votes Enabling Act (March 23, 1933) Hitler pushed for its passage at the meeting of the new Reichstag It placed legislative powers in the hands of the cabinet for four years It ended democracy in Germany Hitler as Chancellor In March 1933, the first concentration camp was set up in Dachau On April 1, 1933, Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Propaganda Minister, organized a one-day boycott of all Jewish businesses It was originally designed to house opponents to the Nazi government This was the first of many anti-Jewish actions by the Nazi government Also in April 1933, the Gestapo is born It was created by Hermann Göring The name comes from Geheime Staats Polizei (Secret State Police) Hitler as Chancellor On May 10, 1933, Hitler organized a massive book burning in Berlin Hundreds of thousands of books containing “un-German” ideas were burned by 20,000 volunteers As Hitler was consolidating his power, he realized that the SA had lost its usefulness and was actually becoming a detriment to his own power The leaders of the SA were becoming too left wing and many feared that they would bring about a Marxist type of revolution Hitler as Chancellor Night of the Long Knives (June 30-July 2, 1934) A massive purge of the SA ranks in which 85 people were killed On August 2, 1934, Hindenburg died Hitler’s cabinet passed a law making him Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor) Hitler was made supreme commander of the military and military personnel swore an oath to him and not Germany Almost 85% of the population were shown to approve of these measures in mid-August “Germany Lives!” propaganda poster (c. 1930s) The Third Reich In March 1935, Hitler violated the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding the army He violated the Treaty again in March 1936 He reintroduced the draft He rebuilt the navy and the air force Germany reoccupied the demilitarized zone of the Rhineland England and France did nothing in response On October 25, 1936, Hitler entered into a treaty (Axis) with fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini The Third Reich Anschluss As part of Hitler’s idea of a “Greater Germany,” Austria was annexed The Austrian Nazi party held a coup just days prior to an election to prevent the annexation to Germany This allowed German forces to enter Austria with no fighting taking place England and France did nothing Hitler’s next step was the annexation of the Sudetenland, part of western Czechoslovakia There were over three million Germans living in the region at this time Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia Sudeten Crisis Many Germans in Czechoslovakia were antagonistic against the Czech government in Prague The Germany political parties merged together, under Hitler’s advice, to form the Sudeten-German Party They believed the government was discriminating against them Hitler played off of this by rallying German nationalism inside the Sudetenland Their rallying cry was for their separation from Czechoslovakia and annexation by Germany The Czechoslovakian government turned to violence as a means to suppress these separatists Sudeten Crisis Hitler called for German annexation of the Sudetenland Peace was first attempted in August 1938 British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain attempted to reconcile the conflict between the Sudeten-German Party and the Czech government peaceably However, the Sudeten-German Party refused to negotiate In September 1938, Chamberlain met with Hitler to find an amicable agreement Sudeten Crisis Munich Agreement (September 30, 1938) The Czechoslovakian government was not allowed to participate in talks Britain, France, Italy and Germany agreed to divide up Czechoslovakia The territories were given to Germany, Poland, and Hungary Hitler was not to make any further claims for European territory First case of official appeasement to Hitler However they did acquiesce and agreed to abide by the terms of the agreement On March 15, 1939, Hitler’s troops marched into Prague and took the rest of Czechoslovakia Chamberlain and Hitler at the Munich Conference (1938) Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Stalin was angry with the Munich Agreement The Soviets had not invited to the negotiations He had also wanted Britain and France to join in an anti-fascist popular front Stalin feared the western countries would continue their policy of appeasement with Hitler He believed they would either encourage or ignore a German attack against the USSR Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (August 23, 1939) Non-aggression pact between the Soviet Union and Germany It included a secret break down of countries in eastern Europe into “spheres of influence,” some for the Soviets, the rest for Germany By 1940, those countries mentioned were either occupied or ceded part of their territories to either Germany or the Soviet Union Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) U.S. President (1933-1945) Neutrality Acts Starting in 1935, the still very isolationist Congress began passing a series of Neutrality Acts Neutrality Act of 1935 It banned shipment of war materials to belligerent countries In 1936, Italy leaves the League of Nations They were designed to prevent U.S. involvement with any belligerent countries It formalizes an alliance with Germany Soon after, FDR asks Congress for greater discretion in applying the Neutrality Act but was denied Neutrality Acts Neutrality Act of 1936 Expanded upon the Act of 1935 by prohibiting credits or loans to belligerent countries Neutrality Acts of 1937 These were enacted in response to the Spanish Civil War The original Neutrality Acts only included conflicts between nations and not within them; this act amended this Americans (both individuals and businesses) were restricted from assisting belligerents and were even prohibited to travel on ships owned by belligerents Neutrality Acts Many criticized the Neutrality Acts Some believed that these acts actually helped Germany Others argued that the Acts also gave the advantage to Germany It showed that the U.S. was not going to get involved in Europe This encouraged Anglo-French appeasement policies Germany had no need to buy arms while France and England had great need The expansionist policies of Japan and Hitler gave FDR the ability to protect the interests of the U.S. In 1937, he worked on a program to build long range submarines to possibly blockade Japan In 1938, he got congress to pass a bill creating a large enough navy to fight in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans Germany After World War I Danzig Problem “Polish Corridor” Created a corridor to give Poland access to the Baltic Sea that divided up Germany into two parts Danzig (Gdańsk) was a free city even though a majority of its citizens were German Because of this, there were increasing tensions between Germany and Poland Beginning in March 1939, Hitler attempted negotiations to return the Danzig to Germany Poland had no plans to give up the city Hitler even offered land to Poland from other sections of eastern Europe for the city Danzig Problem Both France and Britain signed mutual assistance treaties with Poland in August 1939 This was after the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact On September 1, 1939, Hitler declared that it had “exhausted diplomatic options with Poland” and invaded Poland England and France stated that they would stand by their treaties with Poland They issued an ultimatum to Germany: withdraw or we will declare war