Between the World Wars

Essential Questions

• How did the Bolshevik Revolution change Russian society under Communism?

• How did the Great Depression change the lifestyles of us today, and set up WWII?

• What role does fascism play in setting up WWII?

Prior to the Bolshevik Revolution

• Czar Nicholas II– A weak ruler– Lost Russo-Japanese war

in 1905– Devoted to keeping

power for himself

Alexandra: The Power Behind the Throne

• “Rules” when Nicholas fights against Germans (WWI)

• She was under the influence of Rasputin

• Origins of Rasputin’s power - ?

• Scandals surrounding Rasputin served to discredit the monarchy

Founder of Bolshevism: Vladimir Lenin

• His Early Years--Exiled to Siberia in 1897

• Committed to Class Struggle and Revolution

• Returns to Russian society in 1917

• Leads the new Communist party

Soviets (Communists)

• Most influenced by Marxist socialism

• Two Factions- “Mensheviks”- “Bolsheviks”=> take control

Bolshevik (October) Revolution

• Overthrow Czar and put Communist government in charge

• All private property was abolished and divided among the peasants

• Largest industrial enterprises nationalized

Stalin

• Solidifies power in Communist gov’t after Lenin

Five year plan

• Series of plans on a five-year basis starting in 1928

• Idea: build up industry in the country

• Collectivization led to millions of farmers being sent to the gulags

Leon Trotsky

• Was second to Lenin• Exiled to Mexico in 1929• Dying words: "I will not

survive this attack. Stalin has finally accomplished the task he attempted unsuccessfully before."

Great Purge

• 1936-1938• Great increase in

number of police• Persecuted non-

communists, peasants, officers in the army, and Ukrainians

The Great Depression

• 1920’s in the US were full of economic growth

• Due to Industrialization, good farming and investments in the Stock Market

1929 Stock Market crash

• October 24, 1929 • Investors in the stock

market pulled out their investments– Margin Buying

• Banks recall loans, people take savings out

US effects

• Unemployment rate of 25-30%

• Breadlines popular• Day to day work, low pay

FDR and the New Deal

• Franklin D. Roosevelt takes office in 1932

• Active role in combating the Depression

• Instituted huge economic and social programs– Alphabet soup (CCC)– Welfare– Social Security

Effects in Great Britain

• Unemployment at 20%• Shipping down 75%• Modernized factories• Unemployment Benefit

system (1931)• National Health Service• Rearmament (1936)– Ended unemployment

problems

Effects in Germany

• Dawes Plan had Germany relying heavily on USA

• USA collapse stopped flow of money into country

• Hyperinflation occurs• High unemployment

The “value” of money

Fascism in Italy

• Fascism is the totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to the state control over every aspect of national life.– Single-party government– Powerful and continuing nationalism.

• The State not only is authority which governs and molds individual will with laws and values of spiritual life, but it is also power which makes its will prevail abroad….For the Fascist, everything is within the State and…neither individuals nor groups are outside the State...For Fascism, the State is an absolute, before which individuals or groups are only relative….Liberalism denied the State in the name of the individual; Fascism reasserts the rights of the State as expressing the real essence of the individual. - Enciclopedia Italiana,1932

March on Rome

• 30,000 Blackshirts (Fascists) led by Benito Mussolini march to Rome demanding a transfer of power to the Fascists

• On October 28, 1922 the King hands his power over to Mussolini

March on Rome

Benito Mussolini

Education in a fascist state• The first sentence

pronounced by children at school was Let us salute the flag in the Roman fashion; “hail to Italy; hail to Mussolini.”

• Textbooks emphasized:– History– Unfair limitations – Destiny

Military based education

Fascism and the Church

• Religion is a “tool”

• Terms with the Catholic Church– Sovereign Vatican City– Catholicism is the national religion– Italy owns any previously held Church land

Fascist Economics

• State run agencies (Duce)– Railway– Factories

• Monetary system– Tax system restructured– Direct gov’t intervention (GLA)– Money supply withheld

Italian Aggression 1935

Emperor Haile Selassie

Weimar Republic

• A democratic government put into place in Germany (1919)

• Weak because of:– Reparation payments to France and Britain– Many small parties vying for power– A weak Chancellor and executive branch

Rise of Hitler

• Suffered from poison gas in 1918– Believes Germany would

have won WWI• Joins National Socialist

Workers Party in 1921• Becomes Führer in 1921

by winning the party vote 543 to 1

Munich 1914

Beer Hall Putsch 1923

Mein Kampf

• Hitler’s book, written in jail from 1923-1924

• Main points:– Germany will make up

for WWI– Nationalism– Antisemitism

Mein Kampf

• “The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force..”

• “He who would live must fight. He who does not wish to fight in this world, where permanent struggle is the law of life, has not the right to exist.”

Rise to power

• Hitler released from jail, goes back to Nazis

• Great Depression make people more volatile– Explosion in Nazi

popularity

Political Parties in the Reichstag

May 1924

Dec. 1924

May1928

Sep.1930

July1932

Nov.1932

Mar.1933

Communist Party (KPD) 62 45 54 77 89 100 81

Social Democratic Party (SDP)

100 131 153 143 133 121 120

Catholic Centre Party (BVP)

81 88 78 87 97 90 93

Nationalist Party (DNVP) 95 103 73 41 37 52 52

Nazi Party (NSDAP) 32 14 12 107 230 196 288

Other Parties 102 112 121 122 22 35 23

Change in Reichstag power

Rise to power

• Hitler Becomes Chancellor 1932

• Reichstag fire 1933

Rise to power

• Enabling Act of 1933– “for the protection of the people and the state”

• Night of the Long Knives– Hitler has 1,000 Nazi party members murdered

• Death of President Hindenburg– Makes Hitler sole dictator of Germany

• Oath of Loyalty to Hitler

http://www.thebreman.org/exhibitions/online/1000kids/enabling_act.jpg

Nazi Nationalism

• National Anthem– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuLWRAq-Kuk

• Speech– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLQ15c_nOa0

Cultural Purification

• Suppression of Minorities

• Unity through persecution

• Final Solution

Hitler Youth

• Purpose: – Train boys and girls for

military service– 1934

• Activities:– Shooting, running, hand-

to –hand combat, tactical moves, reading maps, etc.

• Ages:– 7-17 years old

Hitler’s Political Aims

• Repeal Treaty of Versailles– Rearmament 1935– Militarized Rhineland

1936– Anschluss 1938

• “Lebensraum”• Stop Communism