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Postwar Issues
 3 Democracies appeared powerful after WWI
 Great Britain, France and the United States
 The Treaty of Versailles was hoped to encourage others
 Underlying Problems
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Post war Europe face HUGE problems
Jobs, Returning Vets and Rebuilding were big issues
Many nations owed huge debts and had no money
Social unrest and radical ideas were common
Germany and other ethnics groups made at outcome of WWI
Europe lacked strong leaders
An entire generation had been lost
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Postwar Issues (cont)
 The Pursuit of Peace
 Diplomats worked hard to settle issues from WWI
 By mid-1920’s, borders were set
 Kellogg-Briand Pact: most nations signed repudiating
WAR as an instrument of foreign policy
 Great powers disarmed (didn’t agree on size)
 Obstacles to Peace
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No way to enforce Kellogg-Briand
League of Nations was powerless
American refused to join League of Nations
Ambitious Dictators pushed the limits
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Recovery and Depression
› Most European nations returned to peacetime economic production
› The US emerged as THE economic power
 A Dangerous Imbalance
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OVERPRODUCTION: Higher output without markets to sell to caused problems
Demand fell, prices fell
Consumers benefitted, but producers suffered
Workers won higher wages, which raised the price of goods
Factories kept producing , despite lower demand for good
 Crash and Collapse
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Margin Buying: Brokers called in loans when market began to turn bad
Investors sold stock when unable to repay margin
The STOCK MARKET CRASH (1929) caused a global collapse
US banks stopped loaning money and called in loans to foreign governments
Banks failed, millions thrown out of work (DOWNWARD SPIRAL)
 Global Impact
 Global economies tied together, all collapsed
 As Depression lasted, people lost faith in democratic governments to solve the
problems devastating most nations
 Extremists jump on the suffering and offer another way

Britain in the Postwar Era
 Struggle between those supporting socialism and those
pushing against communism
 The Great Depression intensified economic problems
 Some help from the government provided, millions suffered
 Revolt in Ireland for home rule – not granted until 1922
 IRA fought against “North Ireland” still under British control
 4 commonwealths granted independence but remain part of
Great Britain (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa)

France Pursues Security
 Both a winner and a loser after WWI
 Relied on “reparation payments” from Germany to rebuild
 Political instability and the Great Depression brought a struggle
for power (lack of strong leadership)
 Mistrust of Germans caused French to build up defenses along
the border between the two countries “The Maginot Line”
 Prosperity
and Depression in the US
 US stayed out of the League of Nations and isolated itself
 “RED SCARE” – growing fear of communism caused gov’t in US to
act against those who favored it.
 Anti-immigration acts severely limited immigration
 1920’s were either BOOM or BUST
 MIDDLE CLASS will emerge during BOOM years
 The STOCK MARKET CRASH caused the Great Depression
 US Economy goes into tail spin
 Millions out of work, homeless, hungry
 Gov’t did little to intervene
 FDRoosevelt’s “NEW DEAL”
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The Gov’t took an active role in relieving the problems of the Great Depression
Jobs, Businesses, Banks got help
Stock Market, businesses were regulated
Social Security passed
Actions DID NOT end Great Depression but helped many survive it

Explain what each of the following were:
› Kellogg Briand Pact
› Maginot Line
› New Deal

Define the following:
› Disarmament
› Overproduction
› Margin Buying
› General Strike

Answer the questions:
What steps did the major powers take to protect the peace?
› How did the 2 highlighted words above contribute to the Great Depression?
› How did the Great Depression affect political developments in the US?
›

Rise of Mussolini
 A Leader Emerges
 Post WWI problems allowed a new leader to emerge
 Mussolini promised a stronger Italy, the people believed
 Seizing Power
 “Black Shirts” – enforcers who eliminated opposition
 Used intimidation and fear to quiet other groups
 By marching on Rome, Mussolini intimidated King into
appointing him Prime Minister
 Mussolini became the leader without firing a shot

Mussolini’s Italy
(“Il Duce”)
 Dictatorship upheld by terror
 Critics thrown in jail, forced into exile or executed
 Secret police and propaganda propped up the regime
Economic Policy
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•
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Economy brought under state control
Production did increase but at the cost of the workers
Mussolini’s Italy (cont)
 Social Policy
 The individual was unimportant
 Men were urged to be “ruthless warriors for Italy”
 Women were sent home and encouraged to “win the battle
of motherhood.” Were given medal for 14 or more children
 Youth groups taught them to obey strict discipline
AN AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENT (many forms)
*glorify action, violence, discipline and blind loyalty to the state
*believed democracy led to corruption and weakness
* Militarism, Suppression of Opposition, Ultranationalism, &
Aggressive Foreign Policy are markers of FASCISM
• Compared to Communism
• Sworn enemies of socialists and communists
• Instead of good of all people, press for power of the state
• Supported by business, wealthy, not workers
 Totalitarian Rule
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Single party rule
* State control of the economy
Use of police spies/terror * Strict censorship of media
Use of schools to indoctrinate
Unquestioning obedience to a single leader
 Appeal
 Order restored to country (political and economic)
 Pride and power of nationalism
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Who was “Il Duce”? The Black Shirts?
What major problems did Italy face after WWI?
How did these problems help Mussolini gain power?
Describe the goals (economic & social) of Mussolini and
the steps he took to achieve each goal.
What is FASCISM? What values does it promote?
How is Fascism similar to and different from communism?

The Weimer Republic
 Struggles of the Republic
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Post WWI government a republic with elected officials
Germany faced many problems, mostly financial
Radicals (socialist, communist, fascist) were active
With no strong leaders, there was plenty of blame to share
Many Germans blamed Jews for their problems
 Inflation
 Post war inflation made German economy weak
 German government printed money to try to fix problem
 Money becomes worthless, salaries did not keep pace
 Recovery and Collapse
 With help from west, government did slow inflation
 Reparation payments reduced to try to help German econ.
 Germany turns to charismatic leader, Hitler, to bring Germany
back

Adolf Hitler
(born in Austria)
 Early Rise
 Fought in German army, was angry how war ended
 Joined a small political group and became its leader
 Used “stormtroopers” to battle in the streets with enemies
 Mein Kampf
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Imprisoned after an attempted overthrow of the government
Wrote “Mein Kampf” which outlined his plan for Germany
“Master Race” “Blaming the Jews”
Urged Germans to unite and bring Germany back to power
Germany needed living space, Aryans should rule
 The Road to Power
 Hitler released from prison, NAZI’s began gaining power
 The Great Depression enabled NAZI’s to be elected/power
 Hitler appoints Chancellor, within a year he controlled
Germany

The Third Reich
 Hitler will reject the Treaty of Versailles and pressed for a “Third
Reich” or third empire
 TOTALITARIAN STATE: To achieve his goal, Hitler needed
total control (gov’t, religion, economy, education)
 Few worried about the power the government was using, they
were just happy Germany was becoming power again
 The Gestapo (SS) rooted out any and all opposition
 ECONOMIC POLICY: To grow, people put to work
 Public works used to rebuild the MILITARY
 Few objected when government took over most of economy
because their standard of living was improving
 SOCIAL POLICY:
 Indoctrinated youth (Hitler Youth)
 Women “rewarded” for having Aryan children
 Jewish people targeted
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The Arts
 Modern music and art denounced
 Only works that glorified Germany allowed (Wagner)
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Nazism and the Churches
 Replaced religion with his racial creed
 Catholic Schools and Churches closed
 Some clergy spoke up, and were punished
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Campaign Against the Jews
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Hitler was a fanatical antisemite
Nuremberg Laws placed severe restrictions on Jews
Nazis beat and robbed Jews openly
KRISTALLNACHT: Night of the Broken Glass
 World reaction strongly against German action but Hitler didn’t budge
 In the years that followed, Concentration Camps were used to exterminate over
6 million Jews “FINAL SOLUTION”
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“Protective Custody” Rules
The Enabling Act (1933)
Nazi Boycott of Jewish Stores (1933)
Closed certain professions from Jewish workers
Banning Jewish children from German schools
“Retirement” of non-Aryan workers
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Banned Jewish workers from government
Nazi work camps
Gestapo/SS
Night of a Thousand Knives (1934)
Expelled Jewish teachers from Universities and Schools
Book Burnings
Use of Media – Antisemetic
Nuremburg Laws (1935)
Jewish names – must add jewish middle name to ID cards
Kristallnacht (1939)
 “The
Nazis came first for the
Communists. But I wasn’t a
Communist, so I didn’t speak up.
Then they came for the Jews, but I
wasn’t a Jew so I didn’t speak up.
. . Then they came for the
Catholics, but I was a Protestant
so I didn’t speak up.
Then they came for me. By that
time, there was no one left to
speak up.”
Martin Niemoller, Time Mag.

New Views of the Universe
› Radioactivity – began tinkering with atomic matter
› Relativity – Einstein questioned space/time (questioned everything)
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Probing the Mind –Freud’s subconscious mind drives behavior
Modern Art & Architecture
› Abstract – Picasso
› Surrealism – Dali
› Architecture – blended science & technology (glass & steel)
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A Changing Society
› Jazz – blend of western harmonies with African rhythms
› Rebellion – 20’s flapper, women looked outside home
› Social Classes – WWI had changed the class system

Section One
› Efforts to maintain peace
› Things that contributed to the Great Depression
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Section Two
› Changes in Culture
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Section Three
› Mussolini
 Goals, Actions taken to meet goals
 Fascism
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Section Four
› Hitler
 Weimar Republic
 Rise to Power
 3rd Reich
 Purging German Culture
 Campaign against the Jews
1.
2.
3.
4.
Compare and Contrast fascism with communism.
Explain the economic conditions in Europe that
made it possible for leaders like Mussolini and
Hitler and their fascist governments to rise to
power.
Hitler and Mussolini both used ruthless campaigns
against their opposition. Why do you think
dictators need to find a scapegoat for their
nation’s problems?
EXTRA CREDIT:
1.
2.
3.
Cover Book +5
Answer the following:
Name 3 specific examples of methods used by the
Nazi’s to deprive Jewish Germans’ rights. Why did the
Jewish people and German people accept these?