An Age of Anxiety: Totalitarianism, Marxism, and Global Crisis

Vocabulary and Core Definitions

Nationalize: This term refers to the act of placing resources or industries under government control. * Example provided: Following the revolution that spanned from $1910$ to $1920$ , the nation of Mexico nationalized its petroleum industry.
Proletariat: This represents the working class, consisting of the masses of workers.
Bourgeoisie: This class refers to the capitalists, specifically the factory and large business-owning class.
Petty Bourgeoisie: Individuals who fall into the category of small business owners.
Totalitarian (Government): A system of government that exerts total or near-total control over all aspects of the lives of its citizens.
Communism (Marxism): A political and economic system based on the theoretical foundations laid by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. * Communists typically view their movement as a world-wide struggle aimed at ending class conflict and inequality. * Historically, governments that claimed to be communist often operated more as socialist oligarchies or totalitarian dictatorships rather than true collectives.

Major Patterns of the Early 20th Century

Political Revolutions: Major political upheavals occurred in Mexico, Russia, and China.
Totalitarian Development: While Western Europe saw a partial recovery from World War I (WWI), totalitarian regimes emerged in Russia, Italy, and Germany.
Industrial Shifts: The United States and Japan ascended as global industrial giants.
Economic Hardship: Much of the Western world experienced significant economic suffering due to the Great Depression.
Scientific and Cultural Shifts: * Advances were made in the fields of physics and psychology. * Women experienced a shift toward greater personal freedom. * Modernist Artistic Styles: Emerging styles included Expressionism, Cubism, Dada, Surrealism, and Art Deco. * Music and Architecture: The rise of Jazz music and architectural movements such as Functionalism and the Bauhaus style. * Note: Styles like Cubism, Dada, and Surrealism partially reflected the anxiety and uncertainty prevalent in the years following WWI. * The revolutions and industrial shifts mentioned above challenged the long-held notion of Western European world dominance.

Development of the Totalitarian Regime in Russia

The Fall of the Romanovs: The 300-year-long Romanov czarist dynasty ended due to several converging factors: * Social and economic inequalities and widespread unrest. * The loss of and humiliation resulting from the Russo-Japanese War ( $1904$ ). * The weak leadership displayed by Czar Nicholas II. * Sustained losses, suffering, and anger generated by World War I. * The rise of radical revolutionary groups, including the return of Vladimir Lenin to Russia in $1917$ .
Timeline of the Revolution and Civil War: * 1915: Czar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate the throne. * 1917: The Czar and his family were ultimately executed. * 1917 (Provisional Government): A provisional democratic government led by Alexander Kerenski lasted only a few months. * 1917 (October Revolution): The Bolsheviks overthrew the provisional government. * March 1918: The Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, allowing Russia to exit World War I. * 1918 – 1920 (Russian Civil War): A conflict between the Bolsheviks (the "Reds" or communists) and the Mensheviks (the "Whites" or democratic-socialists). The White movement received support from several Western nations, including the United States. * 1920: The Bolsheviks won the civil war, and Lenin became the leader of Russia. * 1924: The nation’s name was changed to the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union.

Marxist Ideology and the Path to Communism

Origins: Karl Marx witnessed the exploitation of the industrial proletariat in 19th-century Europe. He co-authored The Communist Manifesto and wrote Das Kapital to outline his plan for a communist state.
The Steps to Communism: 1. Conflict occurs between the bourgeoisie and proletariat social classes. 2. A violent rebellion is sparked by the industrial proletariat (working class). 3. The capitalist/democratic state is overthrown. 4. Workers seize control over factors of production and establish a temporary "dictatorship of the proletariat." 5. In this transitional phase (Socialism), the state controls all economic decision-making. 6. Class hierarchies begin to dissolve. 7. As a harmonious and classless society develops, the need for government control dissolves. 8. The final emergence of a truly egalitarian communist society that operates without the need for formal government institutions or laws.
General Definition of Marxism: A utopian economic system envisioned by Marx and Engels as the final step in the evolution from feudalism, mercantilism, and capitalism. * All factors of production—land (and resources), labor, and capital (factories, machines, tools, and investment money)—are controlled by the proletariat and shared equally for the benefit of all. * Private property is abolished. * Goods and services are shared based on the principle: "To each person based on need, from each person based on skill and ability."
Symbolism: The Soviet hammer and sickle symbolize the unity of industrial and agricultural workers.

Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union

Stalin’s Background: Joseph Stalin ( $1879$ – $1953$ ) was Georgian. His mother’s influence led him to an Orthodox seminary education. He emerged triumphed over rivals after Lenin's death in $1924$ as the "Man of Steel."
Key Policies and Concepts: * Collectivization: A policy eliminating private ownership of farmland to create large state-run collective farms. * This targeted the Kulaks (wealthy land-owning peasants). * De-kulakization: This policy involved seizing land and resulted in the starvation and murder of millions of peasants. * Stalin halted collectivization in $1931$ , proclaiming it a success. * Five-Year Plan: State planning of industrial production emphasizing rapid growth and national defense. * The Gosplan directed the focus on steel, coal, oil, and electricity, while consumer goods were neglected. * Socialist Realism: A school of art that emphasized heroic idealizations of workers, soldiers, and peasants, frequently used as Pro-Communist Party propaganda. * Socialism in One Country: Stalin's approach to establishing a communist stronghold within the USSR before focusing on international revolution.
The Great Purge ( $1935$ – $1938$ ): An internal party conflict where Stalin removed all suspected opposition. * The "Congress of Victors" became the "Congress of Victims." * Two-thirds of the Central Committee and half of the high-ranking army officers were removed. * Victims were executed or sent to labor camps. * Between $1937$ and $1938$ , more than $1.5$ million people were detained, and $681,692$ were shot.

Understanding Fascism

Definition: An ultra-nationalist government characterized by a charismatic authoritarian leader.
Key Traits: * Denial of individual rights. * Abolition of labor unions. * Militaristic foreign policy. * Xenophobia: Fear of foreigners. * Corporatism: The organization of society into common interest groups supervised and regulated by the government. * Primacy of the state over the individual. * Ethnocentrism, Chauvinism, and Anti-communism.
Origins: The movement began in Italy under Benito Mussolini and was later expanded upon by Adolf Hitler and the NAZI party in Germany. The term comes from the "fasces," a Roman symbol of authority consisting of an axe surrounded by wooden rods.

Rise of Fascism in Italy and Germany

Common Factors for the Rise of Fascism: * Anger and resentment regarding the treaties and results of World War I. * Social unrest driven by unemployment and high inflation. * Fear of communism among the upper classes. * Perceived weakness of existing governments to solve national problems, leading to a search for a "messiah" or savior figure.
Italy and Mussolini: * The public was disappointed with weak territorial gains after WWI. * October 1921: The "March on Rome" occurred. King Emmanuel III offered Mussolini the office of Prime Minister. * Blackshirts: Mussolini’s paramilitary unit utilized to exert influence. * 1926: Mussolini seized power as "Il Duce" (the leader).
Germany and Hitler: * 1921: Hitler became chairman of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazis). * 1923: Hitler attempted to overthrow the government and wrote Mein Kampf during his imprisonment. * Hitler capitalized on public discontent over the "War Guilt Clause," reparation payments, and the failure of major parties to reach a consensus. * Consolidation of Power: Nazis became the largest party in parliament between $1930$ and $1932$ . * 1933: President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Hitler as Chancellor. * Hitler quickly suppressed opposition, canceled constitutional rights, and made the Nazi party the sole legal party, purging the judiciary and civil service.

Totalitarian Methods of Political Control

Propaganda: Spreading biased or incomplete information via posters, speeches, radio, television, and the internet to influence beliefs and actions.
Censorship: Government control and restriction of news that contradicts official policy.
Indoctrination: Instructing citizens, particularly the youth, in government beliefs through the education system and youth organizations.
Religious Persecution: Banning religious organizations seen as threats and jailing their members.
Fear: Using the threat of arrest or state-sponsored violence (via secret police) to crush opposition.
Purges: The physical elimination or execution of political enemies.

The Great Depression and Economic Experimentation

The Debt Cycle: Austria and Germany borrowed money from the U.S. to pay war debts to France and England. France and England used those payments to pay back the U.S. for WWI loans. The system relied on U.S. cash flow, which stopped in $1928$ .
Causes and Contraction: * Technological Disruptions: Reclaimed rubber destroyed the economies of the Dutch East Indies, Malaysia, and Ceylon. * Agricultural Surpluses: Overproduction in the $1920s$ caused wheat prices to hit their lowest point in $400$ years. This led to dropped farm income and decreased demand for goods. * The Crash of 1929: Known as "Black Thursday" (October 24, 1929). Investors sold off stocks purchased on margin (as low as $3\%$ ). * By $1932$ , U.S. industrial production was half of $1929$ levels, and $44\%$ of U.S. banks had failed.
Global Impact: Japan (dependent on manufactured exports) and South American single-export countries were among the hardest hit.
Policy Responses: * Planned Scarcity: In the U.S., animals and crops were destroyed to raise prices (witnessed in Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath). * Keynesian Economics: John Maynard Keynes ( $1883$ – $1946$ ) argued for stimulating the economy by lowering interest rates to encourage investment and employment. * The New Deal: Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s program for recovery. * Totalitarian states (USSR, Italy, Germany) avoided some effects through heavy state control of economic activity.

Intellectual and Cultural Postwar Shift

Postwar Pessimism: The term "Lost Generation" (coined by Gertrude Stein) described the disillusionment following WWI. Oswald Spengler wrote Decline of the West, emphasizing pessimism regarding human progress.
Physics: * Albert Einstein: Theory of special relativity stated that time and space are not absolute and vary with the observer. * Werner Heisenberg: The "Uncertainty Principle" suggested limits to what could be known about subatomic particles; these concepts were extended to humanities.
Psychology: Sigmund Freud ( $1856$ – $1939$ ) explored the subconscious mind, sexual repression, dream interpretation, and free association.
Art: * Photography made realism irrelevant; art became about creation, not reproduction. * Retreat into abstraction (eugenics, Pablo Picasso, Cubism). * Movements like Dada and Surrealism reflected the disappearance of the distinction between "good" and "bad" art.

The Nazi Racial State

Theory: Focused on racial superiority and purity.
Policies: * Pronatalist propaganda: Encouraging "racially pure" births. * Eugenics: Included periodic compulsory sterilization ( $30,000$ Germans). * Medical Controls: Abortions were illegal for healthy Germans but mandatory for the "hereditary ill" or "racial aliens." * Euthanasia Program: Between $1939$ and $1945$ , $200,000$ people with physical or mental handicaps were killed.
Anti-Semitism: * 1935 Nuremberg Laws: Prohibited marriages between Jews and non-Jews; removed Jews from civil service and schools; liquidated Jewish businesses. * Kristallnacht: November 9–10, 1938. Known as the "Night of Broken Glass," it was a country-wide pogrom (riot/massacre) directed at Jews.