The West Between the Wars: Economic Crisis, Political Unrest, and Totalitarianism

1. Chapter 17 The West Between the Wars: 1919-1939

2. Bell Ringer- Monday • What is the woman doing in the picture? • Would you do the same even if the money was suddenly worth so little?

3. Section 1 • The peace settlement at the end of WWI left many Germans determined to change the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. • Though President Wilson hoped the League of Nations could help, it did not.

4. One reason for this was that the US never ratified the Treaty of Versailles and could not become a member of the LON. • The league could not use military force, only economic sanctions. • The French wanted sanctions enforced. The Germans said their economic problems kept them from paying the $33 billion.

5. The French decided they would take the money by operating the German industries in the occupied land. • German workers went on strike. The government paid them by printing more money, this led to inflation and made the German mark worthless. • By 1923, it took more than 4 trillion marks to equal one dollar. • The economic problems led to political unrest in Germany. Other countries stepped in to help.

6. Bell Ringer- Tuesday

7. Bell ringer- Wednesday

8. Bell Ringer- Thursday • 1. What party did Adolf Hitler become the leader of and eventually became the controlling party in Germany? • 2. How much was Germany forced to pay as punishment issued by the Treaty of Versailles?

9. In 1926, Germany joined the League of Nations. In 1928, 63 nations signed the Kellogg-Briand pact, in which they pledged to renounce war as an instrument of national policy. • While Germany had been forced to reduce its military, no other European nation was willing to take this step. • The brief period of European prosperity ended in 1929 with the onset of the Great Depression.

10. During a depression there is very low economic activity and high unemployment. • The Great Depression had two main causes: 1. The downturn in the economies of nations during the second half of the 1920s. 2. The collapse of the U.S. stock market in 1929. • Since 1924, Germany had been borrowing money from U.S. banks to make reparation payments. • After the stock market crashed, American investors pulled their money out of Germany. This weakened banks in Germany and other European nations.

11. As trade and industrial production slowed, huge numbers of people lost their jobs. • Governments did not know how to deal with the depression. They tried to lower wages and raise tariffs on foreign goods, which made things worse. • Some governments, such as the US, became more involved in the economy. • Communism became more popular in many places. • The Great Depression led many people to follow political leaders who proposed simple solutions in return for complete power. Democratic governments were challenged everywhere.

12. In 1919, many European states had democratic governments. In all states except Italy, Switzerland, France, and Spain, women had the right to vote. • In Germany the Weimar Republic was created in 1918 but had many problems. • Paul von Hindenburg was elected president but was not a strong leader. The Weimar Republic faced serious economic problems before the Great Depression.

13. Great Britain changed from the Labour Party to the Conservatives during the Great Depression. • A British economist, John Maynard Keynes, believed that unemployment came from a decline in demand rather than overproduction. • He believed that if people went back to work, demand would increase. • He proposed that the government should finance projects such as highway building to create jobs even if it meant deficit spending. (government going into debt)

14. Great Depression Video • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSfzFWU5LbY

15. Monday Bell Ringer

16. Industrial production in the U.S. fell by 50% between 1929-1932. By 1933, 15 million people were out of work. • In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected president. • Roosevelt instituted a policy called the New Deal. Under the New Deal, the government created jobs by funding programs of public works. • He also pushed through the Social Security Act and welfare.

17. Totalitarian governments wanted to control the hearts and minds of everyone and used mass propaganda and modern communication to achieve their goals. • A single leader and a single party led the new totalitarian states. • There were no individual freedoms or limits to government power. Individuals were considered subservient to the collective will of the masses, which was controlled by the state.

18. Fascism in Italy (pg 541-543) How did Mussolini gain power in Italy? Exploited the middle class fear of socialism, appealed to nationalism, forced the king to make him prime minister. • Benito Mussolini in Italy established the first European Fascist government in the early 1920s. • Fascism glorifies the state above the individual. A strong central government and a single dictator run the state. • Italy suffered economic hardships after WWI and many feared there might be a Communist takeover as in Russia.

19. Mussolini’s movement gained wide support. He formed a group of armed Fascists called the Blackshirts. They attacked socialists and anyone who opposed the Fascists. • Mussolini appealed to nationalist pride among the Italians. • In 1922, Mussolini had enough followers that he forced the Italian king to make him his prime minister. • As prime minister, Mussolini created a Fascist dictatorship. He added extensive powers to the government and police were given authority to arrest anyone.

20. In class essay • Write two paragraphs on what is a depression and how was it caused? Also how did it happen to the U.S and Germany? What other effects did it have on governments around the world? This will be two paragraphs.

21. Bell ringer- Tuesday • 1. Benito Mussolini formed this group that attacked socialist and anyone who opposed the Fascists. • 2. This type of government wanted to control many part so life for its people and used propaganda and modern communication to achieve its goals.

22. In 1926, the Fascist outlawed all opposition. They set up a secret police. At the end of 1926, Mussolini was the only ruler of Italy. He was called Il Duce. • Mussolini used secret police to control the people. The Fascist also controlled mass-media outlets. • Mussolini never achieved the total control over Italy that Hitler and Stalin did in Germany and the Soviet Union. He still recognized the sovereign independence of the Vatican in Rome.

23. A New Era in the Soviet Union (pages 543-545) • In the early 1920s, millions died in Russia during a great famine caused by a drought. • Industrial output was reduced to 20% of that in 1913. Russia was on the verge of collapse.

24. Created in 1921, the New Economic Plan allowed peasants to sell produce and small businesses could be privately owned. • The government still owned large industries and banking.

25. In 1922, Lenin and the Communist created the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR, Soviet Union)

26. Bell ringer- Wednesday • 1. Created in 1921, this allowed peasants to sell produce and small businesses could be privately owned. • 2. In 1922 Lenin and the communist created a new state called_________.

27. After Lenin died in 1924, a bitter struggle for power began. • The Politburo was a committee that controlled the policies of the Communist Party. • One faction, led by Leon Trotsky, wanted to end the NEP and industrialize the nation at the expense of the peasants. • They also wanted to spread communism to other countries. • Another faction rejected worldwide communism and wanted to continue the NEP while building a socialist state.

28. Joseph Stalin held the job of general secretary, and as such had appointed thousands of officials throughout Russia. • Stalin used his position to gain complete control over the Communist Party. • By 1929, he had removed all the Bolsheviks from power and became a powerful dictator.

29. Trotsky was expelled and ended up in Mexico, where he was killed in 1940. • The Stalinist Era began a time of radical changes in the Soviet Union. • In 1928, Stalin ended the NEP and instituted the First Five-Year Plan. • The Five-Year Plans set economic goals for five-year periods. • The First Five-Year Plan emphasized industrialization.