Rise of Totalitarianism
Changes In Society after World War I
World War I shattered the sense of optimism that had grown in the West since the Enlightenment.
New technologies connected people around the world, creating a mass culture shared by developed countries.
Many young people, disillusioned by the war, rejected the moral values of the Victorian Age during the 1920s.
Roaring Twenties / The Jazz Age
The "Roaring Twenties" and the "Jazz Age" captured the rapid cultural change of the 1920s, especially in the U.S.
Jazz music became widely popular due to the radio audience and the African American migration to cities.
Jazz evolved from African American music in the South, like ragtime and blues.
African Americans combined Western harmonies with African rhythms to create Jazz.
Jazz Musicians
Duke Ellington: A celebrated jazz musician of the 1920s, known as a pianist, composer, and bandleader.
Louis Armstrong: A popular jazz trumpeter and singer who popularized "scat."
Scat: Using the voice to replace words with nonsense syllables.
Women’s Lives
Flappers: Young women of the 1920s who defied convention and broke norms were a symbol of the rebellious Jazz Age youth.
Flappers symbolized women’s desire to break with the past, though they were relatively few in number.
Many women felt freer to experiment with bolder styles and manners during the 1920s.
The status of women in the workplace changed very little in the 1920s.
New technologies and attitudes allowed some women to be emancipated from traditional roles and pursue careers.
As of 1920, women in the U.S. could vote in all elections.
Reactions to the Jazz Age
Prohibition: The 18th Amendment to the Constitution took effect in 1920, prohibiting all alcoholic beverages in the U.S.
The main goals of Prohibition seemed worthy:
Eliminate drunkenness to prevent abuse.
Get rid of saloons, where prostitution, gambling, and other vices thrived.
Prevent absenteeism and on-the-job accidents stemming from drunkenness.
Getting around Prohibition
Bootleggers supplied illegal alcohol during Prohibition.
Speakeasies were illegal bars that operated behind storefronts and pool rooms.
Supplying illegal liquor involved manufacture, transportation, storage, and sales.
This complexity, and bootlegging’s huge potential for profit, helped lead to the development of organized crime.
Challenges to Traditional Beliefs
Science and technology were taking a larger role in everyday life.
War and other problems were causing people to question God.
Some scholars were saying that the Bible was written by humans and contained contradictions and historical inaccuracies.
Fundamentalism
In response to these challenges, religious traditionalists published a series of 12 pamphlets called The Fundamentals between 1910 and 1915.
These pamphlets stated a set of beliefs that have come to be known as fundamentalism.
These beliefs included the view that the Bible was literally true and did not contain contradictions.
Evolution and the Scopes Trial
Fundamentalists opposed the teaching of evolution as they believed it contradicted the Bible.
They were successful at getting laws passed that prevented the teaching of evolution in public schools.
John Scopes taught evolution in Tennessee to deliberately challenge the constitutionality of a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution.
Scopes was convicted, but the trial is generally seen as a victory for evolutionists and a setback for fundamentalists, though their membership strength would continue to grow.
The Lost Generation
Group that rejected the quest for material possessions that seemed to occupy so many Americans.
Members scorned American popular culture as artless and uninspired.
Young adults in Europe and America in general, and writers in particular, who had become disillusioned with the world and Western Values after World War I.
The term for expatriate writers who were repelled by American popular culture and society in the 1920s.
Left the country to live in Paris.
Literature of the Inner Mind
Some writers experimented with stream of consciousness.
In this technique, a writer appears to present a character’s random thoughts and feelings without imposing any logic or order.
The Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement where African American artists and writers explored and expressed pride in their unique culture.
The movement began in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City that was home to many African Americans.
New Scientific Theories
Marie Curie and others proved that atoms were not solid and indivisible.
Albert Einstein developed the theory of Relativity (that measurements of space and time are not absolute but are determined by the relative position of the observer).
Enrico Fermi discovered that atoms could be split.
Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin paved the way for the development of antibiotics to treat infections.
Freud & Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud founded Psychoanalysis, the view that the subconscious mind drives much of behavior.
Society tends to repress these subconscious drives.
Freud believed that if those subconscious drives were overly suppressed by society, the result could be psychological or physical illness.
Modern Art
Abstract, Dada, Cubism, and Surrealism were all artistic movements that broke from traditional styles in an effort to reproduce the real world.
Surrealism attempted to portray the workings of the unconscious mind.
Abstract Art
Abstract Art composed only of lines, colors and shapes sometimes with no recognizable subject matter at all.
Dada art- collages, photomontages
Party Struggles in Britain
In Britain, in the 1920s, the Labour party surpassed the Liberal party in strength.
The Labour party gradually gained support among workers by promoting a move toward socialism.
As the Liberal party faltered, the middle class began to back the Conservative party along with the upper class, professionals, and farmers.
After a massive strike of over 3 million workers in 1926, Conservatives passed legislation limiting the power to strike.
Irish Independence
Britain still faced the “Irish question.”
In 1914, parliament had passed a home-rule bill that was shelved because of WWI.
Although it was quickly suppressed the Easter Rising of 1916, stirred support for the Irish cause.
When England continued to refuse to grant home-rule, in 1919, members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) began a guerrilla war against the British.
In 1922, Ireland was divided, in a compromise, the largest part became Irish Free State, but the Northern part (Protestant) remained under British rule.
The IRA continued to fight against the division.
“The Red Scare” in the U.S.
In June 1919, bombs exploded in several cities.
Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer (whose home was damaged by a bomb) was convinced that radicals were conspiring to overthrow the government.
Palmer set up a special task force to conduct raids and arrest suspected “subversives.”
The Palmer raids were organized to root out groups whose activities were a clear danger (in Palmer’s mind) to the country.
Laws to limit immigration especially Japanese and Chinese.
The Search for Peace
In 1925 Germany and France promised to never again make war against each other in the Locarno Pact.
Germany was admitted into the League of Nations.
In “the Spirit of Locarno” almost every nation agreed to renounce war as an instrument of national policy in the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
In this spirit, the great nations pursued disarmament.
The League of Nations was unable to stop Japan’s aggression in the Manchurian incident in 1931, a weakness noted by dictators.
Postwar Economics
Following WWI, most European countries were in economic crisis.
Britain and France both owed huge war debts to the U.S.
They relied on reparations from Germany to pay their debts to the U.S.
Germany’s economy was crushed by the war reparations it was forced to pay.
European countries made a shaky economic recovery during the 1920s.
The U.S. emerged from WWI as the world’s leading economic power.
1926 General Strike in GB, 9 days 3 million workers.
The Great Depression: Falling Demand Overproduction
Farmers and unskilled workers did not share in the U.S.’s economic boom after WWI.
When the war ended the demand for war supplies was over and the demand for raw materials was reduced.
Those who produced raw materials earned less and bought less.
Improved technology resulted in overproduction (i.e., production of goods exceeds demand for them).
As demand slowed factories cut back on production and workers lost jobs.
Crash & Collapse
During the 1920s, stock prices were rising in the U.S.
Because of his confidence in the business world Hoover did not discourage the wild buying of stocks with borrowed money.
Many of the people who were buying stock were buying on the margin, paying part of a stock's price and borrowing the rest.
Buying on the margin reflected a “get-rich-quick” attitude in America in the 1920s.
Consumers' desire for exciting new products and an unwillingness to save for them led to an increase in personal debt.
The Crash & Depression continues
In hopes of getting rich quick, many Americans engaged in speculation, the practice of making high-risk investments in hopes of a huge return.
In reality, the 1920s rise in the stock market mainly benefitted the rich.
A small percentage of families held most of the nation’s personal wealth. In 1929 0.1% of the population held 34% of the country’s total savings.
By contrast, 71% of individuals and families earned less than a year, an amount some experts considered the minimum standard of living.
Uneven prosperity, personal debt, overproduction, and stock market speculation were all signs of an unsound economy.
The Crash & Depression
In the fall of 1929, a sudden fall in stock prices resulted in a wave of panic selling.
In 1931, the Federal Reserve again increased interest rates, with disastrous effects.
People bought and invested less, businesses closed, and banks failed, throwing millions out of work.
People out of work could not buy things, decreasing demand and increasing the downward spiral of the economy.
Results of the Depression
Because Germany depended on American loans to pay its reparations to Great Britain and France, and because Great Britain and France depended on German reparations to repay its loans to the U.S., the Depression spread to the whole world.
All governments tried to respond to the depression.
Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal was major programs introduced in an attempt to end the depression.
The Great Depression created fertile ground for extremists who promised radical solutions.
Fascism in Italy
Fascism was the archenemy of communism, but fascism and communism did share some similar beliefs. These similarities were primarily in the area of the means to get to completely different ends.
Similarities (Communism vs. Fascism)
A. Both advocated dictatorial one party rule. (Totalitarianism)
B. Both denied individual rights.
C. Both insisted on the supremacy of the state.
D. Both scorned democracy.
E. Both advocated a planned economy/command economy (government regulated economy).
Fascism and Communism Major Differences
Fascism and Communism disagree on major issues. Most differences dealt with the ends or goals of what society should accomplish or be.
Major Differences
A. Fascists want to maintain the class system. Communists want to destroy the class system and create a classless society.
B. Fascist parties allied themselves with aristocrats and industrialists (upper and middle classes supported fascism). Communists claimed to be a dictatorship of the workers (Proletariat).
C. Fascists are extreme nationalists (even to the point of believing in the superiority of their “race”). Communists are internationalists hoping to unite workers of all countries in a class struggle.
D. Fascists want private property. Communists want public property. ( Community ownership of property)
Benito Mussolini, IL Duce:
Seized power in Italy as the leader of the Fascist Party in the 1922 with his March on Rome.
His Black shirts use force and intimidation for votes.
Military Fighting force/Personal Guard to "El Duce"
Mussolini comes to power in Italy
The first fascist party and government were started by Benito Mussolini in Italy.
Any party or government, which has beliefs and policies similar to Mussolini’s, has been called fascist.
Mussolini and Italy continued
After World War I many of Italy’s upper and middle classes feared that high inflation and unemployment might lead to a communist revolution. Many of these people turned to Mussolini.
After World War I Mussolini gathered a group of war veterans (the Blackshirts) to combat communism.
By attacking communists and socialists Mussolini’s fascists won support from the; middle classes, the aristocracy, and the industrialists.
Mussolini & Italy part III
In 1922, Mussolini and his Blackshirts began to march on Rome. The Italian king named Mussolini Premier/prime minister.
After Mussolini came to power he he quickly swept away parliamentary democracy in Italy. All political parties except the fascist were outlawed. He used the secret police to clamp down on all opposition.
Italy became the model for fascists in other countries.
Joseph Stalin
Stalin takes over the communist party. He does away with private property as he began an agriculture and industrial restructuring.
In 1928 he issues his Five Year Plan (to make USSR a world industrial power) Soviet Union will become the third largest industrial nation in the world. This was accomplished with great cost of life.
The USSR becomes a police state.
The Great Purge- move to get rid of all people who criticized him. Millions will die of starvation do to collectivization of the farms. It is estimated 8-13 million people died under Stalin rule.
The Soviet Union Under Stalin
Karl Marx had predicted that under communism the state would eventually wither away.
Under Stalin, the opposite occurred. He turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state controlled by a powerful and complex bureaucracy.
Forced Collectivization in Agriculture
The Soviet Union had a command economy (i.e. an economy where the government makes most economic decisions).
Stalin wanted all peasants to farm on state-owned farms called collectives.
Many peasants did not want to give up their land. They resisted collectivization by killing their farm animals, destroying tools, and burning crops.
Stalin believed the kulaks, or wealthy farmers were behind the resistance. He attempted to “liquidate the kulaks as a class,” he confiscated kulaks' land and sent them to work camps. Thousands were killed or worked to death.
The Terror Famine
Even after “de-kulakization,” angry peasants resisted collectivization, by growing just enough to feed themselves.
In response the government seized all of their grain, purposely leaving them to starve.
In 1932, this ruthless policy combined with poor harvests, led to terrible famine.
Later called the Terror Famine, it caused between 5 and 8 million to die of starvation in the Ukraine alone.
Collectivization increased Stalin’s control of the peasantry, but it did not improve farm output.
Feeding the population would remain a problem for the Soviet Union.
Stalin’s Terror Tactics
Stalin’s Communist party used secret police, torture, and violent purges to ensure obedience.
Stalin even stamped out any signs of dissent among the Communist elites.
Grumblers or critics were rounded up and sent to the Gulag, a system of brutal labor camps.
The Great Purge
In 1934, Stalin launched the Great Purge.
During this reign of terror Stalin and his secret police cracked down on Old Bolsheviks, or party activists from the early revolution.
He widened the net to include army heroes, industrial managers, writers, and ordinary citizens.
Between 1936 and 1938, Stalin staged “show trials.”
The Great Purge resulted in the killing or imprisonment of at least four million people.
Communist Attempts to Control Thought
Stalin used propaganda as a tool to build up a “cult of personality” around himself.
The Communist party newspaper Pravda or “Truth,” linked enemies at home to foreign agents seeking to overthrow the Communist regime.
Stalin required artists and writers to create works in a style called socialist realism. Its goal was to show Soviet life in a positive light and promote hope in the communist future.
More Policies of Stalin
Stalin attempted to make non-Russian cultures in the Soviet Union more Russian in a policy known as russification.
The communist party in Russia attempted to destroy the religious faith of the people to reinforce the official communist belief of atheism.
The New Elite Takes Control
The Communists destroyed the old social order of landowning nobles at the top and peasants at the bottom.
But instead of creating the “classless society” of equals, a new group of elites emerged.
The new elite included members of the Communist party, industrial managers, military leaders, scientists, and some artists and writers.
Being a member of the elite had great privileges, but it also increased the possibility of being a victim of one of Stalin’s purges.
The Soviet Union’s Conflicting Foreign Policy
As Communists both Stalin and Lenin wanted to bring about the worldwide communist revolution that Marx predicted.
As Soviets they wanted to guarantee their nations’ security by winning the support of other countries.
The result of pursuing these two different goals was a contradictory and unsuccessful foreign policy.
The Comintern created by Lenin worked to spread worldwide communist revolution.
The Comintern’s support for communist revolutions in the rest of the world created mistrust from the Western powers.
Even so the Soviet Union slowly won recognition from the Western powers and increased trade with capitalist countries.
Adolf Hitler & the Rise of Nazi Germany
Adolf Hitler was born not in Germany but in Austria
When WWI broke out Hitler joined the German army. He twice won the Iron Cross.
Adolf Hitler joins the Nazi Party Fuhrer (the leader) His followers are called the Brown Shirts (Storm troopers) they intimidated the people with violence.
Hitler and Nazi Germany continued
After WWI Hitler went to Munich, Germany where he joined a right wing group. This group later called itself the National Socialist German Workers Party, Nazi for short.
Also called National Socialism but the only thing socialist about the party was the desire for a government run economy.
The Nazis set up a private army called the Storm Troopers. The Storm Troopers were also called the Brownshirts and the SA.
Hitler and Nazi Germany continued
He attempts to take over the Munich Govt. but is arrested in what is called the Beer Hall Putche.
(My Struggle). In it contains his plan of govt. and his racist ideas of anti-Semitism, which states that Germans are the master race.
Hitler and Nazi Germany
While in prison Hitler wrote the book Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In this book he spelled out his fascist views and his goals for Germany.
During the prosperity of the mid-1920s Nazi strength declined, but when the depression hit things changed.
No country suffered more from the depression than Germany. Many Germans came to think they had to choose between communism and Nazism. Most chose the Nazis.
Hitler and Nazi Germany continues
Industrialists, the upper class and the middle class backed Hitler because they feared they might lose everything in a communist revolution.
The Nazis became the largest party in Germany, but they were still not a majority (i.e. over half the population).
In 1933 Germany’s president Hindenburg named Hitler Chancellor. Hitler and the Nazis seemed to be the only ones who could restore order to Germany.
Hitler quickly called for new Reichstag (Germany’s Parliament) elections.
Hitler and Nazi Germany:
Before the elections were held someone set fire to the Reichstag building. Reichstag was the name for both the building where the parliament met and for the parliament itself.
The Nazis blamed the communist for the Reichstag fire. (Many historians believe the Nazis set the fire).
By stirring up fear of communism the Nazis and their allies won a majority of seats in the Reichstag.
The majority enabled the Nazis to exclude communists from the Reichstag. This gave them the two-thirds majority vote they needed to pass the Enabling Act.
The Enabling Act
The Enabling Act gave Hitler the right to declare laws for the next four years without the approval of the Reichstag. This act made Hitler dictator.
Hitler banned all competing parties.
Hitler used the secret police, called the Gestapo, to put down all political opposition.
Hitler used the Jews (in addition to the Versailles Treaty, the Weimar Republic, & communists) as a scapegoat for Germany’s problems.
Nazis persecute the jews
In 1935, the Nazis passed the Nuremberg Laws, depriving Jews of citizenship and political rights. Jews were forced to wear a Star of David to identify them.
In 1938, on the Kristallnacht “night of broken glass,” Nazi mobs looted Jewish shops, burned synagogues, and beat Jews on the streets and in their homes.
Japan
When the depression struck Japan military leaders soon won control of the country.
The militarists planned to solve Japan’s economic problems by building a Pacific empire.
They believed an empire would give Japan the raw materials and markets they needed.
In 1931, the Japanese army seized Manchuria, China’s northeast province.
The Japanese considered their emperor divine (the cult of the emperor) (also called State Shinto). The military leaders who ruled in the emperor’s name used this cult to win support.
Dictatorships, Aggression, and the League of Nations
As these new authoritarian/totalitarian dictatorships began to act aggressively and began to conquer weaker countries, the League of Nations proved too weak to do anything.
The U.S. had never joined the League of Nations. This weakened the League’s power.
Britain and France both proved unwilling to act against aggressive dictators.
In 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia and conquered it by 1936.
In 1937, after a border incident Japanese troops invaded Northern China.
The League of Nations Fails
The League of Nations condemned all of these aggressive acts but was unable or unwilling to do anything.
In 1936, Germany formed an alliance with both Italy and Japan. These countries became known as the Axis powers.