sol whii.11. traumatic for soldiers; negative feeling or pessimism people living in fear as a...
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SOL WHII.11
Traumatic for soldiers; negative feeling or pessimism
People living in fear As a result, the cultural flourishments
following WWI reflected the pessimism and the need to be different
The Decline of the West; Remembrance of things Past; A Farewell to Arms
The Trial –an innocent man on trial facing a horrible punishment and he can’t prove his innocence
The Magic Mountain—the setting is in a tuberculosis sanitarium—everyone is dying
Surrealism—life is portrayed as if it is a dream (escape from reality)
T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land—negative title
Break from tradition—experimentation with capitalization, punctuation, free verse and design of the poem
Breaks from tradition—Big Bands, Harmony introduced, 12 tone scale (flats and sharps) and jazz are all introduced
Pessimism—The Blues!!
Breaks from tradition—new styles—surrealism and cubism (Pablo Picasso)
Pessimism—comedies offered escape from reality, but many plots were disturbing and cruel
Breaks from tradition—new style functionalism—need to feel useful. More use of steel to feel safe and secure
When was the last major war for Europe? Costs of the war—how many people
affected? Memories of war?—trench warfare,
trench rot etc.. Purpose of the war? Was there one? Was
anything accomplished?
1920’s=positive change War-time economy to peace-time
economy—things returning to “normal” Automobile Industry—had profound
effect on life in 1920’s---expanded business and industry—people went back to work
Life was happy again Economy was booming Women upset they were to go back to the
home; some women rebelled—Flappers Cut their hair into bobs, smoked, drank,
cursed, and wore bright lipstick Danced in public and wore revealing
clothes
Gov’t blamed immoral behavior on the influence of alcohol
Passed a law about forbidding the manufacture, sale and transport of alcohol—known as Prohibition
Public responded by making their own alcohol, bootlegging, creating speakeasies, and bribing public officials
Law was quickly repealed
Good Times Economic Prosperity Investment in Stocks Late 1920’s increase in cost of living Wages remained the same Companies increased their prices Lowered demand—lay offs!!!
People wondered if they could support their family
Made risky investments to make a lot of money—on-margin investments
Eventually, too many people investing causes stock prices to drop
Everyone was selling at the same time, but no one was buying
Price eventually hit rock bottom and the crash occurred on October 29, 1929
Complete shutdown—The Great Depression
People turn to gov’t Gov’t=laissez-faire Hoover did not know what to do—raised
tariffs on foreign goods—made it worse! The Great Depression became a
worldwide problem
FDR was elected in Nov. 1932 Created a plan called the New Deal Series of plans to help the suffering
public Several plans: CCC, TVA, FDIC, Social
Security Act
Planned Economy: gov’t temporarily regulates the direction of national resources
FRANCE: economy suffered greatly after war; increased debt to repair country
Paying interest on debt Cost of national security Middle class/working class expected to
help the most, but could not afford the higher prices
French afraid of another German invasion Rebuilt army and navy Constructed Maginot Line: large concrete
and steel fortification along their border 1930’s=France’s alliances started to
crumble France wanted to ensure protection from
Germany, but all of the major countries pulled out or were very vague about their commitments
Riots over a gov’t scandal caused workers to go on a general strike —where various industries refused to work
Results: Popular Front—new coalition gov’t (Short Lived) many work related reforms
Gov’t nationalized some of the major industries
Popular Front ended workers lost many reforms and suffered—public was divided; when WWII came there would be a portion of France that will ally w/Hitler
High taxes—war debt (middle class) Factories outdated and run down High unemployment rates—caused labor
unrest General strike—crippled gov’t and
eventually were illegal
During WWI, Irish nationalists revolted w/the Easter Rebellion—1916
Germany had conspired w/nationalists, but failed to send support
British put rebellion down IRA continued to engage in violent
attacks against British troops
1921-British gave in and divided Ireland Southern Ireland became Irish Free State
in 1922—self-governing, but not completely independent
6 counties of Northern Ireland chose to remain part of the U.K.
1949 Southern Ireland became completely independent—Republic of Ireland
Newly created countries lagged behind rest of Europe
Most of the land controlled by few aristocrats
Major economic activity still agriculture After WWI, land redistributed to peasants,
but they had not money Democracy was a struggle in new
nations!
Most people wanted Anschluss- German for union- with Germany, but peace treaties and allies would not allow it
1/3 of population lived in Vienna Struggle btwn socialists and
conservatives which weakened democratic progress
Republic created after WWI was overthrown w/in a year by a Communist, but aristocrats overthrew the communist
Then an admiral took over Hungary was landlocked, so what was an
admiral doing? “Hungary was a kingdom without a king, and was ruled by an admiral without a fleet.”
Hapsburgs even tried to restore the monarchy, but allies would not allow it
Immediately after WWI, a democratic constitution was created—but divided political parties kept the gov’t from operating efficiently
Eventually military dictatorship took over
Big Daddy Syndrome Ability to convince people Nationalism Economic depression
Benito Mussolini Offered stability and hope Born son of a blacksmith Became an elementary school teacher Fought in WWI Began fascist party
Fascism: dictatorship which glorified war and promoted nationalism; is the dictatorship of a state with all classes cooperating (appealed to middle and working classes)
Created a totalitarian regime—highly centralized gov’t which allowed no opposition and held total control
Fascists adopted the black shirt as their uniform
The Black Shirts put pressure on the gov’t and Mussolini gained the title of premier
This is where the dictatorship began Called himself “il Duce” -- the leader
NO opposition, censorship, no freedom of speech, press, no trial by jury and a secret police was created
Italy became a corporate state Militarism—increasing the army and navy
—put people back to work and prepared them for mobilization
After WWI, a constitution was created in German city of Weimar— Weimar Republic
2 house legislature—Reichsrat and Reichstag
There was a president and a chancellor People not supportive—representatives
were the ones who signed the Treaty of Versailles
Terrible economic and social problems—2 attempted revolutions
Political parties grew—National Socialist German Worker’s Party—Nazi Party
Goal was to stop communism—it attracted mostly wealthy business owners and landowners—one recruit was Hitler
Born in Austria 1889 Wanted to be an artist in Vienna—failed In Vienna he became resentful of Jews
because of their success Served in WWI Joined the Nazi Party Arrested for Beerhall Putsch (Nazi
uprising) in 1923—sent to prison Wrote Mein Kampf while in prison—
blueprint for Nazi Germany
After release from prison—became leader of Nazi Party
People identified w/his feelings of hatred and rejection
Appealed to every group in society Plan to create an Aryan race—master
race
Took the title of “der Fuhrer”—the leader Turned Germany into a police state NO opposition, labor unions, there was
censorship, used a secret police called the Gestapo
Started persecuting and imprisoning groups such as Political opponents Inferior races
Jews were targeted most Persecuted and tortured Forced into segregated communities—ghettos Forced to wear yellow star of David on clothing
Third Reich—empire—the third major empire and third period of economic prosperity for Germany
Germany’s racial supremacy justified taking land away from the Slavs to expand German borders to handle the growing population
Secretly rearming since the 1920’s Hitler ready to openly defy the treaty if
challenged Spring of 1936, Hitler sent an army into
the Rhineland France responded by sending a note Hitler made alliances w/Mussolini in the
fall of 1936—Rome-Berlin Axis
Lenin—leader of communists 1919 Com intern- encourage communism
around the world 1922 U.S.S.R. Economic Policy—NEP (major industry)
Collective farming Some Free Enterprise
Trotsky Created Red Army Encouraged
Revolution Everywhere
Leader of Communist Party Communism succeeded and spread in USSR Command economy 5 year plan
5 year plan agriculture
production to buy machinery
industrial revolution
no everyday goods (toilet paper)
Lead to dictatorship and purge