Power and Authority in the Modern World 1919–1946 Flashcards

Foundational Concepts: Power and Authority

• Power vs. Authority: While often interlinked, these are distinct concepts. Power is the capacity to influence or control, while authority is the recognized right to exercise that power. Investigating these helps provide a transnational perspective on the 20th century.

• Elements of Political Power: Primarily rooted in the twin pillars of fear and reward.

  • Fear: Exercised through coercive force—the power to punish disobedience. This includes imprisonment, execution, fines, and exile. Dictatorships often hold a monopoly on this force through control of the military and police.

  • Reward: Gaining obedience via the promise of benefits, such as higher wages, better housing, increased social status, or professional rank.

• Political Systems Defined:

  • Plutocracy: A society or government dominated by the wealthy, where money translates directly to power (e.g., the Roman Empire or certain Ancient Greek city-states).

  • Theocracy: A system where authority is derived from religious ideas or divine mandates.

  • Realpolitik: A pragmatic approach to politics focused on the practicalities of gaining and retaining power, rather than moral or ideological considerations.

• Foundations of Authority in Dictatorships:

  • Nazi Germany: Adolf Hitler based his authority on the concept of the Volk (the ethnic German people) and the Volksgemeinschaft (people's community).

  • Soviet Union: Authority stemmed from the Communist Party, which claimed to represent the proletariat (urban working class) and Marxist-Leninist ideology.

  • Fascist Italy: Benito Mussolini linked his authority to the historical glory of Ancient Rome, aiming to create a "Third Rome."

  • Militarist Japan: Authority was centered on loyalty to Emperor Hirohito, whom the public viewed as a god, combining militarism with elements of theocracy.

The Aftermath of World War I and the Peace Process

• The End of Fighting: The Great War ($1914$–$1918$) ended with the armistice on $11$ November $1918$. The Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey) collapsed sequentially.

• Human and Financial Cost:

  • Over $9,000,000$ soldiers were killed.

  • An additional $5,000,000$ civilians died due to food shortages.

  • The total financial cost is estimated at over $300$ billion.

• Geopolitical Shifts: The war led to the collapse of four major imperial powers: the German Empire, the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This period marked the decline of European dominance and the rise of the United States and Japan.

• The Paris Peace Conference ($1919$):

  • Attended by delegates from $32$ nations, though the "Great Powers" (Britain, France, USA, Italy, and Japan) set the rules.

  • Russia was excluded due to its separate treaty with the Central Powers in $1918$. Losing nations were only invited after terms were finalized.

The Role of the "Big Four" Leaders

• Georges Clemenceau (France): Aged $78$ in $1919$, he was motivated by the desire to ensure French security against Germany. He demanded a harsh peace, including:

  • Reparations for war damages.

  • A limit of $100,000$ troops for the German army and a ban on conscription.

  • The navy restricted to six battleships and no air force permitted.

  • Loss of all German colonies and significant European territory.

• David Lloyd George (Britain): A pragmatic politician who sought British security by seizing the German navy and maintaining a blockade. However, he feared that crippling Germany too severely would make France overly dominant or destroy Britain's export market.

• Vittorio Orlando (Italy): Sought major territorial gains along the Adriatic coastline. He left the conference dissatisfied when these ambitions were blocked by other powers, eventually leading to his political downfall and the rise of Mussolini.

• Woodrow Wilson (USA): An idealist who proposed the "Fourteen Points" as a basis for peace, advocating for self-determination and the creation of a League of Nations. He believed the US could offer a moral "high road" to avoid future conflicts.

The Treaty of Versailles and Its Consequences

• Key Provisions: Included the "War Guilt Clause" (Article $231$), where Germany accepted full responsibility for the war. It mandated heavy reparations and significant territorial losses (e.g., the "Polish Corridor," Alsace-Lorraine).

• Impact on Germany: The treaty was viewed as a diktat (a dictated peace) because no negotiations were allowed. This fueled the "stab in the back" myth—the false belief that the German army was undefeated but betrayed by domestic revolutionaries and politicians.

• US Rejection: The US Senate failed to ratify the treaty, meaning the US never joined the League of Nations, significantly weakening the organization from its inception.

The Structure and Failure of the League of Nations

• Objective: To promote international cooperation and maintain peace through "collective security."

• Structure:

  • The Assembly: All member states participating with one vote each.

  • The Council: Comprised of the Great Powers (initially Britain, France, Italy, and Japan) and several non-permanent members.

  • The Secretariat: $600$ professional administrators based in Geneva, Switzerland.

• Limitations: The League lacked its own military force. Its effectiveness was hampered by the absence of the US and the reluctance of member nations to prioritize collective security over their own national interests.

The Rise of European Dictatorships

• Historical Context: Mark Mazower described interwar Europe as the "Dark Continent," where democracy was fragile and increasingly replaced by authoritarian alternatives.

• Economic Factors: The Great Depression ($1929$) caused global trade to collapse—from $58$ billion in $1928$ to $20.6$ billion by $1935$. This instability fueled extremism.

• The Soviet Union (Stalinism):

  • Lenin's Legacy: Established the "Red Terror" and centralized Bolshevik control.

  • Stalin's Rise: Following Lenin's death in $1924$, Stalin outmaneuvered Leon Trotsky. He used "patronage" (granting jobs and housing) to build loyalty.

  • Collectivization: Consolidated private peasant land into collective farms (kolkhozy). This caused a decline in livestock and led to a famine in $1946$ killing over $1,000,000$ people.

  • The Great Purge ($1937$–$1938$): Stalin eliminated potential rivals, including "Old Bolsheviks" and military leaders. By $1940$, he successfully orchestrated the assassination of Trotsky in Mexico.

• Fascist Italy:

  • Origins: Founded by Mussolini in $1919$ amid economic recession and fear of communism.

  • Consolidation: Following the March on Rome in $1922$, Mussolini gradually dismantled democracy. The "second wave" of Fascism in $1925$–$1926$ suppressed individual freedoms and the press.

Japanese Militarism

• Nature of Rule: Unlike European dictatorships led by one charismatic man, Japan was governed by a military oligarchy—an "autocratic bureaucracy."

• Hideki Tojo ("The Razor"): A product of the samurai tradition, Tojo became Prime Minister and held multiple ministries. His power was always subject to the authority of the Army and the Emperor.

• Factions: The Kodo Ha (Imperial Way, favoring a military revolution) clashed with the Tosei Ha (Control Faction, favoring influence within the existing system). Tojo belonged to the Tosei Ha.

• Ambition: Driven by a perceived racial superiority and a need for resources, Japan sought to control Manchuria and China to provide iron, coal, and food for its growing population.

The Nazi Regime in Germany

• The Fall of Weimar: Democracy collapsed due to a lack of deep-rooted support, the trauma of the WWI defeat, and the economic ruin of hyperinflation and the Great Depression. Article $48$ of the constitution—allowing the President to rule by decree—was frequently abused.

• Nazi Ideology: Rooted in the Führerprinzip (leader principle), Volksgemeinschaft, and virulent antisemitism. Hitler argued that the German "Aryan" race was in a survival-of-the-fittest struggle against inferior races, primarily Jews.

• Consolidation of Power ($1933$–$1934$):

  • Reichstag Fire ($27$ February $1933$): Used to justify the "Decree for the Protection of People and State," suspending civil rights.

  • Enabling Act ($1933$): Gave Hitler the power to enact laws without the Reichstag.

  • Gleichschaltung: The "coordination" of all aspects of society under Nazi control.

  • Night of the Long Knives ($30$ June $1934$): Hitler used the SS to murder Ernst Roehm and other SA leaders to gain the support of the regular army.

• Control Methods:

  • Propaganda: Managed by Joseph Goebbels. Included the Volksempfanger (people’s radio) to reach $70\%$ of households.

  • Terror: The Gestapo (Secret Police) and the SS maintained order through fear, though historians like Gotz Aly argue the regime also maintained popularity through economic "rewards."

  • Youth & Women: Membership in the Hitler Youth became compulsory in $1936$. Women were encouraged to focus on "Children, Kitchen, and Church," though labor needs for rearmament forced many back into the workforce by $1938$.

The Collapse of Peace and the United Nations

• Appeasement: Britain and France, led by Neville Chamberlain, initially conceded to Hitler’s territorial demands (e.g., the Rhineland, Austria/Anschluss, the Sudetenland) to avoid another war.

• The Path to War: Germany’s military spending increased rapidly ($17\%$ of GDP in $1938$; $23\%$ in $1939$). War broke out in Europe in September $1939$ and in the Pacific in December $1941$.

• The United Nations (UN):

  • Born from the failure of the League and the principles of the Atlantic Charter ($1941$).

  • Created on $24$ October $1945$.

  • Structural Improvements: Unlike the League, the UN has the capacity to raise a military force and introduced the "veto" for major powers in the Security Council to ensure participation of Great Powers.

Questions & Discussion

• Elements of Power: What are the twin elements? Fear and reward. Fear is exercised through punishment (coercive force); reward is granted through status or material gain.

• Plutocracy: What is it? A society dominated by the wealthy. Examples in Australia could be powerful corporate lobbies or wealthy influential families.

• Hitler's Authority: Where did it come from? It was claimed to derive from the Volk and the service of the Volksgemeinschaft.

• Sui Generis: Why is this term used for dictatorships? It means "unique." It reminds historians to study each regime (Nazi, Stalinist, Fascist, Japanese) by its own individual social and cultural factors rather than assuming they are identical.

• Lessons of 1919: Historian Margaret Macmillan suggests power involves "will"—specifically the will to spend money and lives. In $1919$, the European powers had lost this capacity after the trauma of the Great War.