Topic 8. Interwar period. Boom and bust (Part II)

Changes in european

politics

The rise of the democracies and

the Fascism

(1918-1939)

Introduction

• 20’s = No stability.

• Triumph of the Soviet Revolution in Russia.

• Great Depression

Peacemakers wanted democracy

Crisis on the democratic systems

• Countries without deep democratic tradition.

• Supports.– Owners.– Army– Church

Dictatorships (map on page 76)

• Hungary.

• Poland.

• Lituania.

• Letland.

• Estonia.

• Greece

• Bulgaria.

• Austria.

• Germany.

• Italy

• Spain.

• Portugal.

Dictatorships in Europe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9w6NG67Tmc

Democracies

• GB.• France.• Swizerland.• Belgium• Holand.• Norway.• Denmark.• Sweden.

Fascist ideology

• Created by Benito Mussolini.

• Violent reaction against the democracy and the socialism.

• Antidemocratic• Against political opponents.

• Violent state

• Giacomo Matteotti verbal attacks on Mussolini lead to his murder.

• On August 18th his body was found in a grave just outside of Rome.

• Against the national sovereign authority

• Against the universal suffrage

• Against the parliament

• Citizens are not equal

Racism.

Elites must control the restRace exaltation

• Economic Interventionism

• Autarchism.

• Control of the fascist organizations.

• Parties prohibition.

• Against rationalism

• Arouse of the irrational behaviour.

• Praise of the war.

• Against pacifism.

• Legitimise the violence

• Imperialist agresivity.

• Territorial reivindications.• War as a progress weapon

Imperialist agresivity

Grandiloqueant scenography,

charismatic leader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q-6H4xOUrs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yypR80BLEo4&feature=related

The rise of Fascism seemed to be unstoppable in Italy

• Poor people

• Expected goverment to help them

• Quick solutions

• Don’t support democracy

Performing the Roman salute

Italian fascism seemed to be unstoppable

• 1919-1922- 4 goverments

• Socialist called for general strike

• Mussolini terrorised people

• Became popular

• Marched on Rome

• Terrified king Vittorio Emmanuelle III

• M was asked to be PM

• He had people’s support

• M became PM

• Later, he changed the voting rules.

• In the elections of 1924 the fascists swept to power.

• From 1925 he began to change Italy into a dictatorship, where people had to do as they were told.

• He got rid of political parties, and became the head of State.– The king had no real power left.

• M was now called Il Duce.

Fascism was a big danger to democracy

• Most dictators are cruel tyrans who would bully and even murder their opponents when it suited them.

• Many countries were now becoming dictatorships– Democracy was rejected by people who felt

betrayed by the Peace Treaties and the poor living conditions since the War finished

Dictatorships

• Hungary.

• Poland.

• Lituania.

• Letland.

• Estonia.

• Greece

• Bulgaria.

• Austria.

• Germany.

• Italy

• Spain.

• Portugal.

• Th L of N was strengthened by the Geneva Protocol, Locarno Pacts and the Kellog-Briand Pact

International agreements

The booming twenties

• As the 1920s went on, it seemed that there was a real chance that peace would last.

• Most countries were getting richer.

Behind the prosperity there were signs of trouble.

• USA was properous– Cheap labour– High wages– Mass production

Germany

La teoría del mercado alcista y las rodillas al descubierto

“The black reign of dressing”

Not americans were well-off

• Many were low paid.

• USA started to protect their own goods.

• Many americans were borrowing money nd buying shares

European countries had US debts

• Germany borrowed billions of US dollars.

• France occupied the Ruhr.

• The Dawes plan tried to solve the situation.

• Germany relied on the USA.

The causes of the Great Depression

The boom ended

Overproduction

Boom=to borrow

Why not selling goods to Europe?

• American products were too expensive

• European protection

American people bought shares

Supply and demand

Artificial prices!!

• People hoped banks keep value

• They had short of money

• Banks failed

• Goverment made nothing: free market

To summarize it…

Early 20s

Borrow to buy shares

Shares increased

Selling whom????

Production stopped=unemployment

The Wall Street Crash 1929

• People rushed to sell shares bc they realised their companies were doing badly.

• By october 1929 the selling was frantic (crazy) in Wall Street, the trade center of USA.

• Bussiness collapsed and thousands of people were ruined.

• People hoped the Banks would keep the value of shares up artificially, but they couldn´t cause they were short of money.

• Republican government did not interfere (free market)

“The black Tuesday”

• 29 october, banks ask people to give money back.

• People sell shares no matter how much to get cash.

• Values fall down till 1932.

Effects of the Depression

The Depression was felt all over the world, especially by countries

relying on American loans

• In 1929 Usa stopped lending money abroad and called in its loans.

• By 1930 nearly 2000 banks collapsed as people rushed to withdraw savings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu2uJWSZkck&feature=related

3 Years later there were

over 12 million people

unemployed in the USA

Britain was forced to devalue the pound in september 1929

• This made it worth less.• Britain introduced

protection but it did not work.

• Germany was particulary affected.– Banks failing– Exports suffering– Unemployment rising– 6 million germans affected.

Some good things came out of the Depression

• Not everybody was worse off

• Many people who were still in work found their standard of living rising.

• Industries using electricity or oil weren’t so badly affected.

The Depression continues (p.14)

• At the start of the 1930’s the depression got worse and soon became a big political issue

Key political effects of the Depression

• People criticised governments

• Countries turned to dictators

• Italy, Japan and Germany decided to expand into other countries– This led to lots of

international tension.

Factors in the rise of the dictators

• Locarno• Depression• Democracy• Communism

• Isolationism• France• Disarmament failed

Locarno= Western borders

Depression: unemployment and poverty

Democracy

• Blamed for the bad conditions

• Unable to prevent or improve

Communism: seen as a threat

Isolationism continued

France: suspicious of Germany and was building the Maginot line

Disarmament failed

Japanese expansion

Japanese agression led to the Manchurian Crisis

• Since 1905, Japan controlled the territory of the South Manchurian Railway.

• In September 1931, it used the excuse of a disturbance to take Mukden and send its troops to overrun the rest of Manchuria.

• Japan withdrew from the League in 1933.

• Dictators like Hitler and Mussolini saw the weakness of the League.

• Japan signed a treaty with Germany in 1936 (Antikomintern)and in 1937 it started to invade China.

• The League did nothing to stop it.

Italy under Mussolini

Italy under Mussolini

• Mussolini came to power in 1922.

• He turned the country into a dictatorship.

• He was an injured soldier

• He considered himself as a “Great leader”

He would bring the glories of the Roman Empire

He got rid of other political paties and arrested and killed communist

leaders

• From 1926 ruled without parliament

• Used Fascist Grand Council (Gran Consejo Fascista)

• There was a Council of Deputies (did what Grand Council said)

• He began a Corporate state. Individuals weren’t as important as the good of Italy as a whole

Fascist headquarters

He set up a National council of Corporations

• Which ruled economic affairs

Organisations to control the youth

• National Recreational Club

• Opera Nazionale Balilla

National Recreational Club

• Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro or OND was the Italian Fascist leisure and recreational organization.

Opera Nazionale Balilla

• It was an Italian Fascist youth organization functioning, as an addition to school education, between 1926 and 1937.

Hitler Youth

OJE (Spain)

Ideario

• Amar a Dios y levantar sobre este amor todos mis pensamientos y acciones.

• Servir a mi Patria y procurar la unidad entre sus tierras y entre sus hombres.

• Hacer de mi vida, con alegría y humildad, un acto permanente de servicio.

• Sentir la responsabilidad de ser español dentro de la necesaria comunidad de los pueblos.

• Recordar que el estudio y el trabajo constituyen mi aportación personal a la empresa común.

Frente de Juventudes

“Positive achievements”

• Wheat harvest doubled

• Reclaimed the Pontine Marshes and drained it

• Massive road-buildings

• Electrified railways• Lateran Treaty in

1929 “Wheat battle”

Propaganda-Building

The Pontine marshes

• The project was seen as a triumph over nature

• Mussolini used the ten-year operation for propaganda purposes.

• Mussolini was often photographed between workers, shirtless with a shovel in his hand, or threshing wheat at harvest time.

Lateran Treaty (Pactos de Letrán) 1929

He was ruthless and cowardly at times

• Used thugs and terror to win the power

• Ready to run away if March over Rome failed

• Murdered Matteotti

• Secret policy called Ovra

• Increasement of population=soldiers

• Taxes 4 singles

• Allowed persecution of jews

OVRAOrganizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo

Invasion of Abisinia in 1935

• 1896. Abisinia (Ethiopia) defeated Italy• Wanted revenge• Strategic position in Africa for the

future’s Italian Empire

• League of Nations imposed economic sanctions

• Discussions between diffent countries

• 1938 completed conquest

Results of the invasion

• League of Nations failed to protect Abbysinia

• Lost Credibility

• Italy was really confident

• Invaded Albania in 1938

• Signature of pact of Steel

Pact of Steel

• Pact of Friendship and Alliance between Germany and Italy

• The Pact consisted of two parts: – The 1st section was an

open declaration of continuing trust and cooperation between Germany and Italy

– The 2nd, a 'Secret Supplementary Protocol' encouraged a joint military and economic policy.

Anti-kommintern Pact

• Japan+Germany against communism

• Rome-Berlin axis

“Nostalgic products”

There are some nostalgics here too…

The Failure of the League of Nations

Page 18

L of N failed to prevent war or solve international disputes. It did not

achieve its original aims

• To prevent aggression

• To encourage co-operation

• To work towards disarmament

• To prevent a major war breaking out again

Failure of the LON

• The Manchurian crisis was the turning point– The league should have resisted japan

• Too many members did not keep to the rules.– They left the League (Germany, Japan, Italy)

• Britain and France were often very slow to do things

• Members did not want to risk a war.

• Mussolini and Hitler weren’t dealt with strongly enough

• USA did not join