Chapters 30 and 31: The Interwar Period (1919-1938)
Postwar Germany Unstable democracies Weimar Republic in Germany Democratic government formed after WWI Was blamed for signing Treaty of Versailles
Cost of a Loaf of Bread in Germany 1918 Less than 1 mark 1922 160 marks 1923 200 billion marks Hyperinflation The value of a nation s money decreases dramatically over a short period of time
The Great Depression Causes New York Stock Market Crash in 1929 Overproduction of factory goods Farming technology Loans from banks and stockbrokers High tariffs on American imports War debts Effects Unemployment rates rise dramatically Factory production declines Prices and wages decline When banks went bankrupt, people lost their life savings Farmers lose land because they are unable to pay their mortgage
The Russian Revolution Bolsheviks Radical group, led by Vladimir Lenin Marxism gains support Goal? Dictatorship of the proletariat
The Revolutionaries Czar Nicholas II provided weak leadership during World War I He abdicates power Alexander Kerensky takes over provisional government (March 1917) Get Their Wish
The Bolsheviks Take Over Karensky decided to keep Russia in the war Lenin comes back to Russia from exile and gains support through failed war effort Peace, Land, and Bread All power to the Soviets Councils of workers, peasants, and soldiers revolt in November 1917 Lenin takes control Peasants get land Lenin signs peace treaty with Germany
Lenin Fights for Power Russians lose territory and powerful army Some Russians were angry over the peace treaty and murder of the royal family 14 million die during the 1918-1920 civil war in which the Bolsheviks keep power under Lenin What were Marx s views? Lenin thought the proletariat needed the guidance of professional revolutionaries He created a strong central government
Lenin s Reforms Political Bolsheviks rename their party the Communist Party Why is this ironic? Country renamed the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922 To honor soviets that helped launch the Bolshevik Revolution Economic Lenin begins his New Economic Policy (NEP) The NEP allows peasants to sell surplus crops Why is this significant? Encourage foreign investment Some small businesses, farms, and factories become privately owned
Lenin dies of a stroke in 1922 Stalin believed in the ideas of totalitarianism By 1929, Stalin was able to take complete power as a dictator Man of Steel Stalin Takes Over
Key Ideas of Totalitarianism Indoctrination Secret police Propaganda Persecution Dynamic leader Denial of basic liberties
Key Parts of Stalin s Control Command economy Government makes all economic decisions Five-Year Plans Set high goals to increase output of steel, coal, electricity Russian industrial revolution Great Purge Campaign of terror directed at eliminating anyone who threatened his power Collective farms Small privately owned farms are combined and controlled by the government
Fascism Rises in Europe Fascism A militant political movement that emphasized loyalty to the state and obedience to the leader Symbol = Roman fascis Characteristics of Fascism (Textbook)
Benito Mussolini in Italy Mussolini takes control due to Italian disappointment in Versailles Treaty Creates fascist party Italians wanted a leader who would take action
Adolf Hitler in Germany War hero in WWI 2 Iron Crosses Failed attempt to seize power in 1923 Writes Mein Kampf while in prison Racist views Treaty of Versailles Germans need lebensraum Nazism was a German brand of fascism During the Great Depression, the Nazis become the largest political party Parliamentary election gives Hitler leadership power in 1933 after Communist scare
A Grim Prediction By naming Hitler as Reich chancellor, you have delivered up our holy Fatherland to one of the greatest rabble-rousers of all time. I solemnly predict that this accursed man will plunge our Reich into the abyss and bring our nation into inconceivable misery Erich Ludendorff, German general and former Hitler supporter, February 1, 1933
Hitler Takes Control SS (Schutzstaffel) Hitler s protection Command economy Propaganda Hitler Youth Censorship Anti-Semitism Scapegoats How many Jews were there in Germany?