Download The World by the 1920s: Challenges to European Dominance

The World by the 1920s:
Challenges to European
Dominance
Chapter 29
Focus Questions:
How did WWI cause European decline
worldwide?
Who challenged European world dominance
after WWI and Where?
Introduction
• The 1920s were profoundly shaped by WWI and worldwide
independence movements (from Imperialism) that were
underway before the war
• Four major patterns emerged:
– 1) Western Europe’s recovery from the war was incomplete at best
– 2) The US and Japan used WWI to vault them into being world
superpowers
– 3) Nationalists movements in key European colonies distracted the
already war weary European powers
– 4) Revolutions in countries such as Mexico, Russia and China shook the
economic and political foundations of Imperialism (brief summaries,
more on these next class)
• Each of these developments brought into doubt western
Europe’s assumptions about its place as the dominant global
power
Western Europe’s Post War Disarray
• WWI quickly shattered the people’s confidence in pre-war
European government, which, in the post war, were unable to
deal with mounting economic, social, political and even
psychological issues
• Once grand imperial governments in Germany and AustriaHungary collapsed to the pressure
• With the majority of fighting having been done over territory in
Europe, several groups of people became displaced
• The reality of 10 million deaths in Europe also took their toll
• European governments now had NO MONEY since the failed
to properly tax their citizens for war production, and debt to led
to inflation and vast unemployment (precursor to depression)
The Roaring 20s in Europe
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A brief period of recovery
occurred…diplomatic tensions between
nations eased and several signed the KelloggBriand Pact of 1928, outlawing war forever
between nations of Europe (pssh, yeah that
really worked!)
Internal politics were mixed, as several leftist
entities sought to emulate the Russian
Revolution (Communism) in some nations,
while Rightists focused on establishing
authoritarian governments focused on
national pride (Fascism)
Rampant consumerism (desire for autos,
radios and other amenities) spurred economic
growth in the short term
Cultural creativity in areas of film (the new
medium), Cubism, writing (Realism) distracted
the masses
Women in particular gained great rights, as
nations gave them suffrage at the beginning of
the decade…women also challenged Victorian
norms and became crazed (drinking, smoking,
etc.) while the reaction was to maintain
domesticity for women as a whole
Fascism and New Nations
•
•
•
•
In 1919, Benito Mussolini formed the fascio di
combattimento or union for struggle…advocated a
strong central state with state control over all
aspects of society while emphasizing national
pride…conditions in post-war Italy drove
people to follow this new government (labor
unrest, lack of territory, inept parliament)
Mussolini used these issues to gain
support…once in power he eliminated rivals,
used propaganda and speeches to spur
nationalist fervor and eliminated privatization
Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe, new nations
were formed as a result of the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary
Empire…most struggled to find political
stability and move beyond agriculture in the
economic sector
All spurned Communism while reaching out to
western nations for help (little to be
had)…internal strife amongst ethnic groups
coupled with agricultural price collapses during
the Depression severely crippled these new
nations, which became ripe for conquering by
larger neighbors (Germany, Italy, Soviet Union)
The Rise of the US (1920s)
• While settler societies in Canada and Australia became autonomous
(self-sustaining) during this period, the United States moved to the
forefront as the world’s major superpower
• Despite serious attempts to remain isolated (rejection of Versailles
Treaty of WWI), the US found itself as the premiere provider of
industrial consumer goods and agricultural food commodities during
this period, largely due to the innovations of corporate thinkers
(Ford, Carnegie, Rockefeller) and government friendly business
policies
• Add to this, the US took the lead in the sciences and the arts during
this period, producing more of the world’s most important advances
(assembly line, refrigeration, synthetic fibers, etc.) and experimenting
in a variety of newer art mediums (Jazz, “talkies”, dances)
The Japanese Empire
• As European imperialism waned in East Asia,
Japan stepped in…fueled by zaibatsus and
jingoist/militarist government policies, the
Japanese economy grew
• The Japanese industrial system converted from
simple light industries (silk) to expansion in
mechanical (ships, planes, cars), electric and steel
industries
• A better standard of living spurred huge
population growth and a demand for agricultural
production to increase…territorial expansion
into east Asia brought relief to food
supplies…the Japanese government focused on
strict education programs, with universal
compulsory education required through
secondary school by 1925.
• Japan did have to dodge the oncoming issues
associated with the Great Depression, coupled
with ongoing resistance to assimilate outside
cultural beliefs (Western ideas) and rapid
population growth leading to overcrowding in
an already cramped space
Nationalist Challenges in India (Ch. 28)
•
•
•
British exploitation of the Indian populace
reached its peak by WWI…many saw
themselves drawn into military service for the
British Empire while others grew tired of
subjugation under economic exploitation…early
nationalist leaders such as B.G. Tilak proposed
violence in response to subjugation, but Britain
was able to suppress it
In 1919, many peaceful protests broke out
across India…one at Amritsar turned into a
massacre…it sparked militant nationalists in
India to begin to demand greater independence
from the British crown…Britain responded with
reforms (Montagu-Chelmsford of 1919) which
gave Indian legislators greater administrative
power…However, Britain also passed the
Rowlatt Act which severely limited civil rights
Mohandas Gandhi emerged as the new
Nationalist leader in the 1920s…he promoted
Hindu beliefs at the center of his movement
(ahimsa, satyagraha)…he proposed that the way
to weaken British control was through nonviolent civil disobedience, refuse to support the
imperialist machine
Middle Eastern Nationalism (Ch. 28)
• The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire as a result
of WWI led to a question of how Middle Eastern
territory should be handled…many societies in the
region looked to Europe to help rebuild and
restructure while other maintained self-sufficiency
• In Turkey, the skilled military leader Mustafa Kemal
(aka Ataturk) successfully defended imperialist
territorial expansions from Italy and Greece to
establish a modern Turkish republic on Asia Minor
• Meanwhile, sheiks/sharifs in Damascus, Beruit and
Baghdad looked to Europeans to solve their
territorial issues…post WWI military occupation led
to the creation of artificial borders which were
drawn by Europeans through several mandates,
angering several ME leaders to no avail
• The greatest issue surrounded Palestine…Zionists
sought a Jewish state in Palestine for Jews being
expelled from Europe (pogroms)…European powers
pledged this state through the Balfour Declaration,
which was vehemently opposed by all
Arabs…nonetheless, as long as Europe continued to
directly occupy the Middle East in the 1930s and
1940s, Jews flooded into their new homeland
Egyptian Nationalism (Ch. 28)
• Egypt’s nationalist movement was unique because it preceded European
domination…remember, Egypt revolted against Ottoman rule (C26) in the late 19th
C, prompting Britain to intervene and occupy
• Britain basically replaced the Ottomans as masters of Egypt…decades of occupation
led to violence (Dinshawai incident of 1906)
• In 1913, the British were pressured into creating a constitution for Egypt, however,
representation was limited to men of wealth (i.e. those in collusion with Britain)
• WWI took a heavy toll on the Egyptian people as Britain declared martial law in
Egypt while focusing its entire attention on protecting the Suez Canal from foreign
takeover…add to this, food supplies in Egypt were drained mostly by Britain’s
military force, leading to widespread food shortages/starvation
• Egypt was now ripe for revolt, and in 1919, it happened…Egyptian delegates were
denied right to represent their case for self-determination at the Versailles peace
conference and they called for public protest…students and women (yes, women) led
the demonstrations and a new party, the Wafd came to power during the rebellion
• Britain began a slow withdraw in stages by 1922, eventually remaining only to protect
the canal by 1936…HOWEVER, despite the loss of direct occupation by Britain, the
new Wafd party did little to improve Egypt over the next few decades, as widespread
corruption and collusion with British interests continued…most of Egypt’s farmland
was still in the hands of less than 6% of the population…it will not be until 1952
when sweeping reforms were brought in by socialist leader Gamal Abdul Nasser
African Nationalism (Ch. 28)
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•
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•
Likewise with India and Egypt, in Africa, the
educated elite and traditional rulers are in cahoots
with European imperialists…WWI saw both
conflict in Africa (as allies removed Italy and
Germany from possessions) as well as raw material
and military labor exploitation throughout the
continent
Continued promises of better living conditions and
better employment for Africans went unmet, with
several members of the elite breaking away from
European collusion…widespread strikes and
protest broke out in Africa in the 1920s
Outside forces from the US (WEB DuBois and
Marcus Garvey) led pan-African movements from
America, attempting to get many former slave
families to return to Africa to reclaim their
heritage…in French West Africa, the negritude
movement sparked conflict regarding racial/social
stereotypes in Africa…it reminded Africans that
once upon a time Africa was ruled by societies that
promoted greater equality (for women especially),
where all citizens were cared for, etc. (well, forget
the fact that there was slavery)
In response to pressures, colonial powers did give
greater autonomy to newly formed nationalist
governments in some areas (not settler areas like
Kenya or Rhodesia)…however, it would not be
until after WWII that African independence efforts
were kicked into full gear.
Mexican Revolution: A Summary
• Liberals (like Francisco Madero) demanded political and land
reform from the Diaz regime (who refused changed)…several
characters (Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa, Victoriano Huerta and
Alvaro Obregon) took it upon themselves to raise armies to replace
the Diaz regime
• Obregon was the eventual winner…a constitution in 1917 promised
land reform (but did not happen fast enough) and greater
education (more of a success)
• Mexico post-revolution experienced nationalism and
“indigenism”, as natives and mestizos demanded more…Marxism
also had some impacts demanding secularism…conservative
Catholics launched the Cristeros movement to retain their power
in Mexico
• By the 1930s, a political party known as the PRI (Party of the
Institutionalized Revolution) took control…though Mexico was
now a multiparty democracy, the PRI dominated Mexico with
caudillo-like rule until the 21st century
Russian Revolution: A Summary
• Failures by the czarist leadership to defend Russia in WWI
coupled with famines and worker unrest caused the
revolution…a newly developed council of workers called
the soviet demanded the dissolution of the czarist regime
and the institution of democratic rule…this happened, but
for a short time under Alexander Kerensky (February 1917)
• In October 1917, another revolt occurred expelling
Kerensky’s liberals and installing Lenin’s Bolsheviks to
power
• An internal civil war raged between RED (Communist) and
WHITE (liberal and czarist) factions from 1918-1921, with
the Communist REDS winning
• Lenin set out the develop the USSR (Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics) by developing a New Economic Policy
based on 5 year plans and state control and creating the
Supreme Soviet based on one party, but still elected.
Chinese Revolution: A Summary
• In 1912, the abdication of the last Chinese emperor Puyi set the stage for
the early battle for China between Democratic factions (Sun Yat-Sen)
and warlord factions (Yuan Shikai) as well as the constant fear of
invasion from Japan
• Increased Japanese encroachment led to the May Fourth Movement,
demanding reform and a decrease in foreign involvement and greater
democratization…warlords would not budge and foreign involvement
increased…as a result, some educated students (like Mao Zedong)
turned to Communism
• Sun Yatsen’s Guomindang (Democratic National Party) seized power
from the warlords in the 1920s and under the leadership of Sun’s
successor, Chiang Kai Shek, aligned with the Communists, then turned
on them, seeking their destruction by the end of the decade
• Mao knew that the only way to gain control of China and to solve the
problems of the nation was to make promises to the peasants…when
Mao was escaping persecution from the Chiang’s force on the Long
March, he made sure to preach Communist ideology to the peasants
• In the end, the Guomindang and the Communists had to once again join
force to fight the invading Japanese in the 1930s and early 1940s…only to
go right back at each other’s throats once World War II was over.
Key Terms…
• Kellogg-Briand Pact: A multinational treaty sponsored by American
and French diplomats that outlawed war; an example of the
optimism that existed during part of the 1920s.
• Interwar period: The 1920s and 1930s, shaped by the results of World
War I.
• The Roaring Twenties: Great social and economic changes were the
hallmark of this decade.
• Cubist movement: Artistic style rendering familiar objects in geometric
shapes; headed by Pablo Picasso, who was influenced by African
art.
• Fascism: Nationalist political form that featured an authoritarian leader,
aggressive foreign policy, and government-guided economics;
started in Italy.
• Benito Mussolini: Founder and dictator of the Fascist Party in Italy.
Key Terms…
• Settler societies: Australia, Canada, and New Zealand; forged separate
“autonomous communities” within the British empire, called the
British Commonwealth of Nations.
• Zaibatsu: In Japan, industrial corporations with close government
cooperation that expanded rapidly in this era into shipbuilding and
other heavy industries.
• Porfirio Díaz: Mexico’s long-serving dictator who resisted political
reforms; his policies triggered the Mexican Revolution.
• Pancho Villa: Mexican revolutionary who led guerrilla fighting in the
North; pursued unsuccessfully by the U.S. government in 1913.
• Emiliano Zapata: Mexican revolutionary who led guerrilla fighting in
the South; motto was “Tierra y Libertad”; demanded land reform.
• Soldaderas: Women who were guerrilla fighters in the Mexican
Revolution.
Key Terms…
• Victoriano Huerta: Sought to impose a Díaz-type dictatorship; forced
from power by Villa and Zapata.
• Alvaro Obregon: Emerged as Mexico’s leader at the end of the
revolution; wrote a new constitution that promised land reforms.
• Lazaro Cardenas: Mexican president who enacted land reform and
rural public education.
• Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco: World-renowned artists
who depicted glorified versions of Mexico’s Indian heritage and
potential Marxist future in murals.
• Cristeros: Conservative peasant movement in the 1920s in Mexico;
backed by the Catholic church and many politicians; resisted the
secularization of the culture and government.
• Party of the Industrialized Revolution (PRI): This Mexican political
party dominated politics from the 1930s to the end of the century..
Key Terms…
• Alexander Kerensky: Leader of the provisional government in Russia
after the fall of the tsar; kept Russia in World War I and resisted
major reforms; overthrown by Bolsheviks at the end of 1917.
• Bolsheviks: Violent, radical wing of the Social Democrats in Russia, led
by Vladimir Lenin; took power from provisional government; later
renamed “Communists.”
• Russian Civil War (1918-1921): Millions died in the struggle between
the Reds (pro- Communist forces) and Whites (an amalgam of non
Communists); the Reds won, largely because of the organizational
skills of Leon Trotsky.
• Leon Trotsky: Lenin deputy who organized the Red Army during the
civil war and later lost a power struggle to Stalin.
• New Economic Policy: Lenin’s temporary measure that allowed some
capitalism within a Communist framework; food production
increased under this program; ended by Stalin.
Key Terms…
• Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: Name of the Moscow-based
multiethnic Communist regime from 1923 to 1991.
• Supreme Soviet: Parliament under the U.S.S.R. that had many of the
trappings but few of the powers of its Western counterparts.
• Joseph Stalin: Assistant to Lenin who beat out Trotsky for undisputed
control of the U.S.S.R. after Lenin’s death; installed the nationalistic
“socialism in one country” program, collectivization, and
widespread purges.
• Sun Yat-sen: Western-educated leader of the Revolutionary Alliance,
the Guomindang, and at times, China, in the 1910s and 1920s;
struggled with warlords for control of the nation.
• Yuan Shikai: Chinese warlord who was that country’s leader from 1912
to 1916; he hoped to establish himself as the ruler of a dynasty to
replace the Qing; forced from power
Key Terms…
• May Fourth Movement: Popular 1919 uprising in China against
Japanese interference and for Western-style government that
featured intellectuals and students as its leaders; sank under the
weight of problems facing China in the early 20th century.
• Li Dazhao: Headed Marxist study circle at University of Beijing; saw
peasants as harbingers of Communist revolution in China;
influenced Mao Zedong.
• Mao Zedong: Leader of Chinese Communist Party and eventual
dictator of that country.
• Guomindang: Nationalist party in China; it was the Communist Party’s
greatest rival, yet the Guomindang and Communists forged an
alliance against Japanese aggression; the ruling party in mainland
China until 1949, it failed to implement most of the domestic
programs it proposed.
Key Terms…
• Whampoa Military Academy: Established in China with Soviet help; it
gave the Nationalists a military dimension previously missing; first
leader was Chiang Kai-shek.
• Chiang Kai-shek: Successor to Sun as leader of the Nationalists; fierce
opponent of the Communists, yet he formed an alliance with them
to fight Japan.
• Long March: To escape the Nationalists, 90,000 Mao supporters
traveled thousands of miles in 1934 to remote regions; solidified
Mao’s leadership and created much of his myth.
• Syndicalism: Economic and political system based on the organization
of labor; imported in Latin America from European political
movements; militant force in Latin American politics.
• Mexican Revolution: Fought over a period of almost 10 years from
1910; resulted in ouster of Porfirio Díaz from power; opposition
forces led by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.
Key Terms…
• Francisco Madero: (1873 – 1913) Moderate democratic reformer in
Mexico; proposed moderate reforms in 1910; arrested by Porfirio
Díaz; initiated revolution against Díaz when released from prison;
temporarily gained power, but removed and assassinated in 1913.
• Mexican Constitution of 1917: Promised land reform, limited foreign
ownership of key resources, guaranteed the rights of workers, and
placed restrictions on clerical education; marked formal end of
Mexican Revolution.
• Red Army: Military organization constructed under leadership of Leon
Trotsky, Bolshevik follower of Lenin; made use of people of
humble background.
• Comintern: International office of communism under U.S.S.R.
dominance established to encourage the formation of Communist
parties in Europe and the world.
Key Terms…
• Lázaro Cárdenas: President of Mexico from 1934 to 1940; responsible
for redistribution of land, primarily to create ejidos, or communal
farms; also began program of primary and rural education.
• Great Depression: Worldwide economic collapse that began in late
1929 and continued until the outset of World War II
• Socialism in one country: Stalin’s program to build a self-sufficient
Communist state based on industrial production.
• Popular Front: Liberal, socialist, and Communist parties in France that
forged a short-lived alliance in the 1930s.
• New Deal: The United States’ answer to the Great Depression,
consisting of government assistance to people affected by the crisis
and of government reform of economic institutions.
• Fascism: Created in Italy by Mussolini and expanded in Germany by
Hitler, this political and economic movement promoted socialist
programs combined with authoritarianism.
Key Terms…
• Nazi: Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party; under the
guise of political unity, the Nazis forged a totalitarian state.
• Gestapo: Hitler’s secret police that imprisoned and killed his real and
imagined opposition.
• Anschluss: Hitler’s union with Austria.
• Appeasement: Britain and France’s policy of compromise with Hitler
and Mussolini.
• Spanish Civil War: Fascists led by General Franco fought supporters of
the existing republic in the 1930s; Germany and Italy aided the
victorious Franco.
• Import substitution industrialization: Cut off from supplies it had
imported before the Great Depression, Latin America began to
produce for itself through the rapid expansion of industrialization.
Key Terms…
• Syndicalism: In Latin America, organizing labor for the purpose of
gaining control of political power.
• Tragic Week: In Argentina in 1919, the government brutally repressed
labor strikes.
• Corporatism: In Latin America, a movement aimed at curbing
capitalism and Marxism that proposed using the state as a mediator
between different social and economic groups.
• Getulio Vargas: President of Brazil who imposed a pro-Western
Fascist-like authoritarian regime.
• Juan Peron: Argentina’s leader who, like Vargas, nationalized key
industries and led through a combination of charisma and
intimidation.
• Training to endure hardship: Term used to describe the Japanese
policy established in Korea to induce the people there to cooperate
with the conqueror’s wishes
Key Terms…
• Kulaks: The relatively wealthy peasants in the Soviet Union who were
starved and murdered by the millions under Stalin’s direction.
• Collectivization: Soviet policy of eliminating private ownership of
farmland and creating large state-run farms.
• Five-Year Plan: State planning of industrial production in the Soviet
Union.
• Socialist Realism: School of art in the U.S.S.R. that emphasized heroic
idealizations of workers, soldiers, and peasants.
• Politburo: “Political Bureau” in the U.S.S.R. that was titularly the
executive committee but in reality was, especially under Stalin, a
rubber-stamp organization.