Changes in Society After World War I
In the twenties, many Americans were ready for a more carefree existence. Others rallied against the trend
and pushed Prohibition through Congress. Jazz became the soundtrack in the underground world of
speakeasies and flappers.
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The Rise of Totalitarianism
Section 1: Postwar Social Changes
Witness History Audio: The Jazz Age
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History Interactive: Pop Culture in the Jazz Age
The New Literature
The postwar years ushered in many original works of literature. It was a time of experimentation with language
and structure. Some writers—such as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce—employed stream of consciousness.
Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and other African American writers in Harlem told about the
experiences of a people who had not been heard from.
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Section 1: Postwar Social Changes
New Scientific Theories
In the early 20th century, scientists made many breakthroughs that would greatly advance their fields. Marie
Curie and others worked with radioactivity; Albert Einstein developed his theory of relativity; Alexander Fleming
discovered penicillin; and Sigmund Freud pioneered psychoanalysis.
Modern Art and Architecture
Art moved away from the traditional in the early 1900s. Some of the new styles were called fauvism, cubism,
abstract, dadaism, and surrealism. Architects also rejected the work of the past and began to work with glass,
steel, and concrete structures (in the Bauhaus school) and with materials and designs that blended with the
environment (Frank Lloyd Wright).
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Section 1: Postwar Social Changes
Color Transparency 168: The Persistence of Memory, by Salvador Dali
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Looking Ahead
The growing sense of hope and relief that came after World War I would soon be devastated by an economic
crisis.
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Politics in the Postwar World
After the war, Europe faced economic instability as jobs were scarce and cities were ravaged. These factors
led to political unrest. The U.S. was not affected so much economically, but was uneasy about the radical
ideas immigrants might bring in, so it limited immigration from Europe.
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Section 2: The Western Democracies Stumble
Witness History Audio: Brother Can You Spare a Dime?
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Postwar Foreign Policy
Peace seemed fragile after the war. France wanted to weaken Germany by enforcing the Treaty of Versailles,
while Britain wanted to lesson the treaty’s effect on Germany. Many countries agreed to reduce their navies,
and the League of Nations worked toward stopping aggression. Yet when Japan was allowed to invade
Manchuria, other dictators took note.
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Section 2: The Western Democracies Stumble
Postwar Economics
While Europe struggled to return to a steady peacetime economy, the U.S. emerged as the economic leader.
Affluent America bolstered Europe’s recovery.
The Great Depression
The U.S. stock market crashed in 1929, ushering in the Great Depression. This was a global economic
crisis that closed businesses and left behind many jobless, homeless, starving people.
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Section 2: The Western Democracies Stumble
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Witness History Video: The Great Depression and American Farmers
The Democracies React to the Depression
The governments of Britain, France, and the United States struggled to help their people. President
Roosevelt’s New Deal programs went a long way toward helping suffering Americans. Political radicals
gained ground during this difficult time.
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Section 2: The Western Democracies Stumble
Color Transparency 169: WPA Mural
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Mussolini’s Rise to Power
Italian nationalists, led by Benito Mussolini, felt betrayed by the government and the Allies from World War I.
They revolted and became powerful through terror. These Fascists, as they were known, were finally handed
the reins of government by the king in order to avoid a civil war.
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The Rise of Totalitarianism
Section 3: Fascism in Italy
Witness History Audio: A New Leader: Mussolini
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Mussolini’s Rule
Although Italy was officially a parliamentary monarchy, under Mussolini, it became a dictatorship. He used
propaganda and terror to control the people. The Fascists wanted everyone to live and work only for the state.
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The Nature of Fascism
Fascism glorified action, violence, discipline, and blind loyalty to the state. They pursued foreign expansion
through warfare. They distrusted reason and used emotion to their advantage. The state was all.
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Looking Ahead
Democracy, Communism, and Fascism competed for influence in postwar Europe. Fascism was on the fast
track during the Great Depression.
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Section 3: Fascism in Italy
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A Totalitarian State
In the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin set up a totalitarian state. He took away all free market rights and made
every enterprise and farm state owned. This gave workers little incentive to produce quality products or extra
food and the country struggled to feed its people.
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Section 4: The Soviet Union Under Stalin
Witness History Audio: The Heart of the Party
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Stalin’s Terror Tactics
Stalin was ruthless against anyone perceived as being disloyal. He set up Gulags where people would be
sent to work and he even took food away from farm families in what was called the Terror Famine. The
country lost many of its best and brightest.
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Section 4: The Soviet Union Under Stalin
Color Transparency 170: Gulag Prisoners, by Nikolai German
Geography Interactive: The Soviet Union, 1928-1941
Communist Attempts to Control Thought
Stalin used propaganda to boost his popularity. Posters, loudspeaker announcements, and newspaper
articles extolled Communism. Books, music, and other art forms that were critical of Stalin were censored. He
also tried to replace religion with communist ideology.
Witness History Audio: Anna Akhmatova
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Soviet Society Under Stalin
There was still a class order under Communism, but this one put party members at the top. All others endured
shortages of food and consumer goods, although they did get free education and health care, and women
were treated as equals to men in the workplace.
Soviet Foreign Policy
The Soviets encouraged communist revolutions in other countries through an organization called Comintern.
This organization supported revolutionary groups around the world and created a “Red Scare” in the United
States.
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Section 4: The Soviet Union Under Stalin
Looking Ahead
Stalin succeeded in making his country a military superpower, but it was also home to people with a much
lower standard of living than the rest of the developed world.
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Color Transparency 170: Gulag Prisoners, by Nikolai German
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The Weimar Republic’s Rise and Fall
The democratic government known as the Weimar Republic suffered from the competition of too many small
parties and economic disasters. Still, it was a prolific time for artists, who stimulated new movements, such as
Dadaism.
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The Rise of Totalitarianism
Section 5: Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Germany
Witness History Audio: The Nazis in Control of Germany
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Section 5: Hitler and the Rise of Nazi Germany
The Nazi Party’s Rise to Power
The Great Depression and the feeling that the Weimar government was weak, led to the rise of Adolf Hitler.
He appealed to veterans, workers, the lower middle classes, and business people with his promises to rearm
Germany, create jobs, and end reparations.
Color Transparency 172: Hitler at Nuremburg Stadium
The Third Reich Controls Germany
Hitler and the Nazis moved quickly to change Germany’s course. They put people to work through public works
programs; they terrorized dissenters; they placed restrictions on Jews, who were blamed for Germany’s loss in
World War I; and they denounced modern art and Christianity.
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Authoritarian Rule in Eastern Europe
Just as in Germany, many nations in Eastern Europe came under dictatorships. Ethnic and religious conflicts rose
in the new states of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia and elsewhere.
Color Transparency 173: Ethnic Groups of Eastern Europe, 1936
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Color Transparency 173: Ethnic Groups of Eastern Europe, 1936
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