Lecture #26 -- The Interwar Years

I. Introduction

            A. Last time we looked at the changes in Russia, and the rise of Communism there. Today we want to look a little further at the developments in Russia and the reprecussions of the First World War. We also want to explore the reactions to the crises of the 1920s & 30s in the various countries of Europe.

II. Impact of the War

            A. In 1919, the peace treaty was signed, but the face of Europe had been irreparably changed. With the end of the first World War, Europe had lost over half of its young men. The people were dissillusioned about the principles of 19th century liberalism. Science, instead pf producing progress had instead provided deadly weapons that decimated Europe's population. In Britain alone, her rolls in 1929 listed 2,424,000 men on some sort of disability from the war.

                        1. Their one great hope and hero of those ideas had been Woodrow Wilson. But the peace conference had eliminated those hopes. Wilson talked about the "war to end all wars". But animosity was still in the air. Germany felt stabbed in the back, angry and humiliated. The reparation payments were enormous. And she was not the only one. France felt betrayed and nervous at the loss of the guarantees of her borders by the U.S. and Great Britain.

                        2. The people of Europe wanted securit and an insurance to peace, but the question was how? An arms race? Treaties? Conferences? What was the route? New political ideologies? Liberal governments were established in the new countries of Europe, based on 19th century liberal principles. Yet many of these countries had serious difficulties.

            B. Russia's new system presented a problem for the Western countries, but there were also new political aspects in their own countries. 

                        1. The average soldier/ and veteran of World War I was not an upper class or middle class man of comfortable means. Rather they were working class men who lived in the awful conditions of the urban cities. The war had disillusioned them with the present government and they began to demand more of say for the lower classes. This eventually resulted in the growth of socialist and communist parties in Britain, France, and even the U.S. It also meant demands for better working conditions and more labor oriented politics. Britain's Labour party had her first Prime Minister in Ramsey MacDonald, and in 1926 British working class demonstrated in a General Strike.

                        2. Women also began agitation once again. They had participated in the war effort, and women such as Emmmeline Pankhurst had even held off their protests during the course of the war. But now they were demanding political say, and had the clout to push it through. In 1920, the 19th Ammendment was passed in the U.S., and in Britain two different ats, one in 1918, and one in 1928, gave the vote to women as well.

            C. Beyond the disillusionment and loss of life, there were tremendous economic problems as a result of the war.

                        1. Total war cost money, like all wars. Britain had been rich, but she had to liquidate many of her overseas and invisible assets to finance the war effort. France, Italy, and Germany had similar problems, as had Russia. The U.S. gained from the war, capitalizing on the British pre-occupation to gain her markets, and by loaning to the Allies. Britain owed the U.S. over 3½ billion, France almost 2 billion, and Italy over 1 billion to the U.S. These totals included direct loans, as well as material bought on credit.

                        2. The physical destruction of the war did not leave these countries in a good state pay off such debts. The European economy did not even begin to recover until 1922, and even then there were serious problems. In Great Britain, there were still many who were on "the dole" or hand-outs of food. There were still refugees and orphans and pensions to be dealt with, and revamping the industrial sectors that had been damaged. In the U.S., the 1920s produced a flurry of post-war spending, which would eventually result in the disaster of the Stockmarket crash in 1929, which sent the world economy into The Great Depression or The Slump, as it was called in Britain.

                        3. This produced all sorts of problems throughout the older nations in Europe, particularly the difficulty of inflation. In Germany, money became basically worthless. The new German democratic government -- Weimar Republic seemed ill-equipped to handle the problem and only made it worse by printing more money. German women used it to wallpaper their homes or build fires. What to do with these monumental problems? This was the question that loomed in the minds of the politicians throughout Europe.

            D. A number of solutions would emerge, but what solutions dominated had a great deal to do with the age and nature of the systems in existence.

                        1. In Britain, a National Government Coalition was formed in 1931 to deal with the depression that was only getting worse. Britain would eventually come out of it by employing traditional policies of balanced budgets and protective tariffs, though she continued to have difficulties. France felt the effects later than other countries, and when she did tried a number of things before riots by ultra-right wing groups caused a coalition of the various leftist groups in France. This coalition became known as The Popular Front.

                        2. The Popular Front in France followed different policies than the British, however, and would utilize ones similar to the New Deal that emerged in the U.S. during the Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945). The policies were based on the work of this man -- John Maynard Keynes(1883-1946). In 1936, Keynes published his book General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money. Keynes’ theories amounted to the idea that governments should increase spending during a depression to increase consumer demand, and then decrease spending when economic expansion/ recovery begins to occur. This meant of course, government intervention, which is what began to occur in France after 1936, and in the U.S. from 1933 onward, though problems would still exist until the boom caused by the Second World War.

                        3. In Russia, of course methods to deal with economic and social problems took an entirely different tactic. Lenin had introduced the NEP which had cause growth in Russia and economic recovery had really begun by 1924 and his death. Yet, his death would also bring about change in Russia, caused in part by the power struggle that ensued after his death. A new leader was necessary for the Poltiburo which governed the Central Committee of the Communist Party, and thus the state.

                        4. At first it seemed that the obvious heir to Lenin was Trotsky or at least Bukarin, but power would eventually pass to a young man that Lenin had sain should never come to power -- Josef Stalin (1879-1953). Stalin was a favored revolutionary who had risen up through the ranks of the local party. He was appointed to a minor post in 1922, where Trotsky and Lenin thought he would be safe. Stalin proved effective at creating a party structure which could respond to the country as a whole. After Lenin's death, Stalin would prove to be the force to be reckoned with, not Trotsky or Bukarin. The latter built their public images, while Stalin consolidated power behind the scenes. Stalin would switch political allies within the Communist Party to first destroy Bukharin and then Trotsky, who would eventually have to flee Russia for his life.

                        5. After 1927, Stalin was the only left standing with any power. His elimination of his rivals in the party was soon extended to the rest of the country. Stalin embarked upon a new course for the Soviet state, though he was careful never to criticize Lenin, even creating a shrine in Moscow. A New consitution was constructed which created a Union of Soviet Socialist REpublics -- technically there were 16 autnomous repoublics. The reality however was that the Communist Party controlled by Stalin that controlled Russia and her territories.

                        6. Stalin also embarked upon a plan of collectivization -- forced of all industry and agriculture, eliminating the NEP with his Five Year Plans (1929-1936). The purpose was to eliminate capitalism, but also to mechanize and collectivize agriculture and increase industrialization and the national defense, which was done. What was also done was Stalin's Purges, in which he eliminated all opposition -- this meant the trial and execution of kulaks, army officiers, engineers, and anyone whose loyalty could be questioned. From 1934-38, at least 300,000 were executed, and confessions were obtained through the use of drugs. Seven million more were put in to labor camps in Siberia. The full numbers have only recently begun to become known.

III. The Rise of Fascism

            A. Stalin's Communist totalitarian regime was not the only one like this, however. In fact, authoritarian governments emerged all over Europe during this period for the simple reason that the problems of the Depression and the disillusionment caused by WW I.

                        1. Into regimes that were based on shaky ground anyhow, demagogues -- men with great oratory skills and a plan emerged, just as Lenin had in Russia. Totalitarian regimes took over in Hungary, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Poland, and Greece. In fact, there were demagogues in all of the nations of the West, including FDR, and even WInston CHurchill, later on. The difference was the ideology that many of the leaders in central Europe possessed behind their oratory.

                        2. The most important dictatorships, besides Stalin's, were those in Spain, Italy and GErmany, and were based on the ideology not of the left, but of the right -- Fascism. The forces the Popular Front had been formed in France to combat.

            B. What was Fascism? Good question, one that is often difficult to answer. Fascism was the last of the secular creeds of the 20th century. IT was a response to the disillusionment, and to what the people in Europe, particularly GErmany and ITaly saw as the ineptitude of the "old men" in charge.

                        1. Fascism is bascially a "fusion discontents" and negative reactions to democracy. It attacks liberal indiviualism as destructive to the interests of the community as whole, usually referred to as the state, or race. It rejects, therefore, democratic institutions and the idea of laissez-faire. Gvoernment intervention is never to be thought a bad thing. The STate becomes all important -- in many ways it is an extreme form of conservative nationalism, because the state here is not the people as individuals but a organic living body.

                        2. Furthermore, Fascism is a negative movement not just against democracy, which is depicted as weak and ineffective but against minority groups that are often protected in a democracy. Strength is the key -- of a nation, of a government and of a leader. Minorities weaken the whole by separating it, thus they are denounced. Instead the focus is put on the leader and his strength, and obedience to the General WIll, which takes many forms as we will discuss in a moment.

            C. The same pattern is followed in both Italy and Germany. The leading character in Italy is Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) a socialist editor who formed a fascist part in 1919. He was anti-capitalist and anti-communist, both characteristics of fascism -- the state is the thing. Mussolini came to power through a bold bluff, unsuccessful in free elections, he and his followers had March on Rome in October 1922, and the king invited him to form a government. Though the outward appearance of regime was good (the trains, peace with Pope), Mussolini consolidated his regime through violence and use of his secret police the OVRA. Mussolini created a cult around himself and used the imagery of th old Roman Empire -- he was Il Duce the leader who was resoting the glory of Rome.

            D. The same would true of the rise to power of Adolf Hitler. In Germany, the the young Weimar Republic, blamed for Versailles Treaty, was floundering under attack.

                        1. After World War I, Hitler who was not a German of Germany by birth, but an Austrian, attempted to get into art school. He was rejected and had to survive by selling bad postcards. HE saw rich Jews living in Vienna and blamed them for his misfortunes. He was also bitter over the peace, having been in a hospital when the Treaty was signed, and felt GErmany was cheated.

                        2. In 1919, he became associated with an opposition group called the National Socialist GErman WOrkers' PArty (NSDAP) or NAZIS for short in an attempt to take over the government from the Weimar republic that was failing miserably. He along, with several others, was captured and but in prison. It was at this point that he wrote Mein Kampf or MY Struggle which outlined his political and social ideology, including his hatred of communism, liberals, capitalists, and Jews.

                        3. The Nazi part grew in the 1920s and early 20s,as poltical instability grew.27,000 in 1925, and 178,000 by 29, and they received 6 ½million votes in 1930. Hitler ran for President against the war hero Field Marshal von Hidenburg in 1932, and was defeated, gettin only 36% of the vote. By November of 1932, Nazi influence was beginning to lose strength. But because Hitler appeared to those in power to be a malleable tool, Hidenburg was persuaded by Claus von Papen to offer him the Chancellorship, so he could be used as a puppet. Hitler was appointed Chancellor on 30 January 1933 by entirely legitimate means; he only needed an opportunity to strike.

IV. How did a third rate artist become head of a country without ever winning an election? THe Nazis never had even 45% of the vote in a free election. So how? That's what we want to look at.