Europe Between the Wars: 1919-1939
1
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WRITTEN BY
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COPYRIGHT 2008
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2
Chapter 9
1919-1938
The West Between the Wars
Section 1: The Futile Search for Stability
3
Europe After World War One
Europe Devastated by WWI
Wilson’s 14 Points
Paris Peace Conference and Treaty of
Versailles
League of Nations
New Democracies in Eastern Europe
Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Japan
4
The War to End All Wars
Europe devastated.
8.5 million killed; 21 million wounded.
England, France and Germany were
creditor nations before the war.
After the war, they were debtor nations.
Creditor: Other countries owed them money.
Debtor: They owed money to other countries (principally the U.S.). 5
Wilson’s 14 Points
On January 8, 1918, in a
speech to a joint session
of Congress, President
Woodrow Wilson laid out
Fourteen Points that
would form the "possible
basis of a general peace."
The Fourteen Points
gained popular support
throughout Europe.
When Germany
surrendered, it expected
equitable terms based on
the Fourteen Points.
6
Wilson’s shorthand notes for the 14 Points speech
The Fourteen
Points
1. "Open covenants of peace“
2. "Absolute freedom of
navigation upon the seas"
3.
Free trade
4. "Adequate guarantees" of
disarmament
5. Colonial self-determination
6-13. Specific provisions
relating to Russia,
Belgium, France, Italy,
Austria-Hungary, the
Balkan nations, Turkey,
and Poland
"Can He Produce Harmony?"
14. "A general association of nations" (The League of Nations)
7
Armistice with
Germany
World War One, "the Great War,"
ended on November 11, 1918,
with the signing of the Armistice
Treaty.
The signing
took place in
a railway
carriage in
the
Compiègne
Forest,
France.
Principal signatories were Marshal
Ferdinand Foch of France, the Allied
commander-in-chief, and Matthias
Erzberger, Germany's representative.
8
Paris Peace Conference
In 1919, delegates from 32
nations met in Paris to
negotiate the terms for a
lasting peace for Europe and
the world.
Wilson sought peace based on
free trade, open diplomacy and
self-determination.
Clemenceau sought reparation
from Germany and insisted on
a "war guilt" clause fixing
blame for the war on Germany.
"Big Four" at the Versailles Peace
Conference: Lloyd George (England),
Vittorio Emanuele Orlando (Italy),
Georges Clemenceau (France),
Woodrow Wilson (USA)
Lloyd George, asked how he had done at Versailles, quipped:
"Not badly, considering I was seated between Jesus Christ
9
(Wilson) and Napoleon (Clemenceau)."
Treaty of Versailles: Major Provisions
Surrender of German colonies as League of Nations mandates.
German territory ceded to France, Belgium, Lithuania,
Czechoslovakia and Poland.
Germany to pay war reparations to France and Great Britain.
Germany to accept sole guilt for causing
the war.
German troops banned from Rhine
Valley (part of Germany).
German army limited to 100,000 men,
with no conscription, no tanks, no heavy
artillery and no aircraft.
German navy limited to vessels under
100,000 tons, with no submarines.
10
Germany Signs Under Protest
Germany had no part in negotiating the terms of the
treaty, and signed it under protest.
The humiliation and betrayal
that many Germans felt would
contribute to the rise of
Nazism.
Territorial loss, onerous
reparations, and the sole guilt
clause generated resentment
that Hitler would exploit.
"Not only have I united the German people
politically, but I have also rearmed them. I have
also endeavored to destroy, sheet by sheet, that
treaty (Versailles) which in its 448 articles
contains the vilest oppression which peoples and
human beings have ever been expected to
endure."
-Hitler addressing Reichstag, 1935
Hitler
designed the
cartoon
depicting a
chained
Germania
beneath the
slogan "Only
National
Socialism
will free
Germany
from the lie
of sole
guilt!"
11
Keynes on the Harsh Treaty of Versailles
"Moved by insane delusion and reckless self-regard, the German
people overturned the foundations on which we all lived and
built. But the spokesmen of the French and British peoples have
run the risk of completing the ruin, which Germany began, by a
Peace which, if it is carried into effect, must impair yet further,
when it might have restored, the delicate, complicated
organization, already shaken and broken by war, through which
alone the European peoples can employ themselves and live."
- John Maynard Keynes
The Economic Consequences of the Peace
Keynes, one of the most important
economists of the 20th century, was a
British delegate to the Paris Peace
Conference. He argued that the harsh
reparation imposed on Germany could
not be paid by a country already
devastated by war, and would lead to
further conflict in Europe.
12
League of Nations
(1919-1946)
The League of Nations, an
international organization
dedicated to disarmament
and peaceful resolution of
international conflict, was
Wilson’s great project.
First assembly of the League of Nations
in Geneva, 1920
13
The United States
never joined the
League of Nations.
Germany joined in
1926, and withdrew
in 1933.
The Soviet Union
joined in 1934, but
was expelled
following the Soviet
attack on Finland in
1939.
After WWII, the
League was replaced
by the United
Nations.
Cartoon from Punch, 1920
14
Traditional U.S. foreign policy sought to avoid
foreign entanglements.
"It is our true policy
to steer clear of
permanent
alliances with any
portion of the
foreign world."
Cartoon shows Uncle Sam baffled by European conflict
President George
Washington’s
Farewell Address,
15
1796
The U.S. Senate voted not to ratify the Treaty of
Versailles or join the League of Nations.
Senator
Henry Cabot
Lodge led
the fight
against the
Treaty
Wilson
negotiated the
Treaty of
Versailles
without any input
from the Senate,
which led to
bitterness. Cabot
and others
argued against
joining an
international
organization that
might have veto
power over U.S.
actions.
Cabot speech against joining League
Cartoon shows
Wilson trying to
protect the League
of Nations from the
Senate.
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Nye Committee
Senator Gerald Nye of
North Dakota formed a
committee in 1936 to
investigate the actions of
U.S. bankers and munitions
(weapons) makers from
1914-1918.
The Nye report
convinced millions of U.S.
citizens that the bankers
who had lent money to the
European allies had been
"merchants of death" and
had tricked the country into
war because they wanted
to make a profit at any
cost.
The Committee on Investigation of the
Munitions Industry included
Arthur H. Vandenberg, Bennett Champ
Clark, Gerald Nye, counsel Alger Hiss, and
Homer T. Bone
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"The League is very well when sparrows shout, but no good at all
18
when eagles fall out." - Benito Mussolini
New European Democracies Were Created
from the Old Austro-Hungarian Empire
Before WWI,
Austria-Hungary
was the second
largest country in
Europe (after
Russia), and the
third most populous
(after Russia and
the German
Empire).
Nationalist conflicts within the
empire were one of the causes of
WWI, and led to the ultimate
collapse of the empire.
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Successor States
Austria
Hungary
Czechoslovakia
Yugoslavia
Poland
Some AustroHungarian lands
were ceded to
Romania,
Ukraine and
Italy
 Conflicting values expressed
in Wilson’s Fourteen Points
and the Treaty of Versailles
influenced the determination
of national borders in Eastern
Europe.
 Wilson strongly advocated
national self-determination.
 But France feared any
arrangement that would
strengthen Germany.
 The new national divisions
left large German and
Hungarian minorities in a
number of countries.
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Chapter 9
1919-1938
The West Between the Wars
Section 2: The Rise of Dictatorial Regimes
21
Fascist Italy
Italians were disappointed by the
Treaty of Versailles. Although they
had fought with the Allies, they got
little compensation from the treaty.
In particular, they failed to gain
territory in North Africa and the
Adriatic region, as they had hoped.
Post-war Italy was plagued by
economic problems. In the cities, labor
strikes were common; in the
countryside, landless peasants seized
land from wealthy landlords.
In March 1919, Mussolini founded the
Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, the
Italian Fascist Party.
The term
fascism is
derived
from the
fasces, a
symbol of
power in
ancient
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Rome.
Mussolini wanted to
rebuild the ancient
Roman Empire.
He adapted the
ancient Roman
military salute for
his fascist
movement.
Hitler, who admired
Mussolini, also
adapted the salute
for his Nazis.
This is the origin of
the famous one-arm
"Heil Hitler!" salute.
The Oath of the Horatii
Jacques-Louis David, 1784
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Benito Mussolini
(1883-1945)
Fascist dictator of Italy, 1922-1943
Born 1883 in a rural town in
northern Italy. His father was
a blacksmith and an ardent
socialist. His mother was a
teacher and a devout
Catholic.
Before WWI, he was a
journalist and socialist
activist. His views were
democratic, socialist and
pacifist.
Most Italian and European
socialists opposed the war,
but Mussolini supported it.
He joined the Italian army
and began to drift away from
socialism and toward
nationalism.
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Italian Combat Squad
After the war, Mussolini
opposed the socialists and
communists who were agitating
among urban workers.
In 1919, he formed the Fasci
Italiani di Combattimento with
about 200 members.
They developed a paramilitary
wing, the Blackshirts, that used
violence to break up strikes and
demonstrations.
Mussolini as Allied soldier, 1917
His movement gained support
among the middle and upper
classes, who were afraid that
communist revolutionaries and
other leftist movements were
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gaining strength.
Fascist Manifesto
Published in 1919, the Fascist Manifesto was the initial political
statement of the Italian fascist movement.
It was largely a liberal document, calling for such reforms as
voting for women and the 8-hour workday.
Most of the liberal, democratic measures were abandoned as
the fascists gained power under Mussolini.
The manifesto called for corporatism.
Corporatism was seen as an
alternative to both capitalism and
socialism that avoided the evils of
both economic systems. Under
corporatism, the economy would be
controlled not by the state OR the
free market, but by elected councils
representing each economic sector
(labor, industry, agriculture, etc.).
26
National Fascist Party
Partito Nazionale Fascista (PNF)
As the threat of communist revolution grew and the
government was unable to deal with labor and social unrest,
the popularity of the fascists grew.
In November 1921, they formed the National Fascist Party.
Mussolini was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (the Italian
legislature).
PNF Policies
Nationalist and anti-communist
Corporatist economics
Restore Italy’s prestige by
building a new Roman Empire
through colonial expansion in
North Africa and the Adriatic.
27
Mussolini and Blackshirts, 1922
March on Rome
"Our program is simple: we
want to rule Italy,"
Mussolini told the Fascist
Congress meeting in Naples
in October 1922.
Mussolini led 30,000
demonstrators in a march
on Rome.
The Blackshirts, meanwhile,
seized control of local
governments in the north.
On Oct. 28, King Victor
Emmanuel III named
Mussolini prime minister,
handing him effective power
over the country.
28
Mussolini marching on Rome with his followers
March on Rome: Fact or Myth?
"The ironic fact about Mussolini's March on Rome
in 1922 was that he and most of his blackshirted followers travelled to Rome from Milan
by train, first class.
There was no march.
But to satisfy his inordinate vanity, Mussolini, a
master of propaganda, later created the myth of
the March on Rome."
Photos of the March on
Rome may be of a
ceremonial parade of
25,000 Blackshirts
staged on Oct. 30, 1922,
after Mussolini’s
appointment as prime
minister.
- David Willey
BBC News
Oct. 29, 2002
29
Prime Minister Becomes a Dictator
The Acerbo Law, passed in
1923, changed the way
seats in Parliament were
allocated and allowed the
fascists, with only a third
of the votes, to gain
control of the legislature.
In protest, socialist and
liberal members boycotted
the government, leaving
Mussolini free to have his
way with the legislature.
Little by little over the
next two years, with the
support of a complacent
legislature, Mussolini
dismantled every
constitutional restraint on
his power.
30
Fascism vs. Bolshevism?
• Mussolini claimed that fascism had saved Italy from
bolshevism.
• American muckraking journalist George Seldes (Sawdust
Caesar, 1935) says that bolshevism had been defeated in
Italy two years before Mussolini came to power.
• He quotes opposition leader Matteotti:
"If, as you said, Italy has saved itself, when
the Socialist Party expelled, in 1920, all the
Communists and the violent enemies, how
do you intend to save her again, how do you
explain the civil war which the Fascists have
inaugurated, their destructions, their
burnings, their assassinations?"
George Seldes
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Giacomo Matteotti (1885-1924)
Leader of United Socialist Party in the
Chamber of Deputies.
Fierce critic of Mussolini and fascism.
On May 30, 1924, he alleged in a speech to
Parliament that the Fascists had committed
fraud in recent elections.
On June 10 he was kidnapped and stabbed to
death. Five men, including a prominent member
of the Fascist Ceka (secret police) were
arrested.
Historians debate whether Mussolini knew of or
ordered the murder.
Most anti-Fascist deputies left the Parliament in
protest, leaving the Fascists in firm control.
In a speech to the Parliament in January
1925, Mussolini took "all political, moral and
historical responsibility for all that has
happened."
32
In 1925, Mussolini’s
title was changed from
"President of the
Council of Ministers" to
"Head of the
Government." He began
using the title "Il Duce"
(leader).
In 1927, the secret
police (OVRA) were
formed to suppress
dissent.
In 1929, political parties
(other than the
Fascists) were banned,
and the Parliament was
replaced by the Grand
Council of Fascism.
As head of government
AND of the Fascist
Party, Mussolini’s rule
was supreme.
The Head of Mussolini
R.A. Bertelli, 1933
33
New Roman Empire
In 1923, Italy invaded the Greek island
of Corfu.
Albania became an Italian puppet
state.
Italian exercised strong control over
the colony of Libya.
In 1936, Italy conquered Ethiopia
(Abyssinia).
The Italian Empire in 1940
Mussolini was at
first hostile to Hitler
and disdainful of his
racial ideology.
Hitler’s support of
the Abyssinian
campaign, and the
opposition of the
League of Nations,
drew Italy and
Germany together.
34
Propaganda and Control
Like Hitler and Stalin, Mussolini had total control
of the mass media and used it to promote his
programs as well as his personal image.
Left: Propaganda photo of Mussolini posed heroically on his horse.35
Right: Photo before the handler was brushed out.
Il Duce
"The Fascist
conception of the
State is allembracing; outside
of it no human or
spiritual values can
exist, much less
have value. Thus
understood,
Fascism is
totalitarian, and
the Fascist State—
a synthesis and a
unit inclusive of all
values—interprets,
develops, and
potentiates the
whole life of a
people."
Portret Duce - Gerardo Dottori, 1933
36
Mussolini and Hitler
Hitler admired
Mussolini.
Mussolini at first
looked down on
Hitler.
As late as 1935, he
sided with the
League of Nations
against Hitler’s
violations of the
Treaty of Versailles.
After 1936, when
the League of
Nations opposed
Mussolini’s invasion
of Abyssinia and
Hitler supported it,
Mussolini moved
closer to Hitler.
Above: Hitler in
Rome, visiting
Mussolini to
congratulate him
on his victory in
Ethiopia.
Right: 1941 Italian
stamp featuring the
two leaders.
37
Russia Goes Communist
Russia on the Eve of
Revolution
Industrialization
February Revolution
October Revolution
Vladimir Lenin
USSR
Civil War
Leon Trotsky
Famine
Kronstadt Rebellion
Communism Spreads
Joseph Stalin
First 5-Year Plan
Holodomor
Second 5-Year Plan
Great Purge
Dewey Commission
GULAG
38
Russia on the Eve of Revolution
 Russia was
agrarian and
backward
compared to
Western Europe.
 Recent
industrialization
and the rise of
market capitalism
created
frustration for the
poor.
 The Romanov
dynasty faced
growing
opposition.
39
Nicholas II, Last of the Romanovs
The Romanov dynasty
ruled Russia for more
than 300 years, from
1613 to 1917.
The czar was the
supreme ruler, who
believed he was
chosen by God, and
loved by his people.
Czar is the Russian
form of the Latin
Caesar.
In response to the
failed revolution of
1905, Czar Nicholas
established a
legislative body, the
Duma, and promised
civil liberties, but was
unwilling to share
power.
Czar Nicholas II
By the Grace of God, Emperor and Autocrat
40
of All the Russias, 1868-1918
Nicholas and the royal family
Nicholas abdicated in March
1917 and was exiled to the
Urals. After the Bolsheviks took
power, his imprisonment grew
more severe. His entire family
was executed in June 1918.
Last known photo of Nicholas in
exile
41
Russian Population, 1917
by social class - %
80
70
60
50
40
Peasants
30
Workers
20
Professionals
and Nobility
10
0
42
Russia: A Backward, Agricultural Society
Serfdom, a form of slavery in which peasants were
bound to large agricultural estates, existed in Russia
from the 11th century.
More than a third of the Russian population were serfs
when the institution was abolished in 1861.
After 1861, former serfs
still worked the land for
large landowners.
Russian agriculture was
backward and unproductive.
Land reform was a major
demand of the Russian
peasants at the end of
the czarist regime.
43
Rapid Industrialization
1870s – Extensive railroad system developed
1880s – Modern factories built in major cities
1890s – Protective tariffs imposed
By 1900, Russia
was fourth in the
world in steel
production, and
second in
petroleum
production.
It had the
largest factories
in the world.
Furniture factories, Moscow, early 1900s
44
On the eve of the revolution, 10% of Russians
were urban factory workers, the proletariat.
Working conditions were harsh.
Housing was dismal and overcrowded.
Compared to
Western Europe
and the U.S.,
industrialization
came late, fast
and hard to
Russia.
Putilov Works
St. Petersburg, 1903
45
Two Russian Revolutions of 1917
February Revolution (March)
Czar abdicates; Provisional Government established.
October Revolution (November)*
Bolsheviks seize power.
*Called the "October Revolution" because it was October
according to the Julian calendar, revised by Julius Caesar in 46
BCE and still in use in czarist Russia. Most of the world was using
the Gregorian calendar, revised by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.
According to the Gregorian
calendar, the February
Revolution occurred in March,
and the October Revolution
occurred in November. Russia
switched to the Gregorian
calendar in 1918.
46
February Revolution
March 1917 – Food shortages brought on by the war
caused widespread hunger. Strikes and food riots broke
out in Petrograd (St. Petersburg).
Czarist troops sent to quell the riots switched sides and
joined the demonstrations. Disorder spread through the
city.
On March 15, Czar
Nicholas abdicated
in favor of his
brother, who
declined the crown.
A Provisional
Government was
formed by the
Duma, but its rule
was challenged by
the Petrograd
Soviet.
47
Street demonstration, Petrograd, June 1917.
The Provisional Government promised major reforms,
including civil rights and distribution of agricultural lands,
but argued that these reforms would have to wait until the
war was successfully concluded.
Alexander Kerensky (center, in white) arriving in Moscow August 1917.
Kerensky, one of the most radical members of the Provisional
48
Government, was its leader from July through November.
Bolsheviks
The Marxist Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party was
formed in 1898, uniting various Russian revolutionary
parties.
In 1903, the party split into two groups, the Bolsheviks
("majority"), who followed Lenin, and the Mensheviks
("minority").
In 1917, the Bolsheviks,
led by Lenin, seized
control of the Russian
Revolution.
As the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union, the
Bolsheviks would rule
the USSR for more than
70 years.
Bolshevik Party meeting – 49
Lenin is at right.
October Revolution
Workers and peasants were unwilling to postpone reforms
until the end of the war.
After a failed campaign against Germany launched by
Kerensky in July, the army rebelled against the Provisional
Government and demanded an end to the war.
Lenin, promising bread
and an end to the war,
led a successful coup to
take control of the
government.
He led the formation of a
new government, the first
in the world to attempt to
put Marxist principles into
practice.
Bolshevik forces marching on Red 50
Square, 1917
The Internationale
Original French lyrics by Eugène
Pottier, 1870.
Anthem of the Soviet Union, 19181943.
Translated into many languages.
Used as anthem by communist,
socialist and anarchist parties
around the world.
Arise ye workers from your slumbers
Arise ye prisoners of want
For reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of cant.
Away with all your superstitions
Servile masses arise, arise
We'll change henceforth the old tradition
And spurn the dust to win the prize.
Refrain:
So comrades, come rally
And the last fight let us face
The Internationale unites the human race.
No more deluded by reaction
On tyrants only we'll make war
The soldiers too will take strike action
They'll break ranks and fight no more
And if those cannibals keep trying
To sacrifice us to their pride
They soon shall hear the bullets flying
We'll shoot the generals on our own side.
No saviour from on high delivers
No faith have we in prince or peer
Our own right hand the chains must shiver
Chains of hatred, greed and fear
E'er the thieves will out with their booty
And give to all a happier lot.
51
Each at the forge must do their duty
And we'll strike while the iron is hot.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Lenin is known as the
father of Communism in
Russia.
Lawyer, writer, professor,
living in self-imposed exile
in Switzerland.
Returned to Russia in 1917.
Powerful speaker, brilliant
orator and tactician.
Lenin led the Bolsheviks in
taking over the Russian
revolution.
Vladimir Lenin
Владимир Ильич
Ленин
1870-1924
52
Lenin Returns to Russia
In 1917, after the February Revolution, Lenin wanted to
return to Russia, but he would have to travel through
Europe, where WWI was raging.
The German high command arranged for his passage
from Zurich through Germany, Sweden and Finland in a
sealed railroad car.
The Germans hoped that Lenin
and other revolutionaries
would take Russia out of the
war.
Russians in the Provisional
Government hoped that Lenin
would support the newly
formed revolutionary state.
All land to the peasants!
All power to the soviets!
Stop the war now!
53
Leninism: The Telescoping of History
Karl Marx, considered the father of communism, wrote that
history proceeds through distinct stages: feudalism,
capitalism, imperialism, etc. Only after going through these
stages, Marx thought, could society advance to communism.
Lenin argued that under the right circumstances, such as those
of Russia in 1917, the intermediate steps could be skipped.
Marx wrote about the dictatorship of the
proletariat, a period in which the working
class would govern society while the
ultimate classless society of communism
was developed.
To Lenin, the dictatorship of the proletariat
meant that a small group of dedicated
individuals would lead society forcefully so
that the groundwork could be laid for the
future ideal society.
54
1918: Lenin Begins
to Change Russian
Society
Treaty with Germany
cedes land in exchange
for peace.
All industry nationalized.
Independent labor unions
banned.
Grain requisitions: armed
officials seize grain from
farmers to feed the poor.
Housing space seized and
distributed.
"Comrade Lenin Cleanses the Earth of Filth"
Communist poster, 1920
55
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was
created in 1922.
Ukraine
Transcaucasian Region
Russia
Belarus
56
Civil War: 1918-1921
Opposition to the new Soviet regime included
landowners, conservatives, republicans and those
opposed to the unfavorable treaty Lenin signed with
Germany.
Anti-Soviets formed the White
Army to oppose Bolshevik
rule.
Western allies, including
Britain, France and the U.S.,
took Lenin’s call for world
revolution seriously and sent
troops and aid to support the
White Army.
"Bolshevism must be
strangled in its cradle,"
Winston Churchill said.
In response, the Soviets, led
by Leon Trotsky, organized the
Red Army. Using inscription
and recruitment, they built a
disciplined army of millions.
57
Leon Trotsky
Trotsky was a key figure in
the Russian Revolution,
second only to Lenin.
From 1918 to 1925, he was
People's Commissar for
Army and Navy Affairs and
commander of the Red
Army.
When Lenin died in 1924, Trotsky was widely expected to
assume leadership of the country. Instead, that role went to
Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Central Committee.
As leader of the Left Opposition, Trotsky opposed Stalin. He
was purged from the Communist Party in 1927 and exiled in
1928.
From exile, he continued to oppose Stalin and Stalinism.
Trotsky was assassinated by Stalinists in 1940 at his home in
58
Mexico City.
Lenin, Trotsky and soldiers
of the Red Army, 1921
"Have you signed
up as a volunteer?"
Civil war recruitment
poster
Coat of Arms
of the Soviet
59
Union
TROTSKYISM
For decades,
Communists around the
world were divided.
Some remained loyal to
the Soviet Union and
took direction from the
Central Committee.
Other were aligned with
Trotsky’s Left
Opposition.
Bitter struggles
between the two groups
took place in many
countries.
Leon Trotsky's grave in
Coyoacán, Mexico. His house
is now a museum.
60
War Communism and
the New Economic Policy
From 1918 through 1921, the Bolsheviks
implemented radical economic changes.
Under "War Communism," all industry was
nationalized, private enterprise was made
illegal, and economic planning was
centralized.
The results were disastrous for the Russian
economy and led to a major famine in 1921.
In 1921, Lenin introduced the New Economic
Policy (NEP). The state retained control of
banking and major industries, but small
business ventures were allowed, farmers
were allowed to sell surplus production, and
trade restrictions were loosened.
"We are not civilized enough for socialism,"
Lenin said.
In 1929, Stalin abolished the NEP.
61
Famine of 1921-1922
Causes:
Disruption of
agricultural
production
by WWI, the
revolution
and the civil
war.
War
Communism
economic
policy.
Drought of
1921.
Results:
Approximately five million
deaths.
62
Kronstadt Rebellion: March 1921
At the end of the civil war, the Russian economy was
devastated.
The sailors of the Baltic Fleet, along with soldiers and civilians
from Kronstadt, rebelled against the Bolshevik government
(see note for their list of demands).
Lenin denounced the
uprising as a plot by
reactionaries and their
European supporters.
The uprising was
brutally crushed.
The Bolshevik
government’s reaction
was criticized by many
of its international
supporters.
Red Army troops attack Kronstadt
63
Worldwide Appeal of Communism
Russia was the first country to attempt to put the
theory of socialism into practice.
Many workers and intellectuals around the world
thought that at last there was a chance to overcome the
inequality and exploitation of market capitalism and
build a society in which everyone was respected and
cared for.
Communist parties emerged in
the U.S. and Europe, and also in
Asia, Africa and Latin America,
where many countries suffered
from poverty and the remnants of
colonialism.
Maoist demonstration, Nepal
64
Permanent Revolution vs.
Communism in One Country
Lenin believed that the Russian Revolution
was merely the first step in a worldwide
workers’ revolution.
Trotsky believed that the Russian Revolution
could only succeed in the context of
permanent worldwide revolution.
Stalin believed that the opportunity for
worldwide revolution had passed, and that
the USSR should concentrate on building
communism in one country.
65
World Communist Revolution: Example 1
Hungarian Soviet Republic
March 21 – August 6, 1919
Hungary had a communist government for four months in 1919.
It was deposed by an armed intervention from Romania.
Tabor Szamuely, Béla Kun, Jenő Landler,
Heroes of the Hungarian Soviet Republic
Hungarian communist
József Pogány addresses 66
a
crowd in 1919
World Communist Revolution: Example 2
Bavarian Soviet Republic
November 1918 – May 1919
Short-lived communist revolution in
the German state of Bavaria.
Factories were
confiscated and
given to the
workers.
Luxury
apartments
were
confiscated and
given to the
homeless.
Monument to revolutionary
leader Kurt Eisner (upper right)
on the sidewalk in Munich
67
where he was assassinated.
Stalin Creates a Totalitarian State
Instituted one-man rule.
Eliminated/murdered
political opposition.
Used secret police and
informers to spread
terror and insure
obedience.
Ordered massive
deportations and
executions.
Extended state control
over every aspect of
Soviet society.
68
Dictatorship: Rule by one person, not
limited by law, constitution or competing
political interests.
("The law is what I SAY it is")
Totalitarian State: The state regulates
every aspect of social and personal life.
In practice, most dictatorships
implement totalitarian practices, and
totalitarian states tend to be firmly led
by a single person, a dictator.
69
Joseph Stalin (1879-1953)
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
April 3, 1922 – March 5, 1953
Born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili in Georgia.
Transformed Russia from a backward agrarian society
to a major industrial powerhouse through his Five-Year
Plans (1928-1938).
Replaced the NEP with a command
economy totally managed from the top.
Instituted a totalitarian regime under
which millions died in purges as well as
in the famine brought about by his
forced collectivization of agriculture.
The Great Terror of the late 1930s
marked his regime as one of the most
oppressive in history.
70
Stalin at 24 in 1902
Young Stalin
The son of a serf and a cobbler, Stalin grew up poor in
Georgia, a land occupied by the Russian Empire.
Georgian was his first language. In school he was forced
to learn Russian.
He excelled at school (first in his
class), as well as at singing,
poetry, and street fighting.
In 1898*, he joined the new
Russian Social-Democratic Labor
Party, which later became the
Bolshevik Party.
After reading Lenin, he decided to
become a revolutionary.
*or 1901, according to some sources
71
From 1899 to 1917, Stalin worked as a
revolutionary. He organized strikes, wrote
articles, and at least once led a major bank
robbery and passed the money to Lenin. He was
often in prison, or exiled to Siberia.
He met Lenin at a
Bolshevik
conference in
Finland in 1903.*
He consistently
supported Lenin and
the Bolsheviks
against the
Mensheviks.
*or 1905
72
Stalin Becomes Party Secretary
After the revolution, Stalin held various positions in the
party and the Red Army.
In April 1922, Stalin was made General Secretary of the
Communist Party, a position he kept until his death in
1953.
In 1922, he was one
of several party
leaders.
After Lenin’s death
in 1924, Stalin
emerged as the
principal party
leader.
By 1927, he had
become the absolute
dictator of the USSR.
73
Stalin: Cult of Personality
Stalin, like
Mussolini and
Hitler, used his
control over the
mass media to
build a "cult of
personality."
In posters, articles,
and on the lips of
the faithful, he was
proclaimed the
"beloved leader."
"Comrades, the cult of the individual acquired such monstrous size chiefly
because Stalin himself, using all conceivable methods, supported the
glorification of his own person."
- Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin’s successor, in his famous 1956 "secret speech"
74
denouncing the excesses of Stalinism.
First Five-Year Plan: 1928-1933
Stalin resolved to quickly move the USSR to the forefront
of industrial nations. He was successful, but at the cost of
millions of deaths and much suffering.
"Old Russia was continually beaten because
of backwardness. It was beaten by the
Mongol khans. It was beaten by Turkish
beys. It was beaten by Swedish feudal
landlords...It was beaten because of military
backwardness, cultural backwardness,
industrial backwardness, agricultural
backwardness...That is why we cannot be
backward any more."
- Stalin
75
Under the
first two
Five-Year
Plans (19281937), the
USSR was
transformed
into a major
industrial
power.
Under construction, circa 1930
Construction on the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station in the
Ukraine began in 1927. When it came on line in 1932,
producing 650 megawatts of electricity, it was one of the
76
largest power plants in the world.
1929 propaganda poster showing enemies of the Five-Year Plan:
Landlords, kulaks (prosperous farmers), journalists, capitalists,
White Russians, Mensheviks, priests, and drunkards.
77
Forced Collectivization
The collectivization of
agriculture was key to the
Five-Year Plan.
Stalin needed peasants to
leave their farms and work
in the new factories.
He believed that large
collective farms would be
more productive than
peasant agriculture.
Projected increase in grain
yields was 150%.
Soviet Propaganda Poster
"Comrade, come join our kolkhoz"
(collective farm)
78
Left: Collective farmers
demonstrate: "We kolkhoz
farmers, on the basis of
complete collectivization, will
liquidate the kulaks as a class."
Collectivization was
imposed in stages.
At first it was voluntary.
As the Five-Year Plan
proceeded, collectivization
was imposed on unwilling
peasants.
Right: First tractor arrives at
collective farm, 1929
79
Negative Consequences of Collectivization
in the First Five-Year Plan
Number of domestic cattle (meat, dairy
and draft animals) fell by 50%.
Many peasants killed their draft
animals rather than surrender them to
the collective.
Hundreds of thousands of kulaks
(prosperous farmers) were killed or
sent to Siberia for resisting
collectivization.
80
Holodomor: "The Hunger Plague"
There was tremendous resistance to collectivization.
Ordered to bring their draft animals and livestock to the
communal farm, many kulaks killed their animals instead.
With fewer draft animals and not enough tractors, grain
production declined.
When a drought hit in 1932, a great famine swept much of the
country, especially the Ukraine, and millions died of hunger.
Famine victims, Ukraine, 1932-33
81
Historians dispute the cause,
nature and extent of the
famine:
Natural disaster.
Unintended consequence of
the Five-Year Plan.
Deliberate act of genocide
against the Ukrainian
people.
82
In 2003, the
Ukrainian parliament
declared the
Holodomor an act of
genocide.
Some historians
argue that the famine
was not a deliberate
attempt to eliminate
the Ukrainian
population, but that it
could have been
prevented if Stalin
had not drawn off
food resources to
support the Five-Year
Plan.
83
Ukrainian
peasants
trying to
get to the
city in
search of
food, 1933.
Holodomor memorial at
the Andrushivka village
cemetery - Photo by
Håkan Henriksson
84
Second Five-Year Plan: 1933-1938
The first Five-Year Plan was declared
a success in 1932, one year ahead of
schedule.
Industrialization and collectivization
were continued in the second FiveYear Plan.
By 1938, the USSR had been
transformed into a major industrial
power.
This would enable the Soviet Union to
resist the Nazis in the second world
war.
85
Moscow Metro
The world’s secondmost heavily used
metro system.
First line opened in
1936.
Mayakovskaya Station
Much of the construction was
done by forced labor crews
working in terrible conditions.
86
Soldiers working on metro construction, 1937
Magnitogorsk: Founded 1929
Magnitogorsk was one of
the great achievements
of the Five-Year Plans.
It was a giant
steelworks built to take
advantage of large
nearby iron deposits.
It became a major steel
center and played a role
in WWII military
production.
Magnitogorsk is still a
major steel producer and
one of the 45 most
polluted cities in the
world.
87
Moscow Show Trials and the Great Purge
On Dec. 1, 1934,
Sergei Kirov, a
popular Party
leader and Stalin
loyalist, was
murdered.
His murder set off a series of
public "show trials" in which
many Bolshevik leaders
“confessed” to crimes against
the state and were executed.
The trials were followed by the
"Great Purge," in which many
Party members and others
suspected of disloyalty were
imprisoned or executed. 88
Many leading communists were tortured and their families
threatened and killed to get them to confess to false crimes
against the state. The show trials were public spectacles, eagerly
watched by international observers. These saw only the staged
confessions, not the torture and intimidation that led up to them.
Lev Kamenev
Founding member of
the Politburo. Executed
1936 for anti-Soviet
terrorism.
Nikolai Bukharin
Opposed forced
collectivization. Executed
1938 for conspiring to
overthrow the Soviet
state.
Grigory Zinoviev
Leading Bolshevik
and close associate
of Lenin. Executed
89
1936.
Dewey Commission
 The "Commission of Inquiry into the Charges
Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow
Trials" was set up in 1937 by American
supporters of Trotsky. It was led by noted
American philosopher John Dewey.
 The commission showed that many of the
charges made in the show trials could not be
true.
"We therefore find the Moscow Trials to be frame-ups."
"It became apparent that many party, government
and economic activists who were branded in 193738 as ‘enemies,’ were actually never enemies,
spies, wreckers, etc., but were always honest
Communists."
90
- Nikita Khrushchev, 1956 "secret speech"
Poster from a 1936
show trial in which
scientists were
forced to confess to
sabotage and
espionage in the
service of foreign
powers.
"A Blow Has Been Struck
against the Leadership of the
Interventionists"
91
Red Army Purge
In 1938, Tukhachevsky and other leading Red Army
commanders were tried for espionage with Germany,
convicted and executed.
This was the beginning of a purge of
the Red Army that resulted in the
deportation or execution of 30,000
army officers.
One half of the officer corps was
purged.
This weakened the Red Army, and
may have emboldened Hitler to
attack Russia three years later.
Mikhail Tukhachevsky
92
The Red Bonaparte
The Great Purge: 1937-1938
A wave of terror swept the
Soviet Union.
8½ million were arrested,
most without any judicial
process.
One million were shot,
while many more died in
prison work camps.
Half the Communist Party,
including almost all the old
guard who had been with
Lenin and Trotsky, was
purged.
Secret police and
informants permeated
Soviet life.
A prisoner about to be shot by
NKVD executioners - Painting93by
Nikolai Getman
GULAG: The Chief Administration of
Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies
A system of forced labor camps for political and other
prisoners.
Hundreds (perhaps
thousands) of
forced labor camps
provided part of
the workforce for
the Five-Year Plan.
Criminals were
sent to the camps
by the courts.
Many political
prisoners were
sent there without
trial.
Entering Labor Camp (a leaf from Eufrosinia
94
Kersnovskaya's notebook)
Prisoners in GULAGs and Penal Colonies
Labor Camps
Penal
Colonies
1931-32
200,000
1935
800,000
300,000
1939
1.3 million
350,000
95
Background: Prisoner labor at the construction of Belomorkanal, 1931–33
96
"Beloved Stalin Is the People's Happiness!"
Europe in the 1930s
Worldwide Depression
Great Britain
France
Germany
Italy
Spain
Eastern Europe
Soviet Union
Surrealism
97
Europe in the 1930s
The Great Depression
began in the U.S. with
the stock market crash
of 1929.
In part because of the
cycle described at right,
the depression spread
through Europe.
As the desperate
poverty of the
depression spread, the
conflict between rich
and poor grew more
intense.
Cycle of Money Before
the Depression
UNITED STATES
demanded repayment
of war debt from
France and Great
Britain.
FRANCE and BRITAIN
demanded reparation
payments from
Germany.
GERMAN economy
sustained by loans
from the United
98
States.
Britain’s economic turndown lasts
through the 1930s.
Paris is the center of a thriving arts
scene. The Popular Front pushes
labor reforms.
Italy and Germany turn fascist.
Spain’s monarchy ends, but the new
republic falls in civil war.
The Soviet Union makes economic
gains with Stalin’s Five-Year Plans,
but at great cost.
Surrealism has lasting artistic
influence.
99
Great Britain Between the Wars
Between 1919 and 1939, unemployment in
Britain never fell below 13%.
Ramsey MacDonald’s Labour government took
office in May 1929.
By the end of 1930, unemployment had
climbed to 20%.
Three million were unemployed by 1931.
Throughout the 1930s, various British
governments tried a variety of approaches to
turn the economy around.
No government was able to reverse the
economic downturn.
100
General Strike of 1926
The British coal mining industry was in economic
trouble in 1925.
To keep profits high, mine owners decided to reduce
miners’ wages and hours.
To avoid a strike, the Conservative government declared
a nine-month subsidy to support wages while a
commission studied the industry.
The commission sided
with the owners, who
announced the wage
cuts.
The union rejected the
cuts: "Not a penny off
the pay, not a second
on the day."
Tyldesley miners during the 1926101
General Strike
On May 1, the Trades Union Congress,
Britain’s organization of unions,
declared a general strike in support of
the miners.
As many as 1.75 million workers went
out in the 9-day strike.
The Subsidised Mineowner - Poor Beggar!
Trade Union Unity Magazine (1925)
Little was accomplished. The miners
held out through November, but
gained nothing.
Subsequent laws curtailed union
rights.
Striking miners foraging
for coal
By the end of the 1930s, mining
industry employment dropped to 1/3
of its pre-strike level, while
102
productivity increased.
Europe in the 1930s: Great Britain
Beset by unemployment and inflation, political
stability was threatened by movements on the
left and the right.
British Fascist leader Sir
Oswald Mosley attempts
a march in London.
103
Paris in the 1920s
Paris in the 1920s enjoyed political and artistic
freedom.
Artists, musicians, sculptors, dancers and writers from
all over Europe and from the United States flocked
there to be part of the scene.
Famous American
"expats" in Paris
included Ernest
Hemingway, F. Scott
Fitzgerald, and
Gertrude Stein, whose
famous Saturday
night salons drew
leading artists and
intellectuals.
104
Americans in Paris came to be known as the
"lost generation."
"The best of America drifts to Paris. The
American in Paris is the best American."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald
Portrait of Gertrude
Stein by Pablo Picasso
Zelda and F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway (left)
105
and friends in a café.
The Jazz Age – Jazz, the new American music,
swept Europe in the 1920s.
Many Black jazz performers found appreciation
and acceptance in Europe, in contrast to the
entrenched racism of their native U.S.
Josephine
Baker became
a stage and
screen star in
Paris. Later
she would
work with the
French
Resistance
against the
Nazis.
Europe’s hottest jazz group - Quintette
du Hot Club de France, with violinist
Stephen Grappelli and jazz guitarist
106
Django Reinhardt.
France in the 1930s
France experienced the Great Depression as a slow
paralysis rather than the cataclysmic collapse suffered
by the U.S. and Germany.
Economic stress caused political instability.
Right-wing riots broke out against the
government.
The left-wing Popular Front won the election
of 1936, with a program of support for unions
and labor rights.
"On street benches and at métro entrances, groups of
exhausted and starving young men would be trying not
to die. I don't know how many never came round. I
can only say what I saw. In the rue Madame one day I
saw a child drop a sweet which someone trod on, then
the man behind bent down and picked it up, wiped it
and ate it." – Morvan Lebesque, Chroniques du Canard
107
After the Nazi takeover in Germany, Stalin reversed his
position and said that international communists should
work with other left-wing groups to oppose fascism.
The Popular Front, an alliance of French communists,
socialists and other left-leaning groups, won the French
general election of 1936.
Popular Front leaders celebrate 1936
victory. Léon Blum, who became prime
minister, is second from left.
Although the
Popular Front held
power for only one
year, it enacted
important reforms,
particularly labor
rights, similar to
those of
Roosevelt’s New
Deal.
108
Europe in the 1930s: Germany
The depression hit Germany harder than any
country except the U.S.
Industrial production fell, workers were laid
off, banks failed.
The middle class was particularly affected.
Widespread unemployment led to the growth
of radical movements, especially the
Communists and the National Socialists
(Nazis).
109
Europe in the 1930s:
Italy
Mussolini had been
in power for 10
years when the
depression hit
Italy.
Italy, less
industrialized than
other European
countries, was less
effected by the
depression.
Production dipped
and unemployment
110
rose.
Europe in the 1930s: Soviet Union
Since the Soviet Union had opted out of the international
capitalist system, it was little affected by the depression.
The first two Five-Year Plans had transformed Russia into an
industrial powerhouse and raised the standard of living of
most Russians.
At the same time, millions were deported and killed in the
great purge, or died in the famine of 1932-33.
Stalin and his secret police made the Soviet Union an
oppressive totalitarian regime.
Left: Dnieper Hydroelectric Station; center: Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow during its111
1931
demolition; right: Ukrainians attempt to flee countryside in search of food.
Europe in the 1930s: Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe experienced high
unemployment during the depression.
In reaction to agitation from the poor, most
of the countries, democratic after Versailles,
drifted toward authoritarianism.
Only Czechoslovakia remained democratic
until it was swallowed up by Nazi Germany in
1938.
By the time WWII broke out, most of Eastern
Europe had fallen under the domination of
Germany or the Soviet Union.
112
Europe in the 1930s: Spain
In 1931, the monarchy that had ruled Spain
since 1887 was replaced by the Second
Republic.
The new constitution contained civil liberties
and universal suffrage, but also placed
restrictions and controls on the Catholic
Church.
Religious and economic clashes led to a civil
war (1936-39) which ended in the
establishment of a military dictatorship
under General Francisco Franco.
113
The magnificent Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow was
completed in 1860.
It was financed by public contributions to commemorate the
defeat of Napoleon in 1812.
Stalin had it destroyed in 1931 to make room for a monument
to socialism (never built).
The cathedral was rebuilt in 1990.
1905
114
1990
Spanish Civil War
Background
Foreign Participants
The Allies Remain Neutral
Orwell’s Homage to
Catalonia
Picasso’s Guernica
115
Spanish Civil War: 1936-1939
Franco-led coup d'état
starts civil war.
Germany and Italy join
fight on Franco’s side; the
Soviet Union and
international volunteers
fight with the Republicans.
The Allies remain officially
neutral.
In the Spanish Civil War,
an air force conducts
saturation bombing of
civilians for the first time.
War ends in 1939 with a
victory for Franco’s
Nationalists.
116
Spanish Civil War: 1936-1939
The war began as an attempted coup d'état led by
General Francisco Franco against the leftist democratic
government.
Franco’s supporters, the Nationalists,
included large landowners, the
Catholic Church, and other anticommunist elements.
The Republicans, also called
Loyalists, included liberals,
anarchists, socialists and
communists.
Both sides received international aid,
making the war a trial run for WWII.
Coup d'état: Sudden extra-legal change of
government, usually led by the military.
Victorious in 1939,
Francisco Franco ruled
Spain until his death in
117
1975.
Foreign
Participants
For the
Nationalists: Nazi
Germany, Fascist
Italy, and Portugal.
For the
Republicans: Soviet
Union, Mexico, and
about 30,000
volunteers from
the U.S., Europe,
and other nations.
Many of the
volunteers saw the
war in Spain as the
first step in the
fight against
fascism.
Soft Construction with Beans
(Premonition of Civil War)
Salvador Dali, 1936
118
The Allies Remain Neutral
The U.S., France,
and Great Britain
were officially
neutral in the
war.
German unit on the
ground in Spain
American volunteers of the
Lincoln Brigade
119
Republican poster
Franco reviewing his troops
120
Homage to Catalonia
English writer George Orwell served with
the Republican forces from December 1936
until June 1937, when he was wounded in
the neck and almost killed.
He wrote about his experiences – and the
conflicts between anarchist, Stalinist and
Trotskyite forces – in his 1938 memoir
Homage to Catalonia.
"Since 1930 the Fascists had
won all the victories; it was time
they got a beating."
- George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia
121
Guernica, Pablo Picasso, 1937
SATURATION BOMBING – On April 36, 1937, the German Condor
Legion, under the command of Franco’s Nationalists, dropped 32
tons of explosives on the Basque town of Guernica, in northeast
Spain. Hundreds of people (as many as 1600) were killed in the
first saturation bombing of a civilian population. Picasso’s
painting Guernica was first shown at the Republican Spain
122
Pavilion during the 1937 World's Fair in Paris.
Chapter 9
1919-1938
The West Between the Wars
Section 3: Hitler and Nazi Germany
123
Nazis Take Power in Germany
Weimar Republic
Chancellor
Bauhaus School
Reichstag Fire
Ruhr Valley
Major Nazi Party Figures
Hyperinflation
Military and Paramilitary
Organizations
Dawes Plan
Liberty Law
Adolph Hitler
Nazi Party
Brownshirts
Swastikas
Beer Hall Putsch
Night of Long Knives
Concentration Camps
Anti-Semitism
Kristallnacht
1936 Olympics
Degenerate Art
Mein Kampf
124
Weimar Republic: 1918-1933
Democratic government of Germany, formed in the
closing days of World War I.
It was named after the city of Weimar, where its
constitution was drafted in 1919.
It was a mixed government with power divided
between an elected parliament (Reichstag) and an
elected president.
Head of the government was
the chancellor (prime
minister), who was
appointed by the president.
The Weimar Constitution
remained in effect until 1949,
but after 1933, all real power
was concentrated in the
chancellor, the führer.
125
France Invades Ruhr Valley
The Ruhr Valley was Germany’s industrial center.
In 1923, when Germany defaulted on its scheduled
reparation payments, French and Belgian troops
entered the valley and took over major factories.
In response, the Weimar
government advocated
passive resistance in the
form of a general strike.
To pay striking workers,
the government started
printing money.
The result was inflation,
and then hyperinflation.
The German mark became
almost worthless.
French troops in Bochum126
Hyperinflation
German Marks per U.S. Dollar
1914
4.2
1919
9
1922
500
Jan. 1923
18,000
July 1923
350,000
Aug. 1923 5,000,000
Nov. 1923 4,200,000,000,000
In late 1923, German workers
were paid two or three times a
day so that they could spend
their money before it became
worthless.
Background: German children play with banknotes
Woman feeds banknotes into stove.
She could get more heat from the
paper money than from the wood
she
127
could buy with it.
Dawes Plan
A committee with members from the U.S., Great Britain,
France, Belgium and Italy was set up to resolve the
crisis.
Its recommendations, known as the Dawes Plan after
American financier Charles G. Dawes, were adopted by
Germany and the Allies.
German financial reforms included stabilizing the mark.
A new schedule of reparation payments was adopted.
French troops were withdrawn from the Ruhr.
Massive loans were extended to Germany, mostly from
the U.S.
The Dawes Plan temporarily rescued the German
economy, but when the Great Depression hit and U.S.
loans were called in, the German economy crashed.
128
The Young Plan and the Liberty Law
 When the depression started, it
became impossible for Germany
to meet the reparation payments
assigned by the Dawes Plan.
 A new reparation schedule was
introduced in the Young Plan.
 Conservative parties, including
the Nazis, rejected this as well.
 They advocated a "Liberty Law"
that would abolish all reparation
payments and make it a criminal
offense for any government
official to participate in collecting
them.
 The Liberty Law would also annul
the war guilt clause of the Treaty
of Versailles.
"For three generations
129
you'll have to slave away."
As the German economy
collapsed, extremist
parties of the left and
the right grew in
numbers and power.
In a few years, the
National Socialists went
from a minor party on
the right to the largest
party in Germany.
By March 1933, Nazi
leader Adolph Hitler was
the supreme ruler of
Germany.
The Weimar Republic
was over; the Third
Reich, which Hitler
thought would be a
"thousand year empire,"
had begun.
130
Adolph Hitler
Born 1889 in Austrian village of Braunau Am Inn.
1914-18 (WWI) – Corporal in German army.
1919 – Assigned by the army to investigate a small group in
Munich, the German Workers' Party. Makes an impromptu 15minute speech that gets the attention of the leadership.
The party’s nationalist, militarist and anti-Semitic emphasis
appeals to Hitler; he becomes a member.
1923-24 – Jailed after the failed Beer Hall
Putsch. Writes Mein Kampf.
1932 – Runs for president.
Jan. 30, 1933 – Named chancellor.
Mar. 23, 1933 – Becomes dictator of
Germany.
131
Hitler, the Great Orator
"I spoke for thirty
minutes, and what
before I had simply
felt within me,
without in any way
knowing it, was now
proved by reality: I
could speak! After
thirty minutes the
people in the small
room were electrified
and the enthusiasm
was first expressed
by the fact that my
appeal to the selfsacrifice of those
present led to the
donation of three
hundred marks."
The Orator - Magnus Zeller, 1920
Adolph Hitler recalling his first
major speech in Mein Kampf
132
Nazi Party Founded
In April 1920, the German Workers’ Party changed its
name to the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche
Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), the National Socialist German
Workers’ Party.
The name was designed to appeal to the left
("Socialist") and the right ("National").
The term "Nazi" was
derogatory, and rarely
used by party members.
After Hitler took power,
it was never used in
Germany.
133
Sturmabteilung (Brownshirts)
Known as the SA; a paramilitary arm of the Nazi Party
initially made up of ex-army storm troopers.
The SA attacked opposition parties in street brawls.
They were instrumental in Hitler’s rise to power.
Left: Hitler with SA. Right: Tin soldier Brownshirts.
134
Swastika: The Nazi Symbol
Nineteenth-century archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann
found objects bearing the swastika in the ruins of Troy,
and thought it was a "significant religious symbol of our
remote ancestors."
To the Nazis, it
was the symbol of
the "Aryan race,"
the mythical
ancestors of the
"true" German
people.
For the Nazis, the
opposite of the
Aryan was the
hated Jew.
1910 Postcard – In the early 20th century,
the
135
swastika was seen as a symbol of good luck.
Hitler’s 1920 Platform: The 25 Points
Proclaimed by Hitler, Feb. 24, 1920, in Munich.
Some of the points promoted the nationalist
and anti-Semitic agenda that the Nazis would
ultimately pursue.
Others called for land and labor reform.
The first three
points called
for the
rejection of
the Treaty of
Versailles.
Nazi memorial in Munich
commemorates the
25 Points
136
Lebensraum (Living Space)
Point #3: "We demand land and territory (colonies) for
the sustenance of our people, and colonization for our
surplus population."
This demand would be critical in Nazi foreign policy as
Hitler strove to conquer much of Eastern Europe. The
Nazis’ advance into Ukraine, Belarus and Poland would
be accompanied by massive ethnic cleansing campaigns
to eliminate local populations and provide food and
"living space" for Germans.
"The acquisition of new soil for the settlement of the
excess population possesses an infinite number of
advantages, particularly if we turn from the present to
the future ... It must be said that such a territorial
policy cannot be fulfilled in the Cameroons, but today
almost exclusively in Europe." (Hitler in Mein Kempf)
137
Beer Hall Putsch: November 1923
On November 8, 1923, inspired by Mussolini’s March on
Rome, the Nazis attempted a coup d’état in Munich.
It was instantly put down; 16 Nazis were killed.
Hitler and several other leaders were tried for treason,
but following Hitler’s eloquent speech in his defense,
they were given very light sentences; Hitler spent nine
months in prison.
Coup d’état: Overthrow of the government by force
138
Left: Stamp commemorating the Beer Hall Putsch. Right: Principal defendants.
Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
While serving his prison term,
Hitler wrote his political
manifesto, Mein Kampf.
Mein Kampf was both an
autobiography and a statement of
the principles of National
Socialism.
"Those who want to live, let them
fight, and those who do not want to
fight in this world of eternal struggle
do not deserve to live."
"The Jew’s life as a parasite in the
body of other nations and states
explains a characteristic which once
caused Schopenhauer… to call him
the 'great master in lying." 139
Electoral Politics
After the failed putsch, Hitler
decided to use electoral
politics to gain power.
Hitler did not believe in
democracy; he planned to use
it to gain power.
The Nazis proved very
capable at politics; they used
modern techniques, such as
targeted mass mailings, to
identify and target likely Nazi
voters.
In a few years they went
from being a fringe party
with only a few members to
the leading party in Germany.
140
Reichstag Elections, 1928-1933
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
NSDAP (Nazi)
KPD (Communist)
SPD (Social
Democrats)
1928 1930
Jul32
Nov- Mar32
33
The March 1933
election was
marked by NSDAP
violence and
intimidation, yet
they still polled
under 50%
141
Hitler Appointed Chancellor
President Paul von Hindenburg despised Hitler, and had
only been persuaded to run for reelection to keep Hitler
from winning.
The National Socialists had become Germany’s leading
party.
On Jan. 30, 1933,
Hindenburg appointed
Hitler to head a
coalition government.
Hitler with cabinet, January 1933
President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Adolph
142
Hitler chancellor of Germany
Reichstag Fire: February 27, 1933
One month after Hitler
became chancellor, a fire
broke out in the Reichstag.
The arsonist was a young
unemployed Dutch bricklayer, Marinus van der
Lubbe.
Historians still disagree
about whether he was
acting alone, or as an
agent of the Nazi secret
police.
Hitler seized on the fire as
evidence that the
communists were seeking
to undermine the
government.
"You are now witnessing the beginning of a great epoch
in German history.... This fire is the beginning." - Hitler
Marinus van der Lubbe
143
Reichstag Fire Decree
Hitler said that the fire was
the communists’ signal for
the start of a civil war, and
sought emergency
executive power to
suppress Communist Party
members and other
supposed revolutionaries.
Hermann Göring, a leading Nazi figure, drafted the
decree.
President Hindenburg, 84 years old and half senile,
signed the decree, which was the start of Hitler’s
consolidation of absolute power in Germany.
The decree abolished most of the civil liberties
guaranteed by the Weimar Constitution.
As many as 10,000 Communists and other political
opponents were arrested in the following weeks.
The decree was followed by the Enabling Act, which
gave Hitler the power to enact laws without going
through the Reichstag.
144
Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934)
Prussian army officer and
supreme commander of the
German army from 1916 to 1919.
President of the Weimar Republic,
1925-1934.
Defeated Adolph Hitler in
presidential election of 1932.
Although opposed to Hitler, he
was forced by the political
situation to appoint him
chancellor in 1933.
After Hindenburg’s death in 1934,
Hitler merged the offices of
president and chancellor,
becoming Der Führer, the leader.
145
Hermann Wilhelm Göring
(1893-1946)
Second in command of
the Third Reich.
Designated successor
to Hitler.
"I liked him. I made
him the head of my SA.
He is the only one of its
heads that ran the SA
properly. I gave him a
disheveled rabble. In a
very short time he had
organized a division of
11,000 men." - Hitler
146
Joseph Goebbels
(1897-1945)
Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
Goebbels supervised
the Nazi control of
radio, the press and the
arts.
He organized mass
demonstrations and
parades.
"That propaganda is good which
leads to success, and that is bad
which fails to achieve the desired
result. It is not propaganda’s task
to be intelligent, its task is to lead
to success." -J. Goebbels
147
After Hitler,
Goebbels was
the Nazis’
greatest orator.
Book burning in
Berlin, 1933. One of
Goebbels's first acts
as propaganda
minister was to
organize the burning
of over 25,000
Jewish and other
"un-German" books.
148
Heinrich Himmler
(1900-1945)
Head of the SS and the
Gestapo.
Director of the
concentration camps.
Principal architect of the
"final solution" for the
elimination of European
Jews.
A former chicken farmer,
Himmler hoped to use
selective breeding to
create a master race of
Nordic Aryans in
Germany.
149
"I am talking about the
evacuation of the Jews,
the extermination of the
Jewish people. It is one
of those things that is
easily said. ‘The Jewish
people is being
exterminated,’ every
Party member will tell
you, ‘perfectly clear, it's
part of our plans, we're
eliminating the Jews,
exterminating them, a
small matter.’"
- Himmler, in a 1943 speech
Himmler and Hitler
150
German Military and Paramilitary
Organizations, Early 1934
German Army – Reichswehr. The only
German institution not under Hitler’s control.
Limited by treaty to 100,000 troops.
SA – Sturmabteilung (Storm troopers). The
paramilitary wing of the Nazi party, by 1934
it numbered more than 4 million.
SS – Schutzstaffel (Protective Squadron).
Elite group within the SA, led by Heinrich
Himmler.
Gestapo – Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret
State Police), formed April 26, 1933.
151
The SA helped bring Hitler to power, but
by 1934 it was in his way.
The SA was organized in 1920 to
protect Nazi Party meetings and
disrupt opposing party meetings.
By 1934 it had grown into a major
paramilitary force with an agenda of its
own.
Many members called for a "second
revolution" to fulfill the socialist
promise of the party name, National
Socialist.
Its leaders wanted the SA to replace
the Reichswehr as Germany’s army.
The army command and President Paul
von Hindenburg threatened to
withdraw their support for Hitler and
declare martial law if Hitler did not
control the SA.
152
Night of the Long Knives
June 30 – July 2, 1934
Based on a fabricated conspiracy charge, Hitler
arrested SA commander Ernst Röhm, who was
executed on the spot.
Many other SA leaders, as well as
conservative leaders and others
whose loyalty to Hitler was
questionable, were executed.
The exact number is unknown.
Hitler announced that 61 "traitors"
had been executed, 13 had been
shot resisting arrest, and three had
committed suicide. The actual
number was probably much higher.
SA Commander
153
Ernst Röhm
Hitler’s Power Solidifies
"In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the
German people, and thereby I became the
supreme judge of the German people."
From this
moment, Hitler
claimed the
unlimited right
of life and
death over
everyone in
Germany.
154
German Military and Paramilitary Organizations
After the Purge
German Army – Conscription
introduced. Army built up in violation
of the Versailles treaty.
SA – Power, numbers and role
decline rapidly. Its last major action
was on Kristallnacht. Many members
absorbed into army.
SS – Became independent of the SA,
and took over most of its functions.
The SS would be responsible for most
of the Holocaust crimes. SS divisions
would follow military units into the
occupied territories to "clean up"
local Jewish, Gypsy and Ukrainian
populations. The SS ran
concentration, labor and death
camps.
Gestapo – Came under SS control.
The Gestapo was given the power to
imprison people without judicial
review.
SA troops parade past
Hitler, Nuremberg,
1935
155
Concentration Camps (Konzentrationslager)
March 20, 1933 - First concentration camp,
Dachau, established north of Munich to hold
the many political prisoners rounded up after
the Reichstag fire.
Prisoners march to the
kitchen with mess kits for
a meal at Dachau
concentration camp
156
As the Nazi program of Aryanization and Germany’s
conquest of Europe proceeded, a vast system of
concentration camps was developed to deal with millions
of "undesirables" by means of forced labor, brutal
imprisonment, and extermination.
157
Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism was always a major theme of
Hitler’s program and ideology.
He blamed the Jews for
Germany’s misfortunes,
and sought to exclude
them, first from German
social life, then from
Germany itself, and
later from the parts of
Europe that the Nazis
occupied.
A young boy is forced to paint "Jew"
on the wall of his father's store.
Vienna, 1938
158
When Hitler came to
power, there were
approximately
600,000 Jews in
Germany, about 1%
of the population.
Most of the victims
of the coming
Holocaust would be
Jews, Russian POWs
and other ethnic
groups from the
Eastern European
countries invaded by
Hitler’s Third Reich.
Jewish Population, 1900
World
11.2 million
Europe
9.0 million
Russia
3.9 million
Poland
1.3 million
Austria
1.2 million
Hungary
.8 million
Germany
.6 million
159
The Third Reich’s formal campaign against
the Jews began April 1, 1933, with a oneday boycott of Jewish businesses and
professionals.
Nazi propaganda
minister Joseph
Goebbels speaks at
a rally for boycott
of Jewish-owned
shops.
Berlin, April 1,
1933
160
"Germans! Defend yourselves! Don't buy from Jews!"
161
April 7, 1933 - Law for "the re-creation of
civil-service professionalism" passed. Many
Jewish civil service employees, including
teachers and judges, removed.
Sept. 22, 1933 – Jews excluded from
participating in the arts.
Oct. 4, 1933 – Editor Law prohibits Jews
from serving as newspaper editors.
Jewish children humiliated in
classroom. Writing on blackboard:
"The Jew is our greatest enemy!
Beware of the Jew!" 1935.
162
Oct. 24, 1933 - Law against "Habitual and
Dangerous Criminals" justifies placing the
homeless, beggars, unemployed, and
alcoholics in concentration camps.
May 17, 1934 – Jews lose health insurance.
May 17, 1944 –
Defense Law:
Aryan heritage
becomes a
prerequisite for
military duty.
"Jews are not welcomed here" - sign
at village entrance, circa 1935.
Newspaper cartoon depicts Jews
163
as instigators of rebellion.
Nov. 14, 1934 – National Citizens Law:
- Jews denied voting rights
- All Jewish civil-service employees discharged
- Marriage between Jews and non-Jews prohibited
- Sexual relations between Jews and non-Jews
becomes a crime
- Jewish children prohibited from using the same
playgrounds as other children
September 1935 – Nuremberg Laws
"The Laws for the Protection of German Blood and
German Honor"
Passed unanimously by a special meeting of the
Reichstag at a Nuremberg Rally*
The laws formalized many of the anti-Semitic laws
and actions of the previous two years.
Jewish businessmen
are forced to march in
Leipzig carrying signs
that read, "Don't buy
from Jews. Shop in
German businesses!"
1935.
*Nuremberg Rally: Annual
rally of the NSDAP, 1923-38.
After Hitler came to power
in 1933, they were huge
propaganda events.
164
German mass rally, 1935.
The banners read:
"The Jews Are Our Misfortune"
and
"Women and Girls, the Jews Are Your Ruin"
165
Leni Riefenstahl
Popular dancer and
actress before becoming a
film director.
Became a Nazi after
reading Mein Kampf.*
Her most famous film is
Triumph of the Will, about
the 1934 Nazi Party
conference.
The film is regarded as a
masterpiece of
documentary filmmaking.
It was banned in the U.S.
as Nazi propaganda.
In 1936, she made
Olympia about the 1936
Berlin Olympics.
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni"
Riefenstahl (1902–2003)
*"I became a confirmed
National Socialist after reading
the first page."
166
Triumph of the Will
Closing speech, sixth party congress, Nuremberg, 1934
167
Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass
November 9-10, 1938
Kristallnacht is often considered the start of the
Holocaust.
It was a nation-wide pogrom coordinated by Göring.
91 Jews were murdered.
25-30,000 Jews were
arrested and sent to
concentration camps.
More than 1000
synagogues in
Germany and Austria
were destroyed.
Tens of thousands of
Jewish homes and
businesses were
ransacked.
168
Synagogue in Oldenburg the morning after Kristallnacht
"I implore competent agencies to take all
measures for the elimination of the Jew
from the German economy, and to submit
them to me."
- Hermann Göring, Nov. 12, 1938
Shortly after
Kristallnacht, the
United States
permanently
recalled its
ambassador.
169
Above: Arrest of Jews.
Left and upper left: Destruction
of Jewish property.
The internment of
25-30,000 Jews
arrested on
Kristallnacht was an
ominous taste of
things to come. 170
"Nazi Olympics" - Summer 1936
Awarded to Berlin in 1931,
before the Nazis came to
power.
Hitler and Goebbels hoped the
performance of Germany’s
Aryan-only athletes would
demonstrate their racial
superiority.
Jesse Owens, an African
American, was a star of the
games, winning four gold
medals.
Germany dominated the
games, winning 89 medals to
56 for second-place USA.
171
"German sport has only one task: to strengthen the
character of the German people, imbuing it with the
fighting spirit and steadfast camaraderie necessary in the
struggle for its existence."
– Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels
Olympic Flame carried
by last relay runner.
This was the first
Olympics to include the
torch relay starting in
Olympia, Greece, and
ending in the host city.
Germans salute Hitler during opening-day ceremonies
at the 11th Olympiad in Berlin, August 1936.
172
"Entartete Kunst" - Degenerate Art
173
Storm troops Advancing Under Gas – etching and aquatint by Otto Dix, 1924
Germany had been at the
forefront of modern art
and music in the early
1900s.
In 1927, the Nazis
formed a Society for
German Culture to halt
"corruption" in the arts.
In 1937, Goebbels
ordered modern,
“degenerate” and
“subversive” art
confiscated from
museums and private
collections.
Over 5,000 works of art
were confiscated,
including work by such
masters as Marc Chagall,
Pablo Picasso and
Vincent van Gogh.
174
The Scream - Edvard Munch, 1893
About 650 of the confiscated works were collected for an
exhibition, "Entartete Kunst" (Degenerate Art), that
opened in Munich and later toured to other cities in
Germany and Austria.
Art was poorly displayed, with derogatory slogans and
captions.
It was intended to
show the "unGerman" nature of
modern art.
Adolf Hitler and Adolf Ziegler
at the Degenerate Art
Exhibition in Munich, 1937
175
Collapse of the Versailles Treaty
Timeline
Hitler Violates the Treaty
Munich Agreement
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression
Pact
Invasion of Poland
176
Collapse of the Versailles Treaty
1935 – Hitler establishes German air force.
1936 – Hitler sends troops into the
Rhineland.
1938 – Anschluss – annexation of Austria.
1938 – Munich Agreement.
1939 – Hitler invades Czechoslovakia.
1939 - Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact.
1939 – Germany invades Poland. World
War II begins.
177
Collapse of the Versailles Treaty
1935 – Hitler violates Versailles Treaty by instituting
conscription and establishing a German air force.
March 1936 – Hitler sends troops into the Rhineland.
German troops enter
Rhineland, 1936
178
March 1938: Anschluss, Annexation of Austria
"I have in the course of my political struggle won much
love from my people, but when I crossed the former
frontier (into Austria) there met me such a stream of love
as I have never experienced. Not as tyrants have we come,
but as liberators." - Hitler
Left: Hitler and German
troops enter Austria. Above:
German military formation in
179
Vienna, April 2, 1938.
September 1938 – Hitler demands annexation
of Sudetenland.
This mountainous region of northwest Czechoslovakia
had a majority German population, many of whom had
long favored annexation by Germany.
Czechoslovakia considered the region vital to its
defense and opposed annexation.
Hitler
demanded
annexation as a
right of the
Germanspeaking
population.
180
Czechoslovakia linguistic map, by Mariusz Pazdziora
Munich Agreement: “Peace for our time”
Because Czechoslovakia had defense treaties with
France and the Soviet Union, it was feared that if
Hitler invaded the Sudetenland, it would lead to war
in Europe.
Great Britain, too, would be likely to come to the
Czechs’ defense.
But no European country was ready for war in 1938.
Mussolini proposed a peace conference, and the
leaders of Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy
met in Munich. Neither Czechoslovakia nor the
Soviet Union were invited to participate.
The four powers agreed to give the Sudetenland to
Germany, and told Czechoslovakia that it would be
on its own if it resisted.
181
"For the second time in our history, a British
prime minister has returned from Germany
bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace
for our time."- Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain describing the
Munich Pact with Hitler
182
Appeasement, the policy of granting gifts or concessions to
secure peace, is today a derogatory term often associated
with the Munich Agreement.
In 1938, it seemed to many that appeasement was a
sensible move to avoid a devastating war.
"An appeaser is one who
feeds a crocodile hoping it
will eat him last."
- Winston Churchill
Soviet poster shows the European powers
handing Czechoslovakia to Hitler on a
dish. The flag reads "On towards the
East!"
183
March 1939: Czechoslovakia invaded.
Under the terms of the agreement, Hitler occupied the
Sudetenland in October 1938.
Five months later, he
violated the
agreement by
invading
Czechoslovakia.
Hitler inspects guard of honor as he
enters Hradcany Castle in Prague
184
Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
(Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact)
In a pact signed Aug.
24, 1939, Germany
and the USSR agreed
publicly not to attack
each other, and to
remain neutral in the
looming war.
Privately, they agreed
to divide Europe into
German and Soviet
spheres of influence.
Molotov signs non-aggression
pact. Behind him are 185
Ribbentrop and Stalin.
186
For Hitler, the pact meant that he would not have to
wage a two-front war when he invaded Poland and
France and England declared war on Germany.
For Stalin, it meant
more time to prepare
for the coming war,
plus an important
buffer zone in
Eastern Europe.
The pact held until
June 1941, when
Germany invaded the
Soviet Union.
"The Prussian Tribute in Moscow"
1939 Polish cartoon
187
September 1939: German forces
invade Poland.
"Whether figures, gasoline, bombs
or bread, we bring Poland death."
German Troops Cross the Polish Border
188
On September 1, 1939, one week after the MolotovRibbentrop Pact was signed, Germany invaded Poland.
The Soviet Union, keeping with the secret provisions of
the pact, invaded eastern Poland on September 17.
The invasion was completed on October 6.
Polish city of Wieluń
destroyed by
Luftwaffe bombing,
Sept. 1, 1939
189
Nazi
soldiers
parading
through
Warsaw,
September
1939
190
September 1939: France, Britain and
others declare war on Germany.
World War Two begins.
191
Chapter 9
1919-1938
The West Between the Wars
Section 4: Cultural and Intellectual Trends
192
Surrealism
Influential cultural movement (art, literature, film and
music) that began in the early 1920s in Paris and
influenced art throughout Europe and the world.
The movement was self-consciously revolutionary,
featured automatic painting and writing, and strongly
referenced the unconscious mind.
"There is only one difference between a
madman and me. I am not mad."
Surrealist artist Salvador Dali
"I could spend my whole life prying loose
the secrets of the insane. These people
are honest to a fault, and their naiveté
has no peer but my own."
- André Breton, Surrealist Manifesto, 1924
193
The Elephant Celebes - Max Ernst, 1921
The Persistence of Memory
By Salvador Dali, 1931
194
Bauhaus School: 1919-1933
A modernistic school of architecture and design that
flourished in the Weimar Republic and influenced art
and architecture worldwide.
The Nazis suppressed
the Bauhaus School,
claiming it had Jewish
and Communist
connections.
Nonetheless, its
influence was so
strong that some of its
modernistic elements
were incorporated in
Nazi state architecture.
195
Leni Riefenstahl
Popular dancer and
actress before becoming a
film director.
Became a Nazi after
reading Mein Kampf.*
Her most famous film is
Triumph of the Will, about
the 1934 Nazi Party
conference.
The film is regarded as a
masterpiece of
documentary filmmaking.
It was banned in the U.S.
as Nazi propaganda.
In 1936, she made
Olympia about the 1936
Berlin Olympics.
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni"
Riefenstahl (1902–2003)
*"I became a confirmed
National Socialist after reading
the first page."
196
Triumph of the Will
Closing speech, sixth party congress, Nuremberg, 1934
197
Self-Check Quiz
Visit the Glencoe World History: Modern Times Web site
at wh.mt.glencoe.com
and click on Self-Check Quizzes-Chapter 9 to assess
your knowledge of chapter content.
198