The Time Between the

Wars (WWI to WW2-2nd 30yr War?)

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid te guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

WWI Ends

Europe recovered from World War I

Society faced rapid change

Depression

Changes in government

Stage is set for World War II

Recovery• Full scale war, ->

economies devoted entirely to the war effort

• The Allied and Central Powers spent $200 billion fighting the war

• Nearly every major European country was bankrupt by 1918

Recovery, Part 2• 15 to 20 million dead, (civilians and

military)

• Locations of battles left heavy destruction and unusable land->Belgium/France

Aftermath of World War I

• 1920s and 30s time of reexamination • Lost Generation

• Exhausted Europe reflected -> devastating War

• New Authoritarian Governments, Fascist and Communist, spread through Europe

Surrealism- “The Face of War”

by Salvador Dali

New Art forms such as Surrealism and Dadaism examined the ideas

brought forth by Sigmund Freud, the Unconscious

The Art also reflected the insanity of War

Dadaism

Dada (Degenerate Art ?/ This is what Hitler called it)- otto dix

Note this is a triptych (3 piece art) which is commonly placed by an altar

More Degenerate Art- George Grosz

Treaties• Germans -> peace according to

Wilson’s Fourteen Points• Actual treaty was harsh towards

Germany– Lost land (Alsace/Czech/Poland)– All territories Africa and Pacific

German military power extremely limited

– War guilt clause– $31 billion in war reparations– BUT NOT AS HARSH AS THE

GERMAN’S IMPOSED ON RUSSIA –BREST-LITOVSK

• League of Nations• Other treaties based on agreements

among the Allied powers• End of Empires! Ottoman Empire ,

Austro-Hungarian empire split up->New Balance of Power-

• Brest-Litovsk btw Germany and Russia cancelled and Russia recovered land, new countries formed- Poland, Baltic States, Finland

Unstable Governments• ->economic and war recovery

problems, – Eastern and Central. Europe-

figuring out democracy ->shaky situation (little liberal history, strong conservative elements)

• By mid 1920s->Dictatorships- Authoritarian Government- (except Czechoslovakia)

• Coalition governments

• Dependent on American economy and investment

Weak Governments lead to Extremism in East- Vacillating

Govts in West• By the end of the 1920s most of Eastern

Europe was dominated by the military– Some countries (eg Hungary) had short

experiences w/Communist Government that was quickly overrun-> long term “red” fear

– Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary all became effectively military governments, only Czechoslovakia -> democracy

– England and France weak coalition governments

Germany ->Weimar Republic• Proportional

Government -> weak coalitions

• Weimar- City in Germany where Constitution was created

• Social Democratic Party ruled

• Later Conservatives (Von Hindenburg)

• SDP initially most powerful

• Strong Communist party

ARTICLE 48!-DICTATORIAL POWERS

ARTICLE 48!-DICTATORIAL POWERS

ARTICLE 48!-DICTATORIAL POWERS

Early Crisis- Saar Basin- Ruhr Valley

• Germany fails to pay full

Reparations (1922)- France

Occupies mines- upsets

Britain- Germans unite!

-Constant issue of Reparations

US doesn’t demand Reparations but does demand repayment of War Debt- Heavy Burden

Germany 1920s

• Economic Problems- Hyperinflation

• Weak and unstable “Weimar Republic” -> breeding ground for radicals

• Govt. failed to raise taxes in WWI>solve debt>print $$$$

Treaties/Agreements 1920s

• Refinancing the Debt->Dawes plan and subsequent Young Plan- Stabilized SPD and Germany!

• Locarno Pact 1925- reasserting

borders but not Poland! (Stressemen)

• Kellogg-Briand Pact

• Little Entente- Czech,

Yugoslavia, Romania

Great Britain- The sun begins to Set? Sort of

• Reliance on British countries in WWI -> Commonwealth

• Irish Question- Irish independence? 21+6?

• Ghandi in India, Egypt Protectorate

• Slow Economy throughout 1920s

• A last gasp before dominance begins to Fade (had its’ own Iraq problem)

France 1920 and 30s

• Highly dependent upon Reparations– Paid them in 1815 and 1871– Some felt that not enough Retribution

• Conservative Governments dominated in the 20s, more liberal Governments in 1930s

• Sizeable followings of both socialism and fascism– Anti-Semitism lingered under the surface, however in

the 1930s Leon Blum, a Jew was Prime Minister• Institutes 5 day 40hr workweek

Rise of Extremism• Fear/Anxiety->lose faith in democratic

government– Turn to extremism (communism, fascism)– Subordination of the individual to the State

• Fascism – “born of the need for action”– Extreme nationalism– Authoritarian leaders-– Absolute loyalty– Censorship– Dictatorial one party rule– Denied individual rights– Each class has a function

Rise of Extremism• Economic and Social Problems lead

to extremism (communism, fascism)

• Fascism – “born of the need for action”– Extreme nationalism– Authoritarian leaders-Dictators– One Party Government– Censorship– Limited Civil Rights

Appeal

• What groups of people are attracted to– Fascism?– Communism?

Each involves SUBORDINATION of the person to the STATE

Chart of ideologies

Italy• Believed sacrifices during WWI were in

vain-– Versailles didn’t properly compensate Italy

• Severe economic crisis, didn’t want communism– “red” fear (Bolsheviks)

• Weak Coalition Governments- Proportional Representation

• Benito Mussolini – promised to rescue Italy• Takes over government in 1922-bloodless

– King Victor Emmanuel– Fascists- reconstitute Italian Parliament (25%

rule)

• Model of fascism-

•MADE THE TRAINS RUN ON TIME

Mussolini’s Palace

Life for Europeans changes at an unheard of pace

Travel and Mass Media become commonplace

Depression

• Worldwide Economic Depression

• October 24, 1929, stock market fell

• Germany/Austria particularly hard hit

• Depression v. Recession, what’s the Difference?

Depression, cont.• Businesses, banks, and

factories closed

• American economy collapses! Reverbates->European economies

• Unemployment skyrockets->Deflation

• Austrian Bank fails 1930-> German bank failure-econ. Collapse (sound familiar?)

Solutions• In U.S. – the New Deal

• In Europe – democratic groups failed, and anti-democratic leaders step in

• France – Popular Front (Communists and Socialists)

• Britain – National Government (all party coalition)- cuts???anti-keynsian

John Maynard Keynes

• Spend $$$$$$$ out of a Recession-STIMULATE• British Economist

– Theorized ->deep recession->Paradox of Thrift- Consumers->Save instead of Spend, compounding the Recessionary Problems

• Government MUSTspend – Book General Theory on Employment, Interest and Money (1936)

– Short Run Matters->Long Run we’re all dead

– Major effect on Post WW II Economics--Also argued against Protectionist Trade Policies

• Along w/Smith, Malthus and Ricardo- One of the most important Economists in World History!!!

• Member of the Bloomsbury Group- w/Virginia Woolf, EM Forster

American Isolationism• Most Americans ->

avoid political ties to other countries

• Rejected Treaty of Versailles and didn’t join League of Nations

• Economically (banks and industry), heavily connected to Europe (Dawes and Young Plans)

Fascism v. Communists and RepublicansSpanish Civil War

Conservatives and Fascists fought Socialists and Liberals

(Republicans)

-Republicans won elections but military unaccepting.

Germany and Italy will provide military support for the Fascists

-Soviet Union (Russia) will provide support for the Communists

- Fascists Win, led by Francisco Franco

Spain - civil war- Guernica

Guernica was the site of the 1st aerial bombing of a city- 1000s indiscriminately killed

Saturation Bombing-

precursor to Dresden (WW2)

Painting by Pablo Picasso

Germany

• Harsh deal? from Versailles Treaty- Conservatives remained in Power-

• Late 1920s recovery until->Great Depression ->unemployment

• Left/Right split• Nazis gain power 1933• Adolf Hitler – promised the people

what they wanted elected Chancellor

One Theory• From Luther and sell out of Peasant’s

Revolt->30yr War and increased Serfdom->Prussia (militarism)>Volksculture-Reaction to Napoleonism? >Burschenschafen-> Hegel (Subordination of the indiv. To State->Nietzche (Uberman)->Wagner (German Myth)->Chamberlain (virulent Anti-semitism)->Wilhelm II-> Hilter

• The Peace of Westphalia (1648) was almost as disastrous to the future of Germany as the war had been. The German princes, who had sided with France and Sweden, were confirmed as absolute rulers of their little domains, some 350 of them, the Emperor remaining merely as a figurehead so far as the German lands were concerned. The surge of reform and enlightenment which had swept Germany at the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the sixteenth centuries was smothered. In that period the great free cities had enjoyed virtual independence; feudalism was gone in them, the arts and commerce thrived. Even in the countryside the German peasant had secured liberties far greater than those enjoyed in England and France. Indeed, at the beginning of the sixteenth century Germany could be said to be one of the fountains of European civilization….

• Now, after the Peace of Westphalia, it was reduced to the barbarism of Muscovy. Serfdom was reimposed, even introduced in areas where it had been unknown. The towns lost their self-government. The peasants, the laborers, even the middle-class burghers, were exploited to the limit by the princes, who held them down in a degrading state of servitude. The pursuit of learning and the arts all but ceased. The greedy rulers had no feeling for German nationalism and patriotism and stamped out any manifestations of them in their subjects. Civilization came to a standstill in Germany. The Reich, as one historian has put it, ”was artificially stabilized at a medieval level of confusion and weakness.”

From The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

• Early US Report on Adolf Hitler

• Captain Smith wrote a lengthy report which the embassy dispatched to Washington on November 25, 1922.

• “The most active political force in Bavaria at the present time is the National Socialist Labor Party. Less a political party than a popular movement, it must be considered as the Bavarian counterpart to the Italian fascist! . . . It has recently acquired a political influence quite disproportionate to its actual numerical strength. . .Adolf Hitler from the very first has been the dominating force in the movement, and the personality of this man has undoubtedly been one of the most important factors contributing to its success... His ability to influence a popular assembly is uncanny. In private conversation he disclosed himself as a forceful and logical speaker, which, when tempered with a fanatical earnestness, made a very deep impression on a neutral listener.”

• Colonel Smith, who later served as American military attache in Berlin during the early years of the Nazi regime

• From The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

National Socialist German Workers Party

• 1923 Beer Hall Putsch- involved Ludendorf

• 1924- Mein Kampf- while in luxury Prison?

• Mid 20s Roehm’s stormtroopers

(Brownshirts-SA)-Later SS too! (others had their thugs)

Beer Hall Putsch

• ”The National Revolution has begun!” Hitler shouted. ’This building is occupied by six hundred heavily armed men. No one may leave the hall. Unless there is immediate quiet 1 shall have a machine gun posted in the gallery. The Bavarian and Reich governments have been removed and a provisional national government formed. The barracks of the Reichswehr and police are occupied. The Army and the police are marching on the city under the swastika banner.”

• …At any rate a shot was fired and in the next instant a volley of shots rang out from both sides, spelling in that instant the doom of Hitler’s hopes. Scheubner- Richter fell, mortally wounded. Goering went down with a serious wound in his thigh. Within sixty seconds the firing stopped, but the street was already littered with fallen bodies – sixteen Nazis and three police dead or dying, many more wounded and the rest, including Hitler, clutching the pavement to save their lives.

• Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Mein Kampf-•Not a Bestseller-

– 9,473 copies (1925),. 6,913 (1926), 5,607 (1927), 3,015 (1928), 7,664 (1929), rose with the fortunes of the Nazi Party in 1930, when an inexpensive one-volume edition at eight marks appeared, to 54,086, 50,808 (1931), 90,351 (1932)

•From Mein Kampf

– “All the human culture, all the results of art, science and technology that we see before us today, are almost exclusively the creative product of the Aryan … he alone was the founder of all higher humanity, there- fore representing the prototype of all that we understand by the word ”man.” He is the Prometheus of mankind from whose shining brow the divine spark of genius has sprung at all times, forever kindling anew that fire of knowledge which illumined the night of silent mys- teries and thus caused man to climb the path to mastery over the other beings of this earth ... It was he who laid the foundations and erected the walls of every great structure in human culture.”

Rise to Power•1928 Election- Nazi Party wins 12 Seats•Late 20s Coalition Govt formed -> fails 3/30•1930 Election Nazi->107 Seats

– SA 1 Million members•5/32 Hitler v. Von Hindenburg for President-> Hindenburg’s wins•7/32 Nazi party wins 230 seats 37%•11/32 party 196 seats 33%-•Attempt at Coalition govt alienates conservatives•1/30/33 Hitler named Chancellor•2/27/33 Reichstag Fire->Communists blamed art 48 imposed•3/33 Nazi party wins 288 seats 43.9%•3/23/33 Enabling Act•5/33 Nazi Party seizes offices, banks, newspapers and free trade unions•7/33 Nazi Party sole legal party•6/34 SA leader Roehm and prior chancellor killed (Night of Long Knives)•8/34 Hindenburg dies, Hitler- President and Chancellor

Rise of German Nazism

• Nazi Party elected 1933

• Stages fire? in Reichstag- blames Communists-outlaws other parties

• Creates Dictatorship (48)

• Use of Propaganda to build support

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rmTiC0nJSw&skipcontrinter=1

Anti-Semitic Laws Passed

• Mein Kampf, (written while in prison-after Beer Hall Putsch) overt->Jews were a plague on Germany

• 1933 Jews excluded from Civil Service (including teaching)

• 1933 Dachau established Beginning NOT JEWS- political prisoners!

• 1935 Nuremberg Laws passed limiting Jewish Employment and citizenship

• November 1938->Kristallnacht

Americans and Nazi ideals• Henry Ford- The Dearborn Independent May 22, 1920, "The

International Jew: The World's Problem." "There is a race, a part of humanity which has never yet been received as a welcome part." This people, … has ever been fouling the earth and plotting to dominate it. In order to eventually rule the Gentiles, the Jews have long been conspiring to form an "international super-capitalist government." (This racial problem).. "prime" question confronting all society.-Ford frequently accused the Jews of causing a decline in American culture, values, products, entertainment, and even worse, of being the instigators of World War I.Who Financed Hitler; The Secret Funding of Hitler's Rise to Power

• Charles Lindberg- Jews were trying, partly through their ownership of the media, to draw America into the war. Lindbergh represented America First

• Eugenics- Forced Sterilizations 1920s• Jim Crow, Chinese Exclusion Act etc…• Resettlement- (true in many other countries too…Trail of Tears,

Indian Bureau)

Foreign PolicyAxis Power

Disarmament talks ended, Rearmament upsurge

Austrian Nazis kill Austrian Chancellor 1933

Naval Agreement w/Britain 1935

Removes League of Nations

1936 Germany and Italy form alliance- Rome-Berlin Axis

Italy in 1935 invaded Ethiopia

Japan Joins Axis as well

Kristalnacht 11/10/38Pogrom?

-Night of the Broken Glass-• German Jew kills German diplomat in

Paris- Germans riots against Jews.• Jewish businesses and synagogues are

destroyed- police turn their backs. Hundreds of Jews are killed or wounded

Japan• The Depression ->

military leaders took control

• Planned to solve economic problems -> Pacific empire

• Ruled in emperor’s name

Germany on the March

violates the Treaty of Versailles

1938-Occupies the Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia

1937 Germany forms a union with Austria- Anschluss

One Culture, One Fuhrer

-1936 Remilitarizes the Rhine

Munich Conference-Appeasement

• Hitler meets with Britain (Prime Minister Chamberlain) as well as France-

• Germany promises the Occupation of the Sudetenland is the last thing they’ll do

The Church and Churches• Pius XI-

– Concordat with Nazis 1933• Later sent objections to Nazi- treatment of Church (though not

to others)• 1938 Objected to racism

– Lateran Treaty with Mussolini 1929

• Majority Protestant Pastors Germany failed to object

• Pacelli->Pius XII- Anti-Semite->negotiated treaty Germany

• Bolshevik’s and Communists—Ousted Church

Soviet Union

• Lenin dies->Trotsky’s ousted->Stalin gains power – Stalin- Bureaucrat->headed the party-

Politburo• >through patronage built up a strong base

– Trotsky favored radical economic changes• Lost favor->Stalin didn’t take a position

Collectivization

• 1929 Kulaks (primarily Ukrainian farmers) ordered to collectivize

• 1930s Millions exiled- perish

5 Year Plans

• Heavy Industry

• Russia witnesses explosive growth

• Centrally planned economy– Ignore consumer economy

• Urbanization

• Education-as means of advancement– Especially sciences

Purges

• 1933-> Great Purges begin– Bukharin architect of NEP executed 1938

• Moves to countryside– Local leaders use purges

Soviets (Russia) and German Agree to Non-Aggression Pact (1939)

Note: 1920s Soviets facilitated German violations of Treaty Versailles. Nonetheless Ironic- Anti-Communist signs w/ardent Communist

September 1, 1939- WWII Begins

• Poland Invaded

• France and Britain allied

with Poland will enter War

Women in Totalitarian Regimes

• Low Birth Rate- why?– Attempts to build up Population

• Awards for big families (largely ineffective)

• Fascists (far right)– Traditional in Nature- >Kinder, Kirche, Kuche

(german-Children, Church and Kitchen)

• Communist– Initially some increased rights, ->later

retrenchment- Matushka

Culture and Art

• Streams of Consciousness– Effect of Freud on Literature

• James Joyce Ulysses- (some say the greatest English Novel)– 24 hours in the life of Leopold Bloom through

the streets of Dublin

• Bloomsbury Group (not related to L. Bloom above)

Science

• Jung (Psychology)– Building on Freud– Argues the Id- collective conscience

• Similarities of Myths etc…some commonality, morality

• Rutherford and Heisenberg (Physics)– Atomic Research and Uncertainty Principle– Laying the groundwork for atomic energy

research