Adopted from Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY

This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper. -T.S. Elliot, The Hollow Men

Europe in 1919

The World’s feelings after WWI What point is artist trying to get across?

What feelings does this cartoon express?

What is notable about these #’s? What jumps out at you?

German Revolutions [1918] What does this graphic tell you? (Note: fighting in WWI ended 11/11/1918)

 Emperor & High Command stepped down in closing weeks of war  left others to face humiliation (10/1918)  Social Democrat's were left in power   They are moderate socialists  They create a National Assembly to draw up a constitution and run elections for a new Reichstag  Social Democrats were more fearful….

The Spartacist Revolt (1/19) Rosa Luxemburg [ ] Attempted a proletariat revolution in Germany  VIOLENTLY put down by provisional government  Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist theorist, philosopher, economist, and activist of Polish Jewish descent who became a German citizen. In 1915, she co-founded the anti-war Spartakusbund (Spartacist League) which eventually became the Communist Party of Germany (KPD). She regarded the Spartacist uprising as a blunder, but supported it after it was ordered without her knowledge. When the revolt was crushed by the social democrat government and the Freikorps (World War I veterans who banded together into right-wing paramilitary groups), Luxemburg and some of her supporters were captured and murdered. Luxemburg was shot and her body thrown in the Landwehr Canal in Berlin. After her death, Luxemburg became a martyr for Marxists.

What is the PoV of the artist? What do you think the words in the cartoon are?

The German Government: Social Democrats are the leading party, BUT…  Germany created a constitutional democratic republic… just like that! (Nat’l Assembly moved to city of Weimar where Constitutional Convention took place because of the fighting in Berlin. (180 miles SW) This gave the government its unofficial nickname that stuck even when they moved back to Berlin) National Assembly 1919Reichstag 1920

The Weimar Republic:

No terror, fanaticism, or extremism  No 1789, 1848, or even Peterloo VERY modern democracy –All modern civil rights (speech, assembly, religion, vote, etc…) No extremist socialist reforms  All gov’t workers from the old gov stayed in place  civil servants & army

1. The Peace Terms Versailles a diktat  Weimar a product of… Germany excluded from League of Nations Germany never accepted… – If accepting democracy =‘s accepting Versailles…

An illustration from an 1919 Austrian postcard showing a caricatured Jew stabbing the German Army in the back with a dagger. The capitulation was blamed upon the unpatriotic populace, the Socialists, Bolsheviks, the Weimar Republic, and especially the Jews. A 1924 right-wing German political cartoon showing Philipp Scheidemann, the German Social Democratic politician who proclaimed the Weimar Republic and Matthias Erzberger, an anti- war politician who signed the armistice with the Allies, as stabbing the German Army in the back What are the PoV’s of the artists? What is the message?

From the German Point of View  Lost—but not forgotten country.  Into the heart You are to dig yourself these words as into stone: Which we have lost may not be truly lost! What is the PoV of the artist? What is the message?

Army officers rebel, force Weimar to flee, and officers try to take over Weimar saved by appealing to workers (left) of Berlin  general strike shuts down city, forcing rebels to flee  Weimar comes back!

New gov must rebuild their economy  Germany GDP (in thousands) (dotted red line is 1914 trend)

Reparations Committee German Gold Marks (BILLIONS) US Dollars (BILLIONS) 2012 Us $ (BILLIONS) Inter-Allied Reparations Committee (1921) What is the PoV of the artists?  What is the message?

1.US pulls out of League of Nations  doesn’t ratify Treaty of Versailles 2. France wants immediate reassurance that Germany is going to remain WEAK  When Germany misses a payment…

Hands off the Ruhr! What are the PoV’s of the artists? What is the message?

J’Y SUIS – J’Y RESTE Here I Am – Here I Stay What is the PoV of the artists? What is the message?

4b. French “Little Entente” Alliance with Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia to check German ambitions Useful??? 

The German Mark 5. INFLATION Reparations+loss of industry; only way to solve prolem & repay debts is to print LOTS of money Middle class DEVESTATED 

The German Mark

NYT, 12/1/1919

European Debts to the United States Euro countries relying on Germany to pay reparations to repay the US

The U.S. to the “rescue”! US Wants Europe to start repaying their debts Europe says… US says “we can fix that!” Ruhr is returned This + US $$ =

Soviet-German  Treaty of Rapallo coming to an uneasy alliance USSR & Ger not in Versailles   trade, workers, & money flow between the two  Ger renounces land claims from the treaty of Brest-Litsovsk to show good faith Germany & the Soviet Union

The Beer Hall Putsch: 1923 Failed coup attempt by Nazis  Poorly planned and executed  never really had a chance of success; leaders arrested This failure shows the weakness of Nazi Party AND the relative strength of the Weimar 

Mein Kampf [My Struggle] While in jail, Hitler writes a book detailing his goals and objectives: 1. Lebensraum  He blamed Jews for ALL Germany’s problems  This small but influential population demonstrated…

Weimar

Weimar Germany: Political Representation [ ] Political Parties in the Reichstag May 1924 Dec May 1928 Sep July 1932 Nov Mar Communist Party (KPD) Social Democratic Party (SDP) Catholic Centre Party (BVP) Nationalist Party (DNVP) Nazi Party (NSDAP) Other Parties Great Depression

Purpose of LoN: prevent wars through collective security and disarmament, and settling international disputes through negotiation and arbitration. Problem of LoN: It lacked its own armed force and depended on the Great Powers to enforce its resolutions, keep to its economic sanctions, or provide an army when needed. And the Great Powers rarely did.

Washington Naval Conference [ ] Ratio of battleships in the Pacific: U. S. Britain Japan France Italy Ratio of battleships in the Pacific: U. S. Britain Japan France Italy Called to ease FAST rising tensions in the Pacific  Am/GB v. (rising) Japan  An arms (battleship) race had begun! Arms limitation agreement   Equality unheard of before 1914!!! Angry at being smaller! Russia wanted to be invited, but wasn’t! (Who was the Master of the East now, dog???

The Maginot Line French defensive line to stop a German advance  “Good fences make good neighbors”

Locarno Pact: 1925 The Spirit of Locarno Gustave Stresemann (Ger.) Aristide Briand (Fr.) Austin Chamberlain (Br.) Series of treaties that mark the high point of….  Guaranteed the common boundaries of Belgium, France, and Germany as specified in the Treaty of Versailles of  GB promised to protect the borders of Fr & Bel, BUT NOT Czech or Pol  Germany signed treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, agreeing to change the eastern borders of Germany by negotiations, NOT war  Accepted Fr & Bel borders, too; therefore allowed into…  Guaranteed the common boundaries of Belgium, France, and Germany as specified in the Treaty of Versailles of  GB promised to protect the borders of Fr & Bel, BUT NOT Czech or Pol  Germany signed treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, agreeing to change the eastern borders of Germany by negotiations, NOT war  Accepted Fr & Bel borders, too; therefore allowed into… What is the PoV of the artist about the treaty?

Kellogg-Briand Pact: 1928  62 nations committed to outlawing aggression and war for settling disputes.  Problem  no way of enforcement.  BUT…showed the optimism of the day  62 nations committed to outlawing aggression and war for settling disputes.  Problem  no way of enforcement.  BUT…showed the optimism of the day Original Signers: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, British India, the Irish Free State, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Signed by1929: Afghanistan, Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Liberia, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Romania, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Siam, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey. Eight further states joined after that date Persia, Greece, Honduras, Chile, Luxembourg, Danzig, Costa Rica and Venezuela

What is the artist’s PoV of Europe’s chances in 1928?

 Germany positive outlook  econ looking up, accepted borders   World economy  By 1928, econ above pre-war levels in trade and production of raw materials & finished goods  Seemed that the nightmare was over 