The Interwar Period

1920-1939

Economic Disaster Rise of DictatorsTensions lead to

Conflict

The Economics Crisis

• There was no reserve of capital• Foreign investment

disappeared• Europe was in debt –

weakened currency• German reparations were not

the solution to the problem

Europe was No Longer the World’s Banker

The Economic Crisis - 2

• Europe was replaced by The U.S. and and Japan in heavy industry

• European share of the world market decreased

• Europe was not prepared for the new consumer industries: film, radio, and automobiles

Industrial Decay

The Economic Crisis - 3

• New countries established tariffs• Treaty shift in boundaries shifted

both resources and talented populations

• Labor unrest – increase in strikes• Women demanded equal

opportunity• Reparations destroyed German

ability to rebuild

The New Map

John MaynardKeynes

• British economist• Wrote – The Economic

Consequences of Peace

• Linked European economic growth to German economic growth

• Thought reparations were a bad idea

• Attacked Classic Economics1883-1946

Classic Economics vs. Keynes

• Classic economics argues that a economic crisis is something that the market must sort out without government interference

• Keynes argued that an economic crisis could be resolved by government decisions

• Governments should increase spending (‘Prime the Pump’) even if it had to borrow the money

• Governments should focus on short term solutions to problems

Dawes Plan• Dawes was Vice-President• In 1924 he agreed to a

U.S. loan of 800 million marks backed by gold

• Goal was to assist German economic recovery

• Germans used the money to make reparations payments

• British and French used reparations payments to pay debt to U.S.

• Replaced by Young Plan in 1929

Coolidge and Charles Dawes

The Depression and Government

• Depression impacted Democratic more than Totalitarian governments

• Unemployment• Social Despair … thus• Socialism and Fascism grew in

popularity – strong leaders looked attractive

Change - Social Structure

• Middle Class developed (White Collar workers)

• Right-Wing politics emerged• Paramilitary groups formed• Victorian morality disappeared.

‘Roaring 20s’• Speed (communications and

transportation dictated change)

Edward VIII

1936

The Lost Generation• Coined by Gertrude Stein referring to

Americans living in Paris in 1920’s• But, applied to all those disillusioned by

the slaughter of WWI• Ended any vestige of Victorian morality• New art (Modernism), music (Jazz), and

literature (Kafka, Joyce, Pound)

Communism- Growth

• Workers were disillusioned with economic and social conditions

• Communist Parties developed in virtually every nation

• Political leaders assumed Russian subversion

The Treaty System

Flawed Diplomacy

Conference of Genoa

• 1922 in Genoa, Italy• 34 nations• Attempt to reconstruct European

commerce• First Soviet attempt at European

diplomacy – key issue - Czarist debt• Other nations were not prepared to

grant Russia economic concessions

Rapollo Treaty

Rapollo Treaty Specifics

• 1922• Between Germany and Russia in

Rapallo, Italy• Germany recognized Russia• Cancelled mutual debts• Created trade agreements• Granted German army right to

train and test weapons in Russia

Locarno Pact

The Locarno Pact• 1925• Germans asked for agreement to

protect borders of Rhineland. A Demilitarized region.

• Offered hope for long-term peace. Nations agreed to allow protection of common borders.

• Mutual defense agreements signed• 1936-Hitler remilitarized the

Rhineland

The Kellogg-Briand Pact

Aristide BriandFrench Foreign

Minister

Frank KelloggU.S. Sec. Of

State

The Kellogg-Briand Pact• 1927, Briand suggested a treaty

between France and U.S. outlawing war. Kellogg extended it to a treaty with all nations

• Signed in Paris between U.S. and others renouncing war as an element of policy. 62 nations ultimately signed.

• Never made contribution to peace• Did establish international

standard of ‘crime against peace’.

Britain

Trouble in the Commonwealth

AndTrouble with the Economy

Between the Wars• Debtor nation with antiquated industrial

machinery• High inflation and unemployment• Problems controlling Commonwealth

nations• Internal political crisis; Labour and

Conservative Parties; Socialists; and Communists

• Changes in social standards – The Jazz Age

Ramsey MacDonal

d

• First Labour Prime Minister

• Served from 1924 –1935 between Stanley Baldwin

• Opposed WWI• Established trade

with Soviets• Followed Keynes -

increased spending to improve economy1866-1937

Stanley Baldwin

• Conservative Leader• Served 3 terms as P.M.• Strikes plagued first

administration• Expelled from party for

creating coalition with MacDonald’s Labour Party

• Served as de facto P.M. during MacDonald senility

• Foreign Policy crisis later – forced resignation 1867-1947

England and The Irish Republic

1916 – Beginning of the New

Troubles

Home Rule – Too Little, Too Late

• Gladstone failed to gain approval in 1893 (House of Lords rejected it), but was approved in 1914 (House of Lords lost power)

• Conflict grows between Orange (Unionists) and Catholics (supporters of Home Rule)

• WWI saw suspension of Home Rule – Irish separatists argue that Home Rule has no real meaning. Only solution is Irish separation from England.

North – South Conflict• Belfast v. Dublin, Protestants v.

Catholics, and Orange v. Green.• The Partition Act split six counties in

the North (52 MPs), 26 counties in the South (128 MPs). MPs set by the Government of Ireland Act in 1920.

• Divided national economy.• Open warfare by 1921.

Irish Political Terms• Sinn Fein – political arm of the Irish

Independence Movement• IRA – Military arm of Sinn Fein• Black and Tans – British forces in

Ireland (included Irish citizens)• Irish Free State and Erie – titles for

the new nation of Ireland• N. Ireland (Ulster) and Belfast – still

a part of British commonwealth

The 1916 Easter Uprising

Easter Uprising Specifics

• By Irish nationalists in Dublin in 1916• Goal of establishing an Irish Republic• British suspended Home Rule• Irish took control of the post office,

British responded and succeeded in ending the revolt

• 15 were executed• The first step toward independence

Eamon de Valera • Born in Manhattan, but

raised in Ireland• Math professor• Early leader of

revolution• Arrested, sentenced to

death• Sentence commuted,

exiled, returned and elected first President

• Kept Ireland neutral in WWII

1882-1975

Served until

1973

Michael Collins

• Leader of revolution – organized intelligence

• Officer of Sinn Fein• Leader of Easter

Rebellion• Ordered by de Valera to

negotiate with British to form the new Irish Republic

• Killed in 1922 – rumored to have died at hand of those angry with the ‘new’ Ireland

1890-1922

Irish Move to Freedom

• 1919-1922, Irish Revolution• 1922-1937, Irish Free State, a

provisional government with some political rights

• 1937-1949, Erie, constitution that created a sovereign state. No reference to Great Britain

• 1949 – Republic of Ireland, free from British, member of the U.N.

Irish Republican Army• Officially formed in 1969, but

claims a history over a century old

• Radical terrorist group as the armed wing of Sinn Fein

• Dedicated to removing British from Northern Ireland

• Efforts to end violence through negotiation began in 1994

The Middle East

The Greek-Turkish Crisis

Founder – Turkish Republic

1881-1938

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Hero of Gallipoli

Turkey Post-War• Trouble with Greeks – encouraged by

Britain to invade in 1922 (thus Greek crisis)• Moves for independent rule• Ataturk elected President in 1923• Non-Muslims migrate out/Muslims migrate in• Progressive reforms: elimination of

polygamy, women’s rights (including right to vote), Latin alphabet, and European dress standards (no fez and veil)

T.E. Lawrenc

e

• Archaeologist who became an expert on Arab nationalism

• Served in British army • Argued for the creation of

an Arab free state at the Versailles Conference

• Unsuccessful – lands went to France and England

• Wrote about his experience• Joined Royal Air Force• Died in motorcycle

accident1888-1935

Zionism• Political movement

holding that the Jewish people are a nation entitled to a homeland.

• Prompted by Dreyfus Affair and Pogroms in Russia

• Formally created in 1897 by Herzl, a lawyer and journalist

• Since 1948 movement has focused on defense of Israel

1860-1904

TheodoreHerzl

Palestine

Balfour Declaration

The Creation of Israel• British supported concept in 1917• Immigration began in 1920’s• Immigration restricted in 1939 and

renewed following WWII• United Nations established Mandate

of Palestine, 1947 – set Jewish and Arab states

• Jerusalem to be an international city• Israel proclaimed a nation - May

1948

France

France between Wars• 600,000 widows and 750,000

orphans• Terrible labor shortage• Strikes and inflation• Communist concerns• Quick changes in leadership, until

some stability under Poincare• Military manpower shortages and

poor tactical decisions

RaymondPoincare

• Lawyer, government minister beginning in 1883

• Elected President of France in 1913

• Supporter of Guilt Clause

• Served two terms as Prime Minister

• Considered responsible for the restoration of French economy1860-1934

Maginot Line

Charles de Gaulle

• Military academy graduate• Wounded/POW in WWI• Fought against Red Army• Criticized Maginot Line,

supported tank warfare• Fled to England during

WWII German occupation• Recognized as leader of

“Free French”, and led French forces

• Elected French President

1890-1970

Germany

The Weimar Republic

Gustav Stresemann

• Successful businessman• Elected to Reichstag in

1907• Supported German

policy during WWI• Organized Post-War

Government at Weimar• In 1924 his successor

named him Minister of Foreign Affairs

• Negotiated the Dawes Plan

1878-1929

Paulvon

Hindenburg

• Served in Franco-Prussian War

• Retired in 1911• Recalled during WWI• Won decisive Russian

victories, Chief-of-Staff• Served two terms as

President of Germany• Figure-Head• Did not oppose Hitler

1847-1934

The Weimer Republic 1919-1923, Part 1

• Named for city where post WWI constitution was produced

• Under pressure from Left and Right• Numerous ‘Putschs’ – rebellions• General strikes and Communism• Defaulted on reparations(1923) –

Ruhr was occupied by French and Belgians

Hyperinflation

• Strikes (workers had not been paid) added to German woes in Ruhr

• German government simply printed money

• Exchange rate moved from 4.2 marks per dollar to 4,500,000,000,000 per dollar

• Reparations payments resumed, and Ruhr was troops were removed

• But, long term economic consequences

The Weimar Republic - 2

1923-1929, Better Times• The era of Gustav Stresemann

• Fewer political crisis’ and appearance of economic recovery

• Improved relations with other nations

• Largely illusionary – increased overseas loans, decreased trade, and greater debt

• Illusion ends with Stresemann’s death in 1929

Rise of Dictators