UNIT IXUNIT IX

Ch. 28 & 29Ch. 28 & 29

The Age of Anxiety

• Uncertainty in Modern Thought– Modern Philosophy

• Nietzche: before WWI said the optimistic Christian order was obsolete

• WWI accelerated change in modern philosophical thought

– Existentialists» Believed there was no

universal meaning to life» Generally atheists » Height during and after WWII

• Revival of Christianity – Loss of faith in human reason turned many back to

Christianity (contrast to existentialists)

• New Physics– Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, 1905

• German-born• Challenged Newton’s ideas of gravity

• Freudian Psychology (Sigmund Freud)– Believed much of human behavior is

irrational (called it the unconscious)• Conscious mind is unaware of what

the unconscious mind wants• Weakened faith in reason• The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900

• 20th century literature– Came out of the disillusionment of WWI– Expression of anxiety– Examples: Yates, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald,

T.S. Elliot, Franz Kafka

• Modern Art– Cubism (1907): transformed natural

shapes into geometrical ones– Dada movement (1916-1924): works

meant to be absurd, nonsensical and meaningless• “hobbyhorse”

– Surrealism (1924): sought to link the world of dreams with real life (beyond or above reality)

• Inspired by Freud

Pablo Picasso, Guernica, 1937

• Music– Moved away from traditional styles– Example: jazz

• Came out of the U.S.• Captured the new freedom of the age• New dances were soon to follow (i.e.: The

Charleston)– Shocked society before being embraced

• Movies and Radio– Replaced traditional arts for entertainment

purposes– Radios were a powerful tool for political

propaganda• Spread information quickly and effectively

Society becomes more open• Women

– Broke with traditions – Wore loose fitting clothing

rather than the restrictive clothing and hairstyles of pre-WWI era (i.e.: flappers)

• Wore make-up, bobbed their hair, drove cars, smoked, drank, etc.

– Women suffrage• Women gained the right to vote in many

countries– U.S., Britain, Germany, Sweden, Austria

The Great Depression1929-1939

• After WWI– every major European nation was nearly

bankrupted– U.S. and Japan came out of WWI in better

financial shape (not wartime battlefields)– Sudden rise in new democracies

• Europe’s last absolute rulers had been replaced by constitutional democracies

– i.e. Hapsburgs in Austria-Hungary, Hohenzollerns in Germany, Ottomans in Turkey

The Weimer RepublicGermany, 1919

• Weak government– Lacked a strong democratic tradition– Several political parties trying to gain power– Economic instability

• Did not tax enough• To pay for the war effort, and eventually their

reparations, they simply printed more paper money– Led to outrages inflation (and deflation of the value of a

mark)– Helped by the Dawes Plan (1924) which slowed inflation

and moved Germany on the path to economic recovery

– Blamed for the German loss in WWI• Weimer Republic had signed the Treaty of Versailles

• The Stock Market Crash (1929)– European economies were being held together

by the stability of the U.S. economy– U.S. econ was flawed

• 1) uneven distribution of wealth• 2) overproduction by business and agriculture• 3) lessening demands for consumer goods

– When the stock market crashed, the U.S. started to recall private loans from Europe

• Led to a global depression

Responses to the Great Depression

• The New Deal (U.S.)– 1933, under F. D. Roosevelt– Hit both the industrial and agricultural spheres with

reforms• Scandinavian Response

– Increased social welfare benefits and used gov’t deficit spending to finance public works projects

– Very successful• Recovery and Reform in Britain and France

– British: manufacturing reorientation from international to national

– France: political disunity hurt their efforts; only attempt was Leon Blum’s Popular Front gov’t a coalition of communist and moderate parties

Totalitarianism: What is it?

• Government takes control over EVERY aspect of public and private life

• Challenges Western (France, Britain, U.S.) values– Freedom, reason, individual worth, etc.

Characteristics

• Dictatorship and one-political party rule

• Dynamic leader

• Unified ideology

• State control over all sectors of society

• State control over the individual

• Dependence on modern technology

• Organized violence

JOSEPH STALIN“THE MAN OF STEEL”

• 1922-1927 climbed to power taking various offices in the Russian Communist Party

• 1928: Stalin takes over complete control of the party – Sends Leon Trotsky, founder and

commander of the Red Army and leader of the Left Opposition, into exile in 1929 during the Great Purge

– His vision: to transform the Soviet Union (created in 1922) into a totalitarian state• “socialism in one country”

Stalin’s Economics

• Command economy: gov’t makes all the economic decisions– Collective farms: farms owned by the gov’t, people

were forced to work toward a quota (numerical goal)– Controls lives of the workers

• Work hours & conditions• Police arrest or execute those that don’t follow the rules• Kulaks: a class of wealthy peasants who resisted

– many were executed or sent to work in camps

– Five Year Plan: 1928- set quotas for output of steel, coal, oil and electricity; limited production of consumer goods

• Leads to shortages• Also led to impressive economic gains for Russia

Weapons of Totalitarianism• Police used tanks and armored cars to

stop riots

• Monitored phone lines, read mail, and planted informers (spies) in society

• Great Purge: 1934-Stalin turned against members of the Communist Party

Indoctrination and Propaganda

• Stressed the importance of sacrifice and hard work to build the Communist state

• Propaganda: biased or incomplete information to sway people to accept certain beliefs or actions

• Social realism: an artistic style that praised Soviet life and Communist values

Fascism: What is it?

• Definition: militant political government which emphasizes loyalty to the state and the leader

• Characteristics:– Extreme nationalism– Revival of the economy– Authoritarian leader– One political party– Did not want a classless society

Italy: Benito Mussolini

• Newspaper editor and politician

• Founded the Fascist Party in 1919– Criticized Italy’s gov’t– Led a campaign of terror against

communists and socialists– Gained support from the middle class,

aristocracy, and industrial leaders

Mussolini’s Policy• Abolished democracy• Outlawed all political parties

except the Fascists• Censored communication• Controlled the economy by working with

industrialists and large landowners

*despite his attempts, Mussolini never had total control in Italy*

Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany

• Background:– Born in Austria in 1889– Fought in WWI– After WWI he settled in Munich, Germany

• Failed as an artist• Found his calling in the new Nazi political party

Rise of the Nazis

• Nazi: National Socialist German Workers’ Party– Right winged (conservative) group

• Believed that Germany needed to overturn the Treaty of Versailles– wanted to rebuild their army/navy– Did not agree with the clause that placed the

blame for WWI on Germany

• Supported by the middle and lower classes

• Set up a private army called “storm troopers”– Wore brown shirts and adopted the swastika

as their symbol

Hitler: Der Fuhrer

• “the leader”

• Successful in the party as an organizer and charismatic speaker

• Attracted many members to the party

Munich Putsch 1923• Nazis plotted to seize ultimate

power in Germany• Failed Hitler arrested

– Sentenced to 5 years in jail– Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

• Blamed communists and Jews for Germany’s problems

• Declared blond and blue-eyed Germans as the “master race”

– Aka: Aryans

Hitler becomes Chancellor• By 1932 Nazis were the largest political party in

Germany

• Jan. 1933: Hitler elected – Acted quickly to strengthen his position– Called for new elections, but the Reichtag (German

gov’t building) caught fire before the elections could be held

• Blamed Communists for the fire– Helped Nazis win a majority in

the gov’t

*Hitler begins to set up a dictatorial rule in Germany*

The Second World War

• Aggression and appeasement (1933-1939)– Hitler withdrew Germany from the League of

Nations (Oct. 1933)– Appeasement: the making of concessions to

an aggressor in order to avoid war• British policy that prevented the formation of a

united front against Hitler

– Isolationism: belief that political ties with other countries should be avoided

• U.S. policy beginning in 1935 and lasting until 1941

Hitler’s Third Reich

• Empire Building– 1936 Mussolini and Hitler form an alliance– 1938: Hitler takes Austria and the

Sudetenland with British approval• Appeasement at its finest!

– 1939: takes all of Czechoslovakia and then demands territory from Poland

• France and Britain give an ultimatum– If Hitler invades Poland, they will declare war against him

Blitzkrieg• Hitler’s forces overran Poland with his “lightening

war”– Conquered Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium, and

France by the summer of 1940– France: captured by Germany in June 1940; took

control of the northern part and left the southern part to a puppet government headquartered in the city of Vichy (VEESH·ee)

• Battle of Britain (fall 1940 to May 1941) – Germans met strong British resistance

• British Royal Air Force (RAF)• German air force = Luftwaffe

(LOOFT·vahf·uh)– British victory shifted Hitler’s

focus to the Eastern Front and the Mediterranean

Hitler vs. Stalin

• 1941: Hitler conquered Greece and Yugoslavia • Winter 1941-1942

– Soviets stopped German advance just outside Moscow

– Called: Operation Barbarossa– Soviets had 5 million men in their army

• Yet, poorly equipped

– As the Russians retreated they used the “scorched earth policy” they had used to defeat Napoleon

• That along with a harsh Russian winter kept Hitler out of the capital and took 500,000 German lives

Japan in WWII

• December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor– Brought the U.S. into WWII

• Isoroku Yamamoto– Leader of the Japanese fleet

• Quickly conquered Hong Kong (previously held by the British), Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, Burma– 1 million square miles of land, 150 million people– Came as conquerors

• Bataan Death March

The Grand Alliance(The Allies)

• Britain, the U.S., and the U.S.S.R.– Focused on defeating Germany, then face

Japan– Unified them economically– Tide of Battle

• Turned in Soviet, North Africa, and the Pacific• Battle of Midway: huge success for the U.S.

against Japan • By spring 1943, North Africa freed from the Axis

Powers

End of WWIIMay 1945

• In spite of huge increases in German production between 1942-1944, the Allies conquered much of Italy, invaded France, and finally defeated Hitler. – Hitler committed suicide April 1945– FDR dies in April 1945

• Japan surrendered in Sept of 1945– “V-J” Day– Hiroshima and Nagasaki

End of WWII

• May 8, 1945—”V-E Day”• 60 million casualties • Europe left in ruins• Nuremberg Trials

– 22 Nazi leaders charged with committing “crimes against humanity” (the Holocaust)

– Hitler, SS chief Heinrich Himmler, and Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels escaped trial by committing suicide

– 12 sentenced to death• 11 executed on Oct. 16, 1946

• Japan– 2 million lives lost– Allies had stripped Japan of its colonial empire– Emperor Hirohito urged the Japanese to work together to rebuild

Japan– U.S. occupies Japan

• Under the leadership of General Douglas MacArthur• Democratization

– MacArthur and his advisors drew up a new constitution» Went into effect on May 3, 1947» Emperor’s power significantly diminished» Established a 2-house parliament (the Diet)» All over the age of 20 could vote» Article 9: Japan could no longer declare war

• Demilitarization– Disbanding the Japanese armed forces

**Sept. 1951, U.S. and 48 other nations sign a peace treaty with Japan—officially ending WWII**