Chapter 27: Political Experiments of the 1920s
POST- PARIS SETTLEMENT (AFTER WW1) 1919-1920s
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(1919) Democratic elected parliamentary governments formed.
o (1920s) Economic and political ties become intimately connected.
Germany and Austria-Hungary were authoritarian. Soviet Union,
Bolsheviks resorted to communism
(1920s) Liberal democracy allowed women to vote.
(1920’s) Paris settlement revisions
o Germany feels too many reparations & France wants better
reinforcement
o (Throughout the 1920s)  Political turmoil
(1865-1923) Warren G Harding wants to return to normalcy.”
Casualties from war = decrease of consumers and producers
(Post WWI/ 1914) Europe in huge debts. Dependent on US, U.S less
dependent on Europe.
o U.S. and Japan dominate more. Europe economic weakness
(1920s Post WWI) Heavy labor influence, improvement of status.
COMMUNISM EXPOSED (POST WW1: 1919-1930s)
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Lenin leads Soviet Union
(1919) Soviet Communists founded the Third International/ Comintern.
Bolshevik model of socialism. Wanted to destroy democratic socialism.
o (Post WWI) New secret police appeared called Cheka.
o (March 1921) NEP=New economic plan. Government tolerates
private economic privacy, peasants farm for profit, doesn’t last
because there’s not enough consumer goods.
o (Post 1921) Countryside became more stable and a more secure
food supply existed.
o (1924) Lenin died
Trotsky (1879-1940) urges use of terror. Leads Red army
o Red army (for communism) white army (against communism)
revolution. Red Army wins. Rule by force. Confiscated and
operated banks, transport system, heavy industry, took grain from
peasants to feed army/workers.
o (1920s) “Peace, Land, Bread” workers and peasants slogan gets
shredded apart by Red Army.
(Mid 1920s) Trotsky- left wing, rapid industrialization financed through the
expropriation of farm production Said revolution in Russia could only
succeed if the revolutions took place somewhere else. Demanded party
members to be permitted to criticize the policies of government and party.
(1922) Stalin became secretary of the party.
 Beliefs: Bureaucratic and administrative methods. Socialism
achieved
in Russia alone. Russia’s success didn’t depend on
the fate of revolutions
elsewhere.
 (1929) Trotsky was forced out of Russia.
o (1920s-1930s) Separated Russia… communist vs. social
democratic parties. Communists and social democrats fought each
other.
FASCISTS IN ITALY: (Post WWI: 1919-1929)
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(Post WWI definition) Fascism= Anti-democratic, anti-Marxist, antiparliamentary, anti-Semitic. Normal parliamentary politics and parties
sacrificed national honor and greatness to petty disputes.
(1883-1945) Benito Mussolini leader of right wing dictatorship.
(1919- Fasci organization was just another political group in Italy.
(1919) Fasci di Combattimento or “Bands of Combat” was formed.
 Political survival. Action more important than thought or
rational justification.
 Rule by terror and fear.
 (1919-1921)- internal social turmoil. Industrial strikes.
(October 1922) March on Rome- Fascists marched to Rome. King of
Rome Victor Emmanuel III refused to sign a decree to send an army to
stop the march. This allowed fascists to come to power.
(October 29, 1922) Mussolini asked to become prime minister. Achieves
authority.
o (1922) Fascists appointed to office. Gained control of Chamber of
Deputies. Dominance at every level. Obtained power legally.
o (November 23, 1922) Granted Mussolini dictatorial authority for one
year to bring order to local and regional government.
o (Late 1924) Mussolini changed election law to party that gained
largest popular vote won 2/3 of the seats in Chamber.
o (1925-1926) Passed laws permitting Mussolini to rule by decree.
o (1926) All other political parties were dissolved. Mussolini
transformed Italy into a single-party dictatorial state.
(1929) Lateran Accord- Mussolini confirmed pope’s power to grant titles.
o Recognized sovereignty of the Holy See in the Vatican City.
o Financial convention agreed on as a definitive settlement of the
claims of the Holy See following the losses of its territories and
property.
o Brought further respectability to Mussolini’s authoritarian regime.
FRANCE (1920-1930)
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(1920) “Blue Horizon Chamber,” defeated Georges Clemenceau’s bid for
presidency. Conservative. Accepted leading role of Europe.
(1920s) Frequent ministry changes and drift in domestic policy.
(Post WW1) Wants Germany extremely weak.
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(1920-1921) Formed the Little Entente- Czechoslovakia, Romania,
Yugoslavia.
o Had much to lose from the Versailles treaty. France made military
alliance with this.
o Weaker than Franco-Russian alliance.
 (January 11, 1923) Poincare, prime minister of France takes
French troops to Germans Ruhr mining area. French
civilians run German mines and railroads. Prevailed.
 Germany pays, but France’s victory was costly.
 German inflation increased and hurt the French economy.
 (1924) Poincare’s conservative ministry gave way to a
coalition of leftist parties, the Cartel des Gauches.
Aristide Briand (1862-1932)- foreign minister for the remainder of the
1920s.
o Recognized the Soviet Union and adopted a more conciliatory
policy toward Germany.
o Foreign minister.
o Championed League of Nations
o Mild inflation. Prosperity until 1931 longer than any other nation.
BRITAIN (1918-1926)
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(1918) Parliament expanded the electorate to include all men aged 21 and
women nagged 30.
Lloyd George- Prime minister conservative mercy.
(1918) Against the wishes of the liberals and Labor Party, he maintained
the coalition through tasks of the peace conference and the domestic
reconstruction.
(1922) Accepts dole.
(1866-1937) Ramsay MacDonald- Forms first Labor ministry in British
History
o Wants extensive social reform. Proved the Labor party was loyal
and respectable and responsible.
o (1923) Labor Party- Socialist, non-revolutionary, democratic.
(1925) Returned to the Gold Standard- Conservative set the conversion
rate for the pound too high against other currencies, raised price of British
goods to foreign customers.
(1926) General Strike - Britain was trying to get their economy out of rut
o They tried cutting wages = directly affected the coal miners. Coal
miners went on strike.
o Lasted 9 days. Little violence.
o Organized labor in a weak position
Stanley Baldwin- Prime minister, conservative. Concerned to present
British institutions in a favorable light. Hoped communists doctrines
wouldn’t influence the British labor movement.
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Mohandis Gandhi (1869-1948) - Led the congress party in India.
Attracted widespread support. Led British to talk more about selfgovernment in India.
(1920s) British textile producers no longer had totally free access to the
vast Indian market
IRISH (1914-1949)
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(1914) Home Rule Bill --first act British parliament passed that devolved
government in United Kingdom. Postponed for 12 months.
o (April 1916) Easter Uprising = nationalist uprising in Dublin. Only
rebellion of a national group to occur against any government
engaged in war.
o British executed the Irish nationalist leaders who were responsible
for this caused rebels to become national martyrs.
o (1918) Leadership of the nationalists shifted from Irish party in
Parliament to the extreme Sinn Fein, the new extremist party in
Ireland. Won all but 4 seats in Irish parliament. Made Irish
Parliament.
o (1919) Declared Irish independence.
o (January 1921) Military wing of Sinn Fein became Irish republican
army. (IRA)
 Dail Eireann- Irish Parliament
(1921) Ulster/ Northern Ireland were permitted to remain part of the
United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland with provisions of home
rule. Caused civil war to break out amongst diehards and moderates.
Moderates wanted the treaty, diehards wanted completely independent.
(1949) Republic of Eire, Irish Free State, declared itself the independent
republic of Eire, or Ireland. Finally independent from Britain.
SUCCESOR STATES IN EASTERN EUROPE: Post WWI
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(Post WWI) Succeeded portions of overturned Germany, AustroHungarian, and Russian empires.
o Make new parliamentary governments function in a satisfactory and
stable manner.
None possessed strong economic relationships, poor.
o Rural nations in industrialized world
Ethnic groups able to pursue nationalistic goals w/o major interference
from authority /central political authority.
Still minorities within these ethnic groups that wanted to be independent or
be apart of a different nation of region.= problem
(1919) Poland No nationalism. No tools for industrialization. No
cooperation
o (1926) Pilsudski-formed military coup. Ruled after.
o Had different administrative systems/ laws/ economies/degrees of
experience
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(Post WWI) Czechoslovakia: strong industrial base. Substantial middle
class.
o Well educated.
o Thomas Masaryk-. First president of Czechoslovakia republic.
Only successful democratic state in Europe during the war.
(1920s) Hungary: resentment in Hungary over lost territory in Paris
Settlement.
o Economy suffered
o Anti-Semitic policies/ rigged elections
(1920s) Austria: leftist social democrats and conservative Christian
Socialists fought for power.
o (1892-1934) Englebert Dollfuss- Chancellor of Austria. Tried to
steer a course between Austrian Social Democrats and the German
Nazi’s. (1934) Outlawed all political parties except the Christian
Socialists, agrarians, and parliamentary groups. Used troops
against Social Democrats but was shot later during an unsuccessful
Nazi Coup.
Southeastern Europe: Dictatorships
o Military dictatorships arise.
o (1917-1929) Yugoslavia- Composed of Croats, Serbs, and
Slovenes. Croats and Serbs clashed.
o (1929) Led to a royal dictatorship under King Alexander I. Croats
thought Serbs were a corrupt administration. Serbs had more
control over government and had an independent state with an
army earlier before the war.
o Other dictatorships in Romania and Greece.
WEIMER REPUBLIC: 1920s
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(Post WWI) Accepted the treaty of Versailles.
(1920s) Proportional representation System made it easy for small parties
to gain seats in the Reichstag. Guaranteed civil liberties and provided
direct election by universal suffrage.
(1920s) Lack of Popular Support.
(1920s) Article 48- Allowed president to rule by decree in an emergency.
Promoted a temporary presidential dictatorship.
(1923) Huge inflation caused by invasion of the Ruhr
o (1920s) Unemployment. Disaster to middle class and lower middle
class
o (1920s) Stores unwilling to exchange goods for the worthless
currency farmers withheld produce from the market.
HITLER (1889-1945)
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Believes -German Nationalism, racism, extreme anti-Semitism. Hated
Marxism and Jews.
o (1923) Wrote My Struggle in prison. (Mein Kampf) Pursue power
by legal means.
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o Germany must expand
(1920s) Nazis / 25 points: Platform/program= repudiation of the Versailles
treaty.
o unification of Austria and Germany, exclusion of Jews from German
citizenship, agrarian reform, prohibition of laws speculation,
confiscation of war profits,
o state administration of the giant cartels, replacement of department
stores with small retail shops.
o Subordination of all economic enterprise to the welfare of the
nation.
(1887-1934) SA= storm troopers under Ernst Roehm. Originally a
parliamentary organization that provided troops with food and uniforms
and eventually paid them.
(Mid 1920s) Famous for their brown shirted uniform.
o (1920s) Nazi instrument for Nazi terror and intimidation before the
party controlled the government. Attacked socialists and
communists.
o (1920s) Means of preserving military discipline and values outside
the small army permitted by the Paris settlement.
STRESEMANN: 1920s
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(1878-1929) Gustav Stresemann = responsible for the reconstruction of
the republic and giving it a sense of self-confidence.
o (1923) Chancellor of Germany
o (1920s) Conciliatory. Aimed to recover German-speaking countries
lost to Poland and Czechoslovakia and to unite with Austria by
diplomatic means.
o (1924) Dawes Plan- Charles Dawes (American banker). Lowered
annual payments and allowed them to vary accordingly to German
economy. New system of reparation payments.
LOCARNO (1925)
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Chamberlain of Britain and Briand of France to accept Stresemann’s
proposal for a fresh start.
Pleased everyone: Italy recognized as great power, French happy
because Germany voluntarily accepted its permanence of their western
frontier, and Britain was happy to play an evenhanded role.
Germany happy achieved respectability and a guarantee against another
Ruhr occupation.
Germany enters League of Nations.
o (1928) Kellogg-Briand Pact- Major European states, Japan and
US sign this renouncing war as an instrument of national policy.
o (1929) Young Plan- lowered German reparations after Dawes plan
ran out. Put a limit on how long they had to be made and removed
Germany entirely from outside supervision and control.
o (1930s) Totalitarian States- Germany and Italy were coming to
emerge as being totalitarian states. Hitler and Mussolini would
eventually take control, bringing about an unbalance in Europe and
violating the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
Chapter 28: Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and the Soviet
Union Leading up to and Dealing with the Great Depression
LEADING UP TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION (Post WWI 1920’s
and early 1930s)
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(1920s) Most European nations emerged from WWI with inflated
currencies and market demand for European goods shrink.
(1920s) Idle factories, fewer jobs, world wheat prices fell, lower
incomes for farmers, increased price of industrial goods
(1924) Dawes Plan reorganized the administration and transfer of
reparations.
Smoothed debt repayments to the U.S.
(1925) Brief European prosperity from flow of U.S. capital.
(1928) American money withdrawn from European investments into
booming New York stock market.
 Lending contracted.
(October 1929) Wall Street crashed from unregulated financial
spending.
Huge amounts of money lost, credit shrank severely or
disappeared, and many banks failed.
(May 1931) Kreditanstalt, a major bank in Vienna that was the
primary lending institution for much of central and Easter Europe,
collapsed.
German banking was under pressure & unable to make
reparations.
(June 1931) Hoover Moratorium: Herbert Hoover, U.S.
president, announced a one-year halt on all payments of
international debts.
(Summer of 1932) Lausanne Conference ended era of
reparations.
(Late 1920s-early 1930s) Governments not well fit to deal with
depression.
(1936) John Keyne’s General Theory of Employment, Interest, and
Money. Theory of governments’ spending economy out of
depression.
GREAT BRITAIN (Post WWI: 1929-1937)
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(1929-1935): Labour government headed by Ramsay MacDonald.
MacDonald rejected radical programs—trying to make his
party respectable.
MacDonald formed the National Government, a coalition ministry.
(1931) National Government won by a comfortable majority.
(1931): More than 2.5 million were unemployed.
National government tried to attack depression: balanced budget
and went off gold standard.
(1932) Import Duties Bill Passed.
(1932) Sir Oswald Mosley founded the British Union of Fascists.
Flirted with right-wing politics.
(1934) Industrial production expanded.
(1937) George Orwell wrote The Road to Wigan Pier, which
described the laboring districts, the poverty, and 1.5 million without
jobs.
(1937) Conservative Neville Chamberlain succeeded Stanley
Baldwin who replaced MacDonald.
FRANCE (Post WWI: early 1930s- late 1930s)
 (1931) Economic depression began to affect French economy.
 (1932) Elected another Radical coalition government.
Pursued a deflationary policy & reparation payments
stopped.
 (Early 1930s) Right-wing, authoritarian groups became active.
Action Française— founded in the wake of the Dreyfus
Affair and the Croix de Feu or “Cross of Fire”—composed of army
veterans.
 (1933) Serge Stavisky, small time gangster, became involved in a
fraudulent bond scheme.
 (1934) Stavisky Affair, the last of the Third Republic Scandals,
occurred and involved a political cover up and people in high places
wishing to halt the investigation.
Symbolized the seaminess, immorality, and corruption of
republican politics.
 (February 1934) Large demonstration of right wing leagues that
was the largest disturbance in Paris since the Commune of 1871.
 (February 6, 1934) Radical ministry of Daladier replaced by a
national coalition government composed of all living former
premiers.
 (1934-1936) The French left began to make peace within its own
ranks.
 (July 1935) The Popular Front of all left-wing parties was
established to preserve the republic and press for social reform.
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(1936) Popular Front received a majority in the Chamber of
Deputies.
(1936) Socialists = largest single party in French history. Leon
Blum assumed the premiership.
Reorganized labor and management, raised wages, fortyhour workweek, raised salaries of civil servants and
instituted a program of public works.
(1936-1937) Blum devalued the Franc.
(1937) Conservative banking and general business communities
enraged by Blum influenced Blum to halt the reform program.
(1938) Radical ministry under Daladier replaced Popular Front.
(Late 1930s) Citizens question the worth of the republic.
GERMANY: HITLER’S OBTAINING AND CONSOLIDATING
POWER (1928-1942)
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(Late 1920s) The Nazi’s were a major presence in the Weimar
Republic, but not real contenders for political dominance.
(1928) Weimar Republic ended and a coalition of center parties
and the Social Democrats governed.
(1930) Coalition dissolved and left parliamentary deadlock.
President von Hindenburg appointed Heinrich Brüning
as Chancellor. Brüning governed through Article 48, under
emergency decree.
(1932) Germany unemployment rose—economic downturn and
parliamentary deadlock worked to the advantage of extreme
political parties.
The Nazis transformed economic despair into electoral
results.
(1933) Hitler became the chancellor of Germany through legal
means.
Hitler mastered mass politics and propaganda, and relied
on Josef Goebbels who was in charge of Nazi propaganda.
Support for Hitler strong among farmers, war veterans, &
the young.
(1933) Nazis excluded the Jews from the civil service.
(1933) Trade unions were crushed making strikes illegal.
Required participation in the Labor Front and advocated
“Strength Through Joy.”
(February 1933) A mentally ill Dutch communist set fire to the
Reichstag building in Berlin.
 Represented immediate communist threat against the
government.
(March 1933) Hitler ruled by degree with no legal limits of
exercising power.
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(May 1933) The Nazi Party seized the offices, banks, and
newspapers, of the free trade unions and arrested their leaders.
(Late June and early July) All other German political parties were
outlawed.
(Late 1933) Almost 1 million unemployed joined the storm
troopers, the SA. Commander of this party army was Ernst
Roehm.
(June 30, 1934) Hitler personally ordered the murder of key SA
officers, including Roehm.
 Hitler was trying to protect his own position and to shore
up support with the regular army.
(1934) Hitler used the SS, the chief vehicle of police surveillance, to
carry out the blood purges of the party.
(1935) Nuremberg Laws robbed German Jews of their citizenship.
(1936) Himmler became head of all police matters in Germany and
was second in power only to Hitler.
(1935) The specter of unemployment associated with the Great
Depression no longer haunted Germany.
 Reversed the deflationary policy and instituted massive
program of public works and spending.
(1935) Renunciation of the military provisions of Versailles led to
open rearmament and expansion of the German army.
(November 9 and 10, 1938) Thousands of Jewish stores and
synagogues were burned or destroyed in Kristallnacht.
(1941-1942) Hitler destroyed the Jews in Europe
 More than 6 million Jews died.
FASCIST ITALY (1920s-1930s)
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(1920s) Mussolini undertook vast public works, subsidized the
shipping industry and introduced protective tariffs, and embarked
on the “battle of wheat” to prevent foreign grain from appearing in
Italy.
 The policies failed and couldn’t stop the Great Depression
from affecting Italy.
(1920s) Developed corporatism, which was a planned economy
that linked to the private ownership of capital and to government
arbitration of labor disputes.
 Introduced syndicates representing labor and
management, which organized major industries.
(Mid 1920s) Italian labor unions lost the right to strike and pursue
independent goals.
 Management profited.
(After 1930) Industrial syndicates were further organized into
entities called corporations.
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 These bodies included all industries relating to a major
area of production.
(1935) Italy invaded Ethiopia and economic life was put on a formal
wartime footing.
(1935) Government imposed a forced loan on citizens by requiring
property owners to purchase bonds.
(Late 1930s) Italian state assumed more and more direction over
economy.
(1938) Mussolini abolished Italian Chamber of Deputies and
replaced it with a Chamber of Corporations.
SOVIET UNION: PATH TO INDUSTRIALIZATION (1927-1940)
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(1927) Lenin’s New Economic Policy had championed, but
industrial growth slowed.
(1927) Party Congress decided to push for rapid industrialization.
(1928) Sharp departure from NEP—“industrialization by political
mobilization.”
(1928) Stalin’s organizational vehicle for industrialization was a
series of five-year plans.
 The State Planning Commission or Gosplan oversaw
the program setting foals for production and attempting to
organize the economy.
(Late 1930s) The drive to rapid industrialization allowed the
government to reimpose strict discipline.
(1930s) Industrialization achieved fully employed labor force, but a
labor force with a low standard of living and no political liberties or
ability to organize independent labor unions.
(Close of 1930s) Russian economy grew more rapidly than any
other nation—400%.
SOVIET UNION: COLLECTIVIZATION AND PURGES (19281938)
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(1928-1929) The kulaks, prosperous farmers, were unhappy with
their situation because there were fewer consumer goods to
purchase. They withheld grain from the market causing food
shortages.
(1928-1929) Stalin decided agriculture must be collectivized to
produce enough grain for food and export, to achieve control over
the economy.
(1929) Stalin ordered party agents into the countryside to
confiscate what and to carry out a program of collectivization of
agriculture.
(1929) Stalin forced Bukharin off the Politburo.
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Blamed kulaks and decided to eliminate the kulaks as a
class.
(1929-1933) Stubborn peasants sabotaged collectivization by
slaughtering millions of horses and cattle.
Millions of peasants were killed as a result of
collectivization.
(1932-1933) Extensive famine resulted in more deaths.
(1933) Turmoil in the countryside and economic dislocation caused
Stalin to fear he was losing control.
This resulted in paranoia and the Great Purges.
(1934) Stalin feared the Nazis, so he ordered the Comintern to
permit communist parties in other countries to cooperate with
noncommunist parties against Nazism and Fascism.
(October 1, 1934) Sergei Kirov, the popular party chief of
Leningrad, was assassinated.
(1936-1938) A series of spectacular show trials were held in
Moscow.
Former high soviet leaders were publicly confessed to
political crimes and were convicted and executed.
(1937) Stalin seemed to have become distrustful of the central part
elite and he began to find enemies within its ranks.
 New, younger members replaced the party members who
were executed or expelled.
(1938) 90% of the land had been collectivized allowing the
government to control food supply.