The Rise of Totalitarianism

1. Postwar Social Changes and Trouble for Democracy The Rise of Totalitarianism

2. Postwar Social Changes: • WWI shattered the optimism in the West; in reaction, its society and culture experienced many changes • Changes include: • New technology • Women’s freedom • Jazz • New literature • New scientific theories • Modern art

3. Postwar Social Changes: • New Technology • Automobile • Radio • Consumer Appliances • Dishwasher • Toasters. • Women’s Freedom • Labor-saving devices lightened the burden of household work • This freed women to pursue work outside the home • The Flapper • Symbol of the liberated woman • Represents the rejection of old ways in favor of new, exciting freedom

4. Postwar Social Changes: • Jazz • Western harmonies combined with African rhythms • 1920s = The Jazz Age • New Literature • Works that reflected disgust with war • Stream of consciousness writing • Harlem Renaissance • African American cultural awakening in Harlem, NY

5. Postwar Social Changes: • New Scientific Theories • Einstein’s Theory of Relativity • Space and Time absolute • They are determined by the relative position of the observer • Discovery of Penicillin • Alexander Fleming accidently discovers it • Later, other scientists use Fleming’s work to develop antibiotics

6. Postwar Social Changes: • Modern Art • Western artists began to reject traditional styles and explore color, line and shape • Surrealism • Attempts to portray the workings of the unconscious mind • Favors irrational ideas • Cubism • Three-dimensional objects painted as complex patterns of angles and planes • Looks very fragmented • Dada • Rejects all traditional conventions • Some paintings and sculptures were intended to shock or disturb viewers • Some of the art was made from thrown away items • Abstract • Composed only of lines, colors, shapes, sometimes with no recognizable subject matter at all

7. Postwar Social Changes: Cubism Abstract Dada Surrealism

8. Trouble for Democracy: • Problems: • Postwar politics • Postwar foreign policy • Postwar economics • Great Depression

9. Trouble for Democracy: • Postwar Politics • Britain • Political parties fighting for control • Ireland • Irish war against Britain for independence • France • Political parties fighting for control • US • “Red Scare” • Suspected foreign born radicals (communists) were expelled from the US • Limited immigration

10. Trouble for Democracy: Postwar Foreign Policy • Arguing Allies • France • Wanted strict enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles • Goal = to keep German economy weak • Britain • Wanted loose enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles • Goal = keep German economy strong • Search for Peace • Kellogg-Briand Pact • Called for a renouncement of war for national policy • League of Nations • Encouraged cooperation and commitment to stop aggression • Neither had enforcing power

11. Trouble for Democracy: • Postwar Economics • Britain • Deep debt • Factories out of date • Worker unrest/ strikes • France • Unstable political scene

12. Trouble for Democracy: • The Great Depression • Cause • Falling Demand and Overproduction • Demand falls and prices decline after WWI • As demand slowed, factories cut back on production • Crash and Collapse • To slow the risky investments of the 1920s, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates • This made people nervous about borrowing money and investing • Fear about the economy caused many people to sell their stocks at once • Financial panic set in stock market crash

13. Trouble for Democracy: • The Great Depression • Effect • Investors $ wiped out, bankruptcy, unemployment, etc. • Depression spreads • The economic problems spread quickly around the world because the US was keeping Europe financially afloat after the war • Without US support, world economies decline • Result = Loss of faith in democracy and a turn to radical solutions