Europe
Between
the Wars
Economic Consequences
 WWI
total cost  over $350 billion
 Most
countries raised taxes to pay for war
 International
 Tariffs
trade suffered
(taxes) raised on imports
Reparations??



Germany in state of economic disaster

Didn’t raise taxes during war, just printed more
$$

Led to inflation
1924: Dawes Plan = $200 million loan from
American banks to Germany
1929: German factories back at pre-war
production
Video: What is Inflation?
So what went wrong??
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
 October
29, 1929 (Black Tuesday) U.S.
Stock Market crashed
 American bankers demanded repayment of
loans
 American investors withdrew $$ from Europe
 Banks worldwide started failing
Political Consequences
League
of Nations created
New countries created in Eastern
Europe
Many nations turn to military
dictatorships (Russia, Italy, Germany)
US emerges as a world power
The Rise of Fascism
New
militant political system
Attractive to people angered by the
Treaty of Versailles and economic
depression
Focused on loyalty to the state and
obedience to the leader
Fascist Promises
1.
2.
3.
Revive the economy
Punish those responsible for
hard times
Restore national pride
Key Elements of Fascism
 Extreme
nationalism
 Nations must struggle – peaceful states
doomed to be conquered
 Loyalty to leader (dictator)
 Often wore uniforms, used special
salutes, and held mass rallies
Communism vs. Fascism
Similarities:
 Ruled by dictators
 Only one political party allowed
 Denied individual rights
 Country more important than individual
 No democracy
Communism vs. Fascism
Communism
 No social classes
 Appealed to working
class people
 Internationalists unite workers
worldwide
Fascism
 Keep social classes –
everyone has a
place
 Appealed to
aristocrats,
industrialists, war
veterans, and middle
class
 Nationalists – all
about their own
country
Fascism in Germany
 Weimer
Republic blamed for the
accepting the Treaty of Versailles and
economic failures
 The
people are looking for SALVATION
Hitler in WWI
 Austrian
citizen
 WWI chance for
Germany to take its rightful
place as the world’s
greatest power
 Joined the German Army
as a “runner”

Brought messages from
trench to trench
Hitler in WWI
 Awarded
Iron Cross
twice (for bravery)
 Wounded twice
 Temporarily blinded
by poison gas
 Never rose far in the
ranks because he
was Austrian
After the war, Hitler would
head back to Germany
truly believing Germany had
been robbed of victory!
The Nazi Party


1919: joined political group that thought Germany
needed to get rid of the Treaty of Versailles and
combat communism
“National Socialist German Workers Party”


Nazi for short
Hitler became the leader within 2 years
Activity: Nazi Party Platform
 What
did the Nazis believe?
Hitler’s Political Ideas
1.
2.
3.
4.
Germany had been betrayed and must
regain its world position
Communists must be removed from
positions of power
Jews must be removed from positions of
power
German economy must be rebuilt
Beer Hall Putsch
 Planned
to take
control of gov’t by
force
 Oct 1923: Nazis
marched on Munich
 Known as the Beer Hall
Putsch
 FAILED! Hitler jailed!
Hitler
Hitler in Jail
 Realizes
he can’t take
over gov’t by force – will
have to slowly gain
control through legal
elections
 While
stuck in jail writes a
book detailing his
ideas/plans
Mein Kampf
Translates to “My Struggle”
 Main points:



Germans were the master race
(Aryans)
Non-Aryans were inferior (Jews,
Slavs, Gypsies)
Treaty of Versailles = outrage
 Germany overcrowded and
needed more lebensraum
(living space)


Gain space by conquering
Russia and Eastern Europe
Becoming Chancellor
 Nazis
elected to the the
Reichstag (German gov’t)
 1932:
Nazi Party largest
political party
 Jan.
30, 1933: Hitler
appointed Chancellor

Second in command
behind Pres. Paul von
Hindenburg
Hindenburg and Hitler
German Government
 Feb
1933: Fire broke out
the Reichstag
 Nazis blame fire on
communists
 Public opinion allows
Nazis to win major
elections instead of
communists
 Aug 1934: Hindenburg
dies
Video Clip: Hitler
Hitler in Power
Hitler combined offices of Chancellor and President,
declared himself the Fuhrer (leader)
1.
Enabling Acts: suspended the civil rights of the
German people
2.
No political parties (opponents arrested and killed)
3.
S.S. (Schutzstaffel) created (elite police unit)
4.
Economy put under government control
5.
Children required to join the Hitler Youth
6.
Widespread propaganda
•
Churches and schools not allowed to criticize Nazis
Activity: Do You Take the
Oath?
“When the Führer took power in 1933, the German people's body
was severely ill. The poison of foreign worldviews ran through the
veins of all the people's organisms. Hardly anyone was immune. Then
Providence sent the German people a doctor, the Führer. He knew
the disease; he know that the German people suffered from a
corruption of its racial strength. Using every possible medication,
including if necessary the most radical, the bacterium was removed
from the people's body. Our people is becoming racially healthy
once more.
But our people is not alone in the world. It is surrounded by a ring of
peoples. Most peoples today still suffer from the same disease that
the German people once suffered. They are nearing racial collapse,
especially the European peoples. Therefore, the Führer wants other
peoples to follow the holy laws of blood that we follow, for mixing
with widely foreign races means the betrayal of the blood of each
people, and eventual decline. The fundamental reason for
excluding foreign-raced groups from a people's body is not
discrimination or contempt, but rather the realization of otherness.
Only through such thinking will the peoples again become healthy,
and able to respect each other.”
-Excerpt from a 5th Grade Textbook, Germany, 1935.