Study Notes: The Inter-War Years, World War II, and the Cold War Era

The Inter-War Years: Global Economy and the Rise of Dictators

• The Inter-War Period ($1920-1930$) and the Global Economy     * The world focused on recovering from the massive costs of World War I ($WWI$).     * The Central Powers: Defeated nations were forced to relinquish land and colonies. Germany, in particular, struggled to pay heavy reparations dictated by the Treaty of Versailles.     * The Allied Powers: Even victorious nations faced difficulty financing repairs for damages to homes and cities.

• Uneven Prosperity After the War     * The United States: Experienced a booming economy during the "Roaring Twenties."         * Rise of Jazz music.         * Increased consumerism fueled by continued industrialization.         * Introduction of movie theaters and radio.         * New roles for women, including suffrage.     * Europe: Faced significant recovery hurdles; trade slowed significantly.     * Newly Formed Eastern European Nations: These states were not industrialized and relied heavily on imports.     * Winners (Great Britain and France): Despite winning, they needed to rebuild from extensive wartime battles; factories, homes, and farms were destroyed.     * Germany: Severely crippled by WWI debt and reparations.

• The Global Depression ($1930$s)     * Worldwide economic collapse caused by war effects, bad spending, and poor decisions.     * Causes of the Great Depression ($C.R.A.S.H.$):         * C - Credit expanded rapidly: Americans bought stocks, investments, and consumer goods on credit. Banks had fewer rules regarding loans and consumer protection.         * R - Reparations: Germany owed $\$33\,\text{billion}$ in reparations. The US provided loans to help, but Germany couldn't keep up. German colonies and coal/iron reserves were seized via the Treaty of Versailles. Germany printed excessive money, leading to Inflation (where money loses value because physical currency increases while goods/services remain static).         * A - American Industries Overproduced: by $1929$, the US produced nearly half of the world's industrial goods, but most people lacked the money to buy them.         * S - Stock Market Crash: On October $29$, $1929$ ("Black Tuesday"), stock prices collapsed following massive panic-selling. Banks failed, and citizens lost their life savings.         * H - High Protective Tariffs: The US placed high taxes on imports to encourage domestic buying. Other countries retaliated with their own tariffs, causing global trade to plummet.

• Economic and Social Effects of the Depression     * Spread quickly from the US to the rest of the world.     * Widespread bank failures, loss of savings, and a total collapse of the credit system.     * High unemployment in industrial countries (e.g., US, Great Britain, France).     * Colonies and export-dependent economies were hit hard as demand for their primary goods dropped.

Government Responses and the Rise of Totalitarianism

• Active Government Roles in Economies     * United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced The New Deal.         * Influenced by John Maynard Keynes (Keynesian economics), advocating for government deficit spending to stimulate growth.         * Short-term: Built dams, highways, bridges, and parks to create jobs.         * Long-term: Social Security, minimum wage, and support for unions and farmers.         * The US did not fully exit the depression until the massive spending for $WWII$.     * Totalitarianism: Governments promised strength and growth where democracy seemed to fail. Millions in social instability turned to non-democratic leaders.     * Germany (Weimar Republic): The weak democratic government lost credibility due to poverty and inflation.     * Soviet Union: Implemented Joseph Stalin's Five Year Plans involving state-owned production and repression.     * Brazil and Mexico: Governments with strong popular support but authoritarian leanings.

• Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler ($1933-1945$)     * Hitler's Nazi Party gained popularity by offering solutions to the economic crisis.     * Ideology and Policies:         * Extreme Nationalism: Promoted the idea that Germans were a superior people.         * Anti-Semitism: Extreme hostility and prejudice toward Jews, who were blamed for economic problems.         * Juden Raus! ($1936$): A children's board game ("Jews Out") used to promote anti-Semitic ideas.         * Nuremberg Race Laws ($1935$): Authorized the government to determine who was Jewish; controlled marriage and jobs; eventually led to the separation of people into labor camps and the Holocaust.     * Aggression: Annexed Austria ($Anschluss$) and the Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia); militarized the Rhineland. Western powers used "appeasement," which failed to stop him.

• Fascist Italy under Benito Mussolini ($1922-1943$)     * Developed Fascism: Emphasized extreme nationalism and loyalty to the state/leader.     * Desired to restore the "glory of Rome."     * Invaded Ethiopia to build an African empire. The League of Nations condemned the act but was powerless.

• Fascist-Corporatist Economic Policies     * Theory of Corporatism: Sectors (employers, unions, government) are separate organs of one system supporting the whole nation.     * Private ownership remained, but the state imposed its will on all economic parts.

• Imperial Japan ($1926-1945$)     * Led by Emperor Hirohito (ceremonial figurehead) and Hideki Tojo (military leader).     * Militarism: Argued military expansion ensured economic security.     * Industrialization fueled a demand for raw materials, prompting an empire search.     * Invaded Korea, Manchuria ($1932$ - established puppet state Manchukuo), and eventually China.

• The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin ($1928-1953$)     * Solidified communism via the Five Year Plans for rapid industrialization.     * Collectivization of Farms: Eliminated individual ownership, leading to mass famine, especially the Holodomor in Ukraine ($4\,\text{million}$ deaths).     * Great Purge: Movement to eliminate anyone disloyal to Stalin through arrests, "show" trials, and executions.     * Secret Police: Used to arrest citizens for disloyalty, sending them to "gulags" (labor camps).

Comparative Ideologies and Regional Developments

• Communism vs. Fascism     * Communism: Dictatorship/one-party rule; State is supreme; State ownership of production; Goal of a classless society; World revolution.     * Fascism: Dictatorship/one-party rule; State is supreme; Private ownership permitted; Maintains class structure; Military expansion.

• Mexico in the Inter-War Period     * Land reform under Lazaro Cardenas ($1930$s).     * Nationalization of oil: Created Petroloes Mexicans (PEMEX), one of the world's largest state-owned companies.     * The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) dominated through corporatist policies.

• Brazil in the Inter-War Period     * $1930$: Bloodless coup brought Getuilo Vargas to power.     * Promoted pro-industrial policies and "hypernationalism" (similar to fascism but less violent). Aligned with Allies in $WWII$.

The Road to World War II ($1939-1945$)

• Causes of WWII ($A.G.G.R.E.S.S.I.O.N.$):     * A - Appeasement: Allies (led by Neville Chamberlain) gave in to Hitler's demands.     * G - German Aggression: Annexation of Austria ($Anschluss$, $1938$), and the Sudetenland crisis (Munich Agreement).     * G - German Nationalism: Fascist/Totalitarian militarism.     * R - Real Immediate Cause: Hitler's invasion of Poland (Sept. $1$, $1939$) using Blitzkrieg ("Lightning War").     * E - Everyone Ignores League of Nations: The League was too weak to enforce peace.     * S - Shocking Treaty of Versailles: Created a desire for revenge in Germany and Italy.     * S - Say No to War: Pacifism and isolationism in Britain, France, and the US.     * I - Italy Wants Land: Aggressive nationalism under Mussolini.     * O - Obsessive Imperialist Aspirations: Germany, Italy, and Japan seeking empires.     * N - No One Stops Japan: Japanese aggression in Asia (Manchuria).

• Major Alliances and Leaders     * Axis Powers: Germany (Hitler), Italy (Mussolini - until $1943$), Japan (Hirohito and Tojo).     * Allied Powers: Britain (Chamberlain, then Churchill), USSR (Stalin), US (Roosevelt, then Truman), China, France.

• Key Figures Summary:     * Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR): US President; called Pearl Harbor bombing a "date that will live in infamy."     * Harry Truman: Vice-president/President; authorized atomic bombs on Japan ($1945$).     * Neville Chamberlain: British PM associated with the Munich Agreement and appeasement.     * Winston Churchill: British PM who stated "Appeasement does not work!"     * Dwight D. Eisenhower: General of US forces in Europe; planned D-Day.     * Douglas MacArthur: General of US forces in the Pacific; rebuilt Japan post-war.     * George Marshall: General who created the Marshall Plan (economic aid).

Key Events and Theaters of the Second World War

• Total War: Like $WWI$, governments used propaganda, media, and intense nationalism to mobilize resources and populations (home and colonies).     * New tech: Enigma Machine (code-breaking), Atomic Bomb, fire-bombing of cities.

• Major Theaters: Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands.

• Timeline of Key Events:     * Sept 1, 1939: Invasion of Poland (The Spark).     * Summer 1940: Fall of France; British army evacuated at Dunkirk.     * 1940-1941: Battle of Britain; UK cities bombed; Britain uses radar and stolen Enigma code machine to resist.     * June 22, 1941: Operation Barbarossa; Hitler invades the USSR; Russians use "scorched earth policy."     * Dec 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; US enters the war.     * June 6, 1944: D-Day; Allied invasion of Normandy, France.     * Aug 6 & 9, 1945: Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings ($70,000$ killed instantly in Hiroshima; $40,000$ in Nagasaki).

Post-War Aftermath and Reconstruction

• Differences from WWI: Instead of punishment, the Allies helped the losers rebuild into democracies.

• $M.A.G.I.C.$ Reconstruction Efforts:     * M - MacArthur and Marshall: MacArthur rebuilt Japan (wrote constitution); Marshall Plan provided $\$13\,\text{billion}$ to Europe.     * A - Asia and Europe's Economies: Japan became a leader in autos/high-tech; West Germany became Europe’s largest economy (coal, steel, cars).     * G - Guaranteed Security: US guaranteed security for Japan and West Germany to prevent remilitarization.     * I - Incapable of Military: Both nations were restricted from having strong independent militaries.     * C - Creation of Democracy: Japan and West Germany became two of the strongest democracies.

• A New World Order:     * United Nations ($1945$): For peacekeeping; UN Declaration of Human Rights ($1948$).     * Collective Security: NATO (West) vs. Warsaw Pact (East).     * War Crimes: Nuremberg Trials for Nazi leaders ("Crimes Against Humanity"); Tojo executed in Japan ($1948$).     * The Iron Curtain: Term coined by Churchill to describe the division between Democratic West and Communist East Europe.

The Holocaust and 20th Century Genocides

• The Holocaust (Germany):     * Mass slaughter of $6\,\text{million}$ Jews ($12\,\text{million}$ total civilians including Roma, Poles, disabled).     * Concentration Camps: Imprisonment (e.g., Dachau).     * Extermination Camps: Murder (e.g., Auschwitz-Birkenau, $1.1\,\text{million}$ killed).     * Final Solution: Coordinated at the Wannsee Conference; utilized tactics like Kristallnacht, Ghettos, and Einsatzgruppen (killing squads).

• Armenian Genocide ($1915$): Ottoman Empire (Young Turks) massacred $1\,\text{million}$ Armenians via deportations and death marches.

• Holodomor (Ukraine, $1932-1933$): Man-made famine in USSR; targets included Kulaks (prosperous peasants); $4\,\text{million}$ dead.

• Cambodian Genocide ($1975-1979$): Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge killed over $1\,\text{million}$ (monks, teachers, educated) to create an agrarian society ("The Killing Fields").

• Rwandan Genocide ($1994$): Hutus killed over $800,000$ Tutsis/moderate Hutus in $100$ days following Belgian colonial tensions.

The Cold War ($1945-1991$)

• Origins: Tension between US (Capitalist Democracy) and USSR (Communist). Never fought directly (Ideological War).

• Strategies:     * Containment: US Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan to stop communism.     * Berlin Airlift ($1948$): US/UK flew supplies into West Berlin after USSR blockade.     * Berlin Wall ($1961$): Built to stop people fleeing East Berlin.

• Non-Aligned Movement: Leaders like Sukarno (Indonesia) and Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana/Pan-Africanism) sought to avoid taking sides.

• China: Civil War ($1927-1949$). Mao Zedong (Communists) defeated Nationalists (Chiang Kai Shek). Mao's Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution aimed at purging "impure" elements and industrialization.

Decolonization and Regional Conflicts

• Independence Movements:     * Negotiated (Peaceful): India (Gandhi/Jinnah), Gold Coast (Ghana), French West Africa.     * Armed Struggle (Violent): Algeria (vs. France), Angola (vs. Portugal/civil war), Vietnam (vs. France).

• Partition of India ($1947$): Divided into Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan. Led to $10\,\text{million}$ refugees and $500,000-1\,\text{million}$ deaths. Bangladesh broke away from West Pakistan in $1971$.

• Algerian War ($1954-1962$): National Liberation Front (FLN) used guerilla warfare. Influenced by Frantz Fanon's support for violent revolution.

• South Africa: Struggle against Apartheid (racial segregation). Nelson Mandela and the ANC led protests. Apartheid ended in $1994$ under President F.W. de Klerk.

• Middle East:     * Mandate System: Post-$WWII$ independence created Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon.     * Iranian Revolution ($1979$): Overthrew Shah Pahlavi; Ayatollah Khomeini established an Islamic theocracy.     * Soviet-Afghan War ($1979$): USSR invaded to support communism; failed against Muslim guerrilla fighters.

• Land Redistribution:     * Vietnam: Land seizures for peasants.     * Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile Mariam overthrew Haile Selassie; instituted socialist land reforms.     * India (Kerala): Popular but controversial programs to redistribute land to the landless.