The Interwar Period
1920-1939
Economic Disaster
Rise of Dictators
Tensions lead to Conflict
The Economics Crisis
Europe was No Longer the World’s Banker
• There was no reserve of capital
• Foreign investment disappeared
• Europe was in debt – weakened
currency
• German reparations were not the
solution to the problem
The Economic Crisis - 2
Industrial Decay
• Europe was replaced by The U.S. and
and Japan in heavy industry
• European share of the world market
decreased
• Europe was not prepared for the new
consumer industries: film, radio, and
automobiles
The Economic Crisis - 3
The New Map
• New countries established tariffs
• Treaty shift in boundaries shifted both
resources and talented populations
• Labor unrest – increase in strikes
• Women demanded equal opportunity
• Reparations destroyed German ability
to rebuild
John Maynard • British economist
• Wrote – The Economic
Keynes
Consequences of Peace
• Linked European
economic growth to
German economic
growth
• Thought reparations
were a bad idea
• Attacked Classic
Economics
1883-1946
Classic Economics vs. Keynes
• Classic economics argues that a economic
crisis is something that the market must
sort out without government interference
• Keynes argued that an economic crisis
could be resolved by government decisions
• Governments should increase spending
(‘Prime the Pump’) even if it had to borrow
the money
• Governments should focus on short term
solutions to problems
Dawes Plan
• Dawes was Vice-President
• In 1924 he agreed to a U.S.
loan of 800 million marks
backed by gold
• Goal was to assist German
economic recovery
• Germans used the money to
make reparations payments
• British and French used
reparations payments to pay
debt to U.S.
• Replaced by Young Plan in
Coolidge and
1929
Charles Dawes
The Depression
and Government
• Depression impacted Democratic more
than Totalitarian governments
• Unemployment
• Social Despair … thus
• Socialism and Fascism grew in
popularity – strong leaders looked
attractive
Change - Social Structure
• Middle Class developed (White Collar
workers)
• Right-Wing politics emerged
• Paramilitary groups formed
• Victorian morality disappeared.
‘Roaring 20s’
• Speed (communications and
transportation dictated change)
Edward VIII
1936
The Lost Generation
• Coined by Gertrude Stein referring to
Americans living in Paris in 1920’s
• But, applied to all those disillusioned
by the slaughter of WWI
• Ended any vestige of Victorian morality
• New art (Modernism), music (Jazz),
and literature (Kafka, Joyce, Pound)
Communism- Growth
• Workers were disillusioned with
economic and social conditions
• Communist Parties developed in
virtually every nation
• Political leaders assumed Russian
subversion
The Treaty System
Flawed Diplomacy
Conference of Genoa
• 1922 in Genoa, Italy
• 34 nations
• Attempt to reconstruct European
commerce
• First Soviet attempt at European
diplomacy – key issue - Czarist debt
• Other nations were not prepared to
grant Russia economic concessions
Rapollo Treaty
Rapollo Treaty Specifics
• 1922
• Between Germany and Russia in
Rapallo, Italy
• Germany recognized Russia
• Cancelled mutual debts
• Created trade agreements
• Granted German army right to train
and test weapons in Russia
Locarno Pact
The Locarno Pact
• 1925
• Germans asked for agreement to
protect borders of Rhineland. A
Demilitarized region.
• Offered hope for long-term peace.
Nations agreed to allow protection of
common borders.
• Mutual defense agreements signed
• 1936-Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland
The Kellogg-Briand Pact
Aristide Briand
French Foreign Minister
Frank Kellogg
U.S. Sec. Of State
The Kellogg-Briand Pact
• 1927, Briand suggested a treaty
between France and U.S. outlawing
war. Kellogg extended it to a treaty with
all nations
• Signed in Paris between U.S. and
others renouncing war as an element of
policy. 62 nations ultimately signed.
• Never made contribution to peace
• Did establish international standard of
‘crime against peace’.
Britain
Trouble in the Commonwealth
And
Trouble with the Economy
Between the Wars
• Debtor nation with antiquated industrial
machinery
• High inflation and unemployment
• Problems controlling Commonwealth nations
• Internal political crisis; Labour and
Conservative Parties; Socialists;
and Communists
• Changes in social standards – The Jazz Age
Ramsey
• First Labour Prime
Minister
MacDonald
1866-1937
• Served from 1924 –1935
between Stanley
Baldwin
• Opposed WWI
• Established trade with
Soviets
• Followed Keynes increased spending to
improve economy
• Conservative Leader
• Served 3 terms as P.M.
• Strikes plagued first
administration
• Expelled from party for
creating coalition with
MacDonald’s Labour Party
• Served as de facto P.M.
during MacDonald senility
• Foreign Policy crisis later
– forced resignation
Stanley
Baldwin
1867-1947
England and
The Irish Republic
1916 –
Beginning of the New Troubles
Home Rule –
Too Little, Too Late
• Gladstone failed to gain approval in 1893
(House of Lords rejected it), but was
approved in 1914 (House of Lords lost power)
• Conflict grows between Orange (Unionists)
and Catholics (supporters of Home Rule)
• WWI saw suspension of Home Rule – Irish
separatists argue that Home Rule has no real
meaning. Only solution is Irish separation
from England.
North – South Conflict
• Belfast v. Dublin, Protestants v. Catholics,
and Orange v. Green.
• The Partition Act split six counties in the
North (52 MPs), 26 counties in the South
(128 MPs). MPs set by the Government of
Ireland Act in 1920.
• Divided national economy.
• Open warfare by 1921.
Irish Political Terms
• Sinn Fein – political arm of the Irish
Independence Movement
• IRA – Military arm of Sinn Fein
• Black and Tans – British forces in
Ireland (included Irish citizens)
• Irish Free State and Erie – titles for the
new nation of Ireland
• N. Ireland (Ulster) and Belfast – still a
part of British commonwealth
The 1916
Easter Uprising
Easter Uprising Specifics
By Irish nationalists in Dublin in 1916
Goal of establishing an Irish Republic
British suspended Home Rule
Irish took control of the post office,
British responded and succeeded in
ending the revolt
• 15 were executed
• The first step toward independence
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Eamon
de Valera
1882-1975
• Born in Manhattan, but
raised in Ireland
• Math professor
• Early leader of revolution
• Arrested, sentenced to
death
• Sentence commuted,
exiled, returned and
elected first President
• Kept Ireland neutral in
WWII
Michael
Collins
1890-1922
• Leader of revolution –
organized intelligence
• Officer of Sinn Fein
• Leader of Easter Rebellion
• Ordered by de Valera to
negotiate with British to
form the new Irish
Republic
• Killed in 1922 – rumored to
have died at hand of those
angry with the ‘new’
Ireland
Irish Move to Freedom
• 1919-1922, Irish Revolution
• 1922-1937, Irish Free State, a
provisional government with some
political rights
• 1937-1949, Erie, constitution that
created a sovereign state. No
reference to Great Britain
• 1949 – Republic of Ireland, free from
British, member of the U.N.
Irish Republican Army
• Officially formed in 1969, but claims a
history over a century old
• Radical terrorist group as the armed
wing of Sinn Fein
• Dedicated to removing British from
Northern Ireland
• Efforts to end violence through
negotiation began in 1994
The Middle East
The Greek-Turkish Crisis
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
1881-1938
Hero of Gallipoli
Founder –
Turkish Republic
Turkey Post-War
• Trouble with Greeks – encouraged by
Britain to invade in 1922 (thus Greek crisis)
• Moves for independent rule
• Ataturk elected President in 1923
• Non-Muslims migrate out/Muslims migrate in
• Progressive reforms: elimination of
polygamy, women’s rights (including right to
vote), Latin alphabet, and European dress
standards (no fez and veil)
T.E.
Lawrence
1888-1935
• Archaeologist who became
an expert on Arab
nationalism
• Served in British army
• Argued for the creation of
an Arab free state at the
Versailles Conference
• Unsuccessful – lands went
to France and England
• Wrote about his experience
• Joined Royal Air Force
• Died in motorcycle accident
Zionism
• Political movement holding
that the Jewish people are
a nation entitled to a
homeland.
• Prompted by Dreyfus Affair
and Pogroms in Russia
• Formally created in 1897
by Herzl, a lawyer and
journalist
• Since 1948 movement has
focused on defense of
Israel
Theodore
Herzl
1860-1904
Palestine
Balfour Declaration
The Creation of Israel
• British supported concept in 1917
• Immigration began in 1920’s
• Immigration restricted in 1939 and
renewed following WWII
• United Nations established Mandate of
Palestine, 1947 – set Jewish and Arab
states
• Jerusalem to be an international city
• Israel proclaimed a nation - May 1948
France
France between Wars
600,000 widows and 750,000 orphans
Terrible labor shortage
Strikes and inflation
Communist concerns
Quick changes in leadership, until
some stability under Poincare
• Military manpower shortages and poor
tactical decisions
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Raymond
Poincare
1860-1934
• Lawyer, government
minister beginning in
1883
• Elected President of
France in 1913
• Supporter of Guilt Clause
• Served two terms as
Prime Minister
• Considered responsible
for the restoration of
French economy
Maginot Line
Military academy graduate
Wounded/POW in WWI
Fought against Red Army
Criticized Maginot Line,
supported tank warfare
• Fled to England during
WWII German occupation
• Recognized as leader of
“Free French”, and led
French forces
• Elected French President
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Charles
de Gaulle
1890-1970
Germany
The Weimar Republic
Gustav
Stresemann
1878-1929
• Successful businessman
• Elected to Reichstag in
1907
• Supported German policy
during WWI
• Organized Post-War
Government at Weimar
• In 1924 his successor
named him Minister of
Foreign Affairs
• Negotiated the Dawes Plan
• Served in Franco-Prussian
War
• Retired in 1911
• Recalled during WWI
• Won decisive Russian
victories, Chief-of-Staff
• Served two terms as
President of Germany
• Figure-Head
• Did not oppose Hitler
Paul
von Hindenburg
1847-1934
The Weimer Republic
1919-1923, Part 1
• Named for city where post WWI
constitution was produced
• Under pressure from Left and Right
• Numerous ‘Putschs’ – rebellions
• General strikes and Communism
• Defaulted on reparations(1923) – Ruhr
was occupied by French and Belgians
Hyperinflation
• Strikes (workers had not been paid) added
to German woes in Ruhr
• German government simply printed money
• Exchange rate moved from 4.2 marks per
dollar to 4,500,000,000,000 per dollar
• Reparations payments resumed, and Ruhr
was troops were removed
• But, long term economic consequences
The Weimar Republic - 2
1923-1929, Better Times
• The era of Gustav Stresemann
• Fewer political crisis’ and appearance of
economic recovery
• Improved relations with other nations
• Largely illusionary – increased overseas
loans, decreased trade, and greater
debt
• Illusion ends with Stresemann’s death
in 1929
Rise of Dictators