Unit 12 The Great Depression and World War II 1929—1945

1. Unit 12 The Great Depression and World War II 1929—1945

2. 1. What is impressive about this scene? 2. What is the importance of the parade, and how does it illustrate Nazi values?

3. I. The Great Depression A. Economic Disaster Strikes 1. The U.S. Stock Market Crash — In the 1920s, U.S. corporations, banks, and millions of individuals had borrowed money on margin to invest in the stock market, which had experienced a long, upward trend. When the Federal Reserve Bank raised interest rates many stocks were sold at the same time. From October to November the stock market in the U.S. collapsed. In response to the crisis, the U.S. cut back on loans to Europe and called in short-term, international debts, which caused a financial crisis in Europe. 2. The Depression and Unemployment — A global depression resulted as strapped banks called in debts and unemployment soared in Europe as U.S. consumer demand fell. Governments cut budgets and raised tariffs, further weakening the economy and discouraging trade. 3. The Depression and the Rural Economy — Declining agricultural prices due to rising production put small farmers at risk, and when depression struck many creditors confiscated farms or made it impossible to operate them efficiently. In eastern Europe, many peasants on redistributed land lost their land.

4. I. The Great Depression B. Social Effects of the Depression 1. Continued Economic Progress — Some economic modernization continued despite the depression. Municipal and national governments in Europe continued road construction and sanitation projects, and parts of eastern Europe industrialized. Employed people saw prices drop and some prospered. 2. Coping with Unemployment — Unemployment spread fear and resentment throughout the West. Gender roles and relations were strained as unemployed men struggled with domestic roles and some women became family breadwinners. Young men loitered and became politically radicalized. 3. Fear of a National Collapse — Falling birth rates worried many leaders concerned about national morale and military readiness, and racism led many to express concern about “superior” people refusing to breed while “inferiors” reproduced. Ethnic hatred and anti-Semitism grew.

5. I. The Great Depression • C. The Great Depression beyond the West • 1. Widespread Effects of Depression — The depression cut demand and prices for colonial raw materials and agricultural products, but also allowed some native industries (such as Indian textiles) to expand their hold on domestic markets. • 2. Resistance in the Colonies — Discontent and upheaval spread in the colonies, as colonized people resented their continued ill treatment after having supporting the empires in the war. • 3. Civil Disobedience in India — Independence movements gained support. In India, millions joined Mohandas Gandhi (1869-1948) and other upper-class Indians in a movement to gain rights from the British. Gandhi organized boycotts and demonstrations of civil disobedience. • 4. Westernization in Turkey — In the Middle East Mustafa Kemal (1881-1938) founded a Turkish republic in 1923 and attempted to westernize the new state. Persia (Iran after 1935) began negotiating oil contracts to benefit the government. French trade with her colonies increased, but in Indochina Ho Chi Minh founded a communist party that resisted French rule. An uprising there was crushed in 1930. The desire to preserve empire led Britain and France to neglect security questions within Europe.

6. 1. What kind of speaker was Gandhi, and how can you glean that from the photo? 2. How does Gandhi present himself?

7. II. Totalitarian Triumph A. The Rise of Stalinism 1. Transforming the Economy: The Five Year Plans —Joseph Stalin ended Lenin’s New Economic Policy and announced the first of several five-year plans to radically industrialize the Soviet economy. Such central planning helped create a new elite of bureaucrats and industrial officials, especially managers who dominated the workers by limiting their ability to change jobs or move from place to place. Heavy industry grew some 500 percent from 1929–1935. 2. Resistance to the Plans: Liquidation of the Kulaks and the End of Traditional Peasant Life — To feed the growing industrial workforce, Stalin demanded more grain from peasants, which could be exported to finance this forced industrialization. When peasants resisted these Stalin called for the “liquidation of the kulaks” (“prosperous peasants”). Kulaks and their associates were denigrated, evicted, imprisoned, exiled, or murdered, and their confiscated land was transformed into collective farms. Collectivization failed, and Soviet citizens starved as the grain harvest declined.

8. 3. Transforming Society: Purges, Show Trials and the Gulag — Stalin blamed economic failure on “wreckers” determined to sabotage communism. He instituted purges—state violence in the form of widespread arrests, imprisonment in brutal prison camps (the Gulag), show trials, and executions—to rid society of these traitors. Leading Bolsheviks were among the targets of the purges. 4. Changes in Family and the Arts — In the midst of the anxiety caused by the purges, cultural and social life retreated from its earlier emphasis on experimentation. Modernism in the arts and creativity in urban planning were curtailed, and the falling birthrate led to a restriction of birth control information, the encouragement of marriage, and the criminalization of homosexuality.

9. II. Totalitarian Triumph B. Hitler’s Rise to Power 1. Discrediting Democracy: Unrest and Governmental Failure in Germany 2. Support for the Nazi Party 3. Nazi Propaganda and Media Techniques 4. The Elections of 1932: Hitler as Chancellor

10. Not all totalitarian dictators were Communists… …In Italy, Germany, and Spain, people turned to an extremely nationalist gov’t called fascism Fascist governments were controlled by dictators who demanded loyalty from citizens Fascists did not offer democracy and used one party to rule the nation Unlike Communists, fascists believed people could keep their property

11. Forms Fascist Party with paramilitary arm, the blackshirts 1922: King of Italy asks him to form government as prime Minister Establishes first Fascist Government “Il Duce” (The Leader) Mussolini

12. Mussolini saw himself as a Caesar, restoring the grandeur of the Ancient Roman Empire

13. Fascist Parties Develop Throughout Europe

15. In Italy, Benito Mussolini’s Fascist Party seized power by promising to revive the economy, rebuild the military, and create a new Roman Empire Mussolini’s “march on Rome” The “Blackshirts”

16. The Nazis were a fascist group in Germany that wanted to overthrow the disloyal Weimar Republic Adolf Hitler was an early Nazi recruit and quickly rose to power in the party Hitler was impressed by Mussolini and used many of his ideas to make the Nazi Party strong in Germany

17. Hitler’s Mein Kampf outlined his plans for Germany He wrote that Germans were members of a master race called Aryans and all non-Aryans were inferior He declared that Germans needed lebensraum (living space) and should conquer Eastern Europe and Russia He called the Treaty of Versailles an outrage and vowed to regain land taken from Germany after the war.

18. Hitler

23. Brown Shirts- Nazi paramilitary Stormtroopers

24. In 1933, Hitler was named chancellor (prime minister) of Germany and used his power to become dictator

25. 1933 • Hindenburg dies and the Reichstag burns down • Nazis immediately blame arson on communist conspiracy • Hitler demands and gets totalitarian powers in order to deal with the national crisis • Becomes Der Fuhrer (The Leader)

26. Hitler put Germans to work by building factories, highways, weapons, and increasing the military He created the gov’t protection squad called the SS and a secret police called the Gestapo to eliminate rivals and control all aspects of Germany

27. II. Totalitarian Triumph • C. The Nazification of German Politics • 1. Terror in the Nazi State — Hitler used force and paramilitary terror to gain control of the state. When the Reichstag building was destroyed by fire in February 1933, Hitler blamed the Communists and suspended civil rights, declared censorship of the press, prohibited meetings of opposition writers and artists, and banned other political parties. Terror was the foundation of Hitler’s “Third Reich.” • 2. The Enabling Act, the Gestapo, and the Night of the Long Knives — The Enabling Act suspended the constitution and the SS (Hitler’s protectors) and the Gestapo, the German political police, had vast powers to arrest and execute opponents. Concentration camps were established to imprison Jews, homosexuals, and other opponents of the government. Within the regime, confusion and competition strengthened Hitler’s power, as he encouraged division and positioned himself as the one who settled disputes. When Ernst Roehm, the leader of the SA, called for a “second revolution” to limit the power of business and military elites, Hitler had Roehm and hundreds of SA leaders assassinated on the so-called “Night of the long Knives.”

28. 3. Nazi Economic and Social Programs — Economic revival strengthened support for the regime. The government stimulated the economy with public works and a military buildup. Unemployment dropped from 6 million in 1932 to 1.6 million by 1936. Budget deficits increased as Hitler planned for war. Nazi policies encouraged German women to marry and have children. Women were supposed to sacrifice working for the sake of the community. Censorship and government control of culture stifled creativity. Books by homosexuals, socialists, and Jews were burned in public, and modern art was destroyed or confiscated. The Hitler Youth were encouraged to report disloyal parents and adults. An improving economy led to increased national pride and strong support for the regime.

31. II. Totalitarian Triumph D. Nazi Racism 1. Anti-Jewish Rhetoric — Nazis saw Jews as an inferior “race,” responsible for damaging German “Aryans.” 2. Scientific Racism and the Nuremberg Laws — Nazis claimed that their racial distinctions were rooted in science. In 1935 they passed the Nuremberg Laws, which deprived Jews of citizenship and prohibited marriage between Jews and non-Jews. Abortion and birth control were available to the racially “inferior” but illegal for Germans. Some 200,000 handicapped and elderly were killed with carbon monoxide in the T4 project, preparing the way for later mass exterminations. 3. Persecution of the Jews — Jews were forced into slave labor, evicted from their homes, and prevented from buying essential goods. In 1938, when a Jewish teenager killed a German official, the Nazis reacted with a massive assault on Germany’s remaining Jewish population, smashing Jewish-owned stores and synagogues, and imprisoning thousands of Jews, in what became known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass. Relentless persecution led some 500,000 Jews to emigrate, paying hefty emigration fees and enriching the state. Anti-Semitism justified stealing property from Jews, and the identification of one group as the enemy of the state fostered unity among many others.

32. Nazi Creed Spelled Out in Mein Kampf • 1. Men are not created equal. As the most superior race on earth, Germans are true creators of culture. Since only they are capable of solving mankind's future problems, the future of civilization depends on them. Therefore, Aryan blood must be kept pure, or these superior qualities will be lost. Marriages to inferior races are forbidden. Germans must create a pure Master Race to rule the world. • 2. Jews, the most inferior race, are the true destroyers of culture. They have deliberately invaded and drained all countries of the world of money and power. Therefore, the future of world power rests on either the rightful German masters of the Jews. Germans must save the world by ridding it of this Jewish poison. • 3. Slavs, blacks and Mediterranean peoples rank only slightly above Jews. They are fit to live only as German slaves. • 4. The German Master race will take as much land to the east as it needs for Lebensraum, or extra living space. Political boundaries are nonsense. If others resist, Germany will use its arms and take land by force.

33. 5. Democracy and majority rule are stupid. The masses are ignorant sheep that need leading by a brilliant statesman. This divinely appointed leader is Adolf Hitler, who will rule the world with a few chosen elite. The Third Reich, or new German empire, will last a thousand years. It will be a Nazi totalitarian state with total control of government and the lives of all citizens. • 6. Propaganda, or a system to spread political ideas, must be used to gain support of the ignorant masses. Since the people are dull and forgetful, propaganda must be limited to only a few points and repeated over and over again in important slogans, It is not important that these ideas be true, for people are willing to believe anything. In fact, the bigger the lies, the better. • 7. Force and fear are the only means to keep the masses under control. Reason and argument have no place in the Third Reich. • 8. Give the people a single enemy to hate and to blame for all their troubles. Then they will not feel guilty and will aim all their frustrations in one direction. Blame the Jew for everything evil. • 9. Thou shalt have no other God but Germany! (Hitler even proposes this to be the eleventh commandment.) Christianity is just a scheme created by Jews. Christian love, mercy, and charity must be replaced.

34. Negative Jewish Stereotypes in Nazi Germany • Christ Killers • Poisoned Wells to create Black Death • Stole Christian babies to eat for Passover • Not part of the community, strange outsiders without allegiance to any land • Devil’s agents (wear yarmulkes to cover horns on head, along with tails and cloven hoofs) • Condemned by God to wander world • Evil money-hungry Jews out to take over world

37. III. Democracies on the Defensive A. Confronting the Economic Crisis 1. The United States — Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) was elected president in 1932, promising relief and recovery. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” included legislation that aided business, farmers, and unemployed youth. The Social Security Act of 1935 provided retirement and benefits to workers, the unemployed, and others. Such programs shaped the welfare state. The depression continued, but Roosevelt remained popular, and promoted faith in democracy and popular government. 2. Sweden — Sweden likewise developed a coherent program for resolving economic and population problems. Under Sweden’s program, central planning of the economy and social welfare programs were instituted, and its currency was devalued to make exports appear more attractive to international buyers. Sweden used public works programs to maintain consumer spending and encourage modernization. Support and subsidies for families without the racism and coercion of Nazism built widespread approval for the welfare state.

38. III. Democracies on the Defensive A. Confronting the Economic Crisis (cont.) 3. Britain and France — British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald, facing a decline in revenue, reduced payments to the unemployed. Huge tariffs were imposed on imported goods. Depression and public strife in France led to political chaos. Shocked by the prospect of a fascist take over, a Popular Front coalition government was formed, including communists previously banned by Stalin from participating in coalitions. Premier Leon Blum offered workers various benefits and social welfare programs, improving their living standards. The Popular Front promoted a youthful and democratic social order, but was politically weak. Both France and Britain kept military budgets small and did little to support the fight against fascism in Spain. 4. Central and Eastern Europe — In eastern Europe new states created by the Peace of Paris tried to preserve representative government and survive. In 1932 EngelbertDolfuss came to power in Austria, ruling as a dictator but resisting Nazism. He was assassinated by Nazis in 1934. In 1932 Hungarian policy was oriented towards Mussolini and Hitler by right-wing General GyulaGombos. In Czechoslovakia a strong Slovakian fascist party influenced politics. Ethnic tensions simmered and the appeal of fascism grew.

39. III. Democracies on the Defensive B. Cultural Visions in Hard Times 1. Workers and Women in Film — Responding to hard times and political menace, artists and filmmakers portrayed the inhuman, regimented and heartless side of modern life. Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp character, for example, was a factory worker molded by his monotonous job. Women were often portrayed in film as alternately the cause and the cure for society’s problems, as in the British film Keep Smiling (1938), which portrayed a spunky female factory worker, or Marlene Dietrich in the German film Blue Angel, in which a seductress is contrasted with a bumbling impractical professor. Chaplin’s The Great Dictator mocked Hitler and had a Jewish woman as its heroine. 2. Realism in Writing — Antifascist, pacifist and pro-worker beliefs were presented by writers such as George Orwell in close studies of the human misery of the 1930s. Christian author Thomas Mann exiled himself from Germany, and Virginia Woolf attacked militarism, poverty, and the oppression of women.

40. 3. Science and the Limits to Human Understanding — Scientific progress of the era pointed to the limits of human understanding. Astronomer Edwin Hubble described an expanding and unpredictable universe, and German physicist Werner Heisenberg developed the uncertainty principle. • 4. Religion and Resistance — Religious leaders helped to foster a spirit of resistance to dictatorship. Swiss theologian Karl Barth encouraged rebellion against the Nazis, and in 1931 Pope Pius XI condemned the failure of modern society, although he did it in terms that some saw as an endorsement of heavy-handed fascism. Many German Catholics opposed Hitler, and religious feelings led many to protect Jews and others threatened by the regime.

41. In the 1930s, Japan, Italy, and Germany began aggressively expanding in Africa, Asia, and Europe

42. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and mainland China in 1937

43. In 1935, Mussolini began his campaign to create an Italian Empire by invading Ethiopia Ethiopian soldiers defending their country from the Italian military The League of Nations condemned Japan and Italy but did nothing to stop the attacks in order to maintain world peace

44. IV. The Road to Global War • B. The Spanish Civil War, 1936—1939 • 1. The Promise of Republicanism — In 1931 republicans in Spain overthrew the monarchy, which was dominated by large landowners and the Catholic clergy. Urban constitutionalists, communists, anarchists and socialists enthusiastically debated the direction of the new state, quickly factionalizing and feuding. • 2. Fragmentation and Franco’s Uprising — By 1936 monarchist opposition led by General Francisco Franco and other military officers staged an uprising against the ruling Popular Front. The uprising was supported by the landowners, clergy, and the fascist Falange Party. The Falange was supported by other European fascists, and Popular Front resistance was strengthened in urban and industrial areas by volunteers.

45. 3. An International Struggle — Spain became a training ground for World War II, as Hitler and Mussolini sent military personnel and equipment to support Franco. The Soviet Union supported the republican forces until 1938 when they withdrew troops and tanks, but Britain and France refused to provide aid. Franco defeated the republicans by 1939, and brutal treatment or exile followed for tens of thousands of republicans.

47. The failure of the League of Nations to stop Italy or Japan, encouraged Hitler to expand Germany too By 1936, Hitler had expanded the German military and moved troops into the Rhineland In 1938, Germany annexed Austria and the Sudetenland In 1939, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia

48. The League of Nations used appeasement to avoid war with Germany, Italy, and Japan Hitler Chamberlain Mussolini At the Munich Conference, 1938

49. In 1939, Hitler demanded the return on Poland to Germany but wanted to avoid a war with the USSR Stalin and Hitler agreed to the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, promising to divide Poland and to never to attack each other On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declared war on the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and World War II began

50. When World War II began, German blitzkrieg tactics led to the conquest of Poland, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, France, the Balkans …the Axis Powers seized North Africa