The Age of Anxiety Chapter 34

Post WWI issues Unemployment for returning soldiers Chapter 34 Age of Anxiety Post WWI issues Unemployment for returning soldiers Rebuilding war destroyed cities Repaying war debt Social unrest Spread of Communism Anger from the Treaty of Versailles Depopulation from war deaths

Experimentation in Art Horrors of war as point of departure Photography made realism irrelevant Art as creation, not reproduction Retreat to abstraction Les fauves Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) Disappearance of distinction between “good” and “bad” art New Visions in Psychology Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) The life of the subconscious mind Repression of sexual desires, fears Interpretation of dreams Free association Application to mythology, religion, literature, art, etc.

Kellogg-Briand Pact Signed in 1928 by all independent nations Everyone agreed to disarmament Outlawed all war but gave no punishment for breaking the pact League of Nations could not enforce the pact Japan violated it in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria France built the Maginot Line- a wall to stop Germany from invading again

The Great Depression Money borrowed from U.S. by Austria and Germany to pay war debts to France and England France, England dependent on those payments to pay debts owed to U.S. for WWI October 1929 Overproduction led to price decline Stock brokers borrowed money to buy stocks The investors called for the loans to be paid back The stock brokers couldn’t pay their loan Banks collapsed because people were unable to repay loans Banks couldn’t give loans so businesses closed 1 in 3 Americans were unemployed This bred fear, which allowed strong dictators to rise

Agricultural Surpluses and the Great Depression Single-export countries devastated by declines due to new technology Reclaimed rubber destroyed rubber-based economies of Dutch East Indies, Malaysia, Ceylon Overproduction in 1920s Strongest harvests in 1925, 1929 Wheat at lowest price in 400 years Farm income dropped Less demand for manufactured goods Inventory surpluses

Economic Contraction Spreads Inventory surplus led to layoffs Layoffs led to decreased demand Businesses failed By 1932, U.S. industrial production at half of 1929 levels Forty-four percent of U.S. banks out of business Deposits lost Hardest hit: countries dependent on export of manufactured goods for essentials Japan Single-export countries South America

Economic Experimentation U.S.: “planned scarcity” Vegetables, fruits, and animals destroyed Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath Failure of laissez-faire, “planned scarcity” approaches John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946), economist Stimulate economy by lowering interest rates Encouraging investment, employment The New Deal of Franklin Delano Roosevelt WWII spending

The New Deal 1932 President FDR introduced a massive package of social and economic programs to help end the Great Depression Regulated banks and the stock market Created jobs in construction Gave aid to farmers of the dust bowl Introduced Social security for elderly Vastly increased the Government’s power in everyday lives of Americans

Communism in Russia War Communism, 1918–1922 Bolshevik Revolution, October/November 1917 Soviets took over Civil war, 1918–1920 Red terror campaign Execution of tsar Whites defeated by Red Army in 1920 War Communism, 1918–1922 Rapid collectivization Confiscations Massively unpopular, Lenin backtracked in 1921 New Economic Policy (NEP), partial privatization of the economy

The New Economic Policy Temporarily restored market economy; some private enterprise Allowed peasants to sell surplus at free market prices Electrification Establishment of technical schools Lenin suffered three strokes; died 1924 Bitter power struggle among Bolshevik leaders ensued

The Great Purge “Congress of Victors” / “Congress of Victims” Intra-party civil war Stalin removed all persons suspected of opposition, 1935–1938 Two-thirds of Central Committee Half of army’s high ranking officers Execution or labor camps 1937–1938, more than 1.5 million detained; 681,692 shot

Fascism in Italy Italy was angry they didn’t receive any recognition or land in the Treaty of Versailles This led to Benito Mussolini rallying the disgruntled veterans and unemployed to create the Black shirt Fascists The Black Shirts were nothing more than a dangerous gang who bullied Mussolini’s way to the head of the Government The Fascists marched to Rome in 1922; fearful King Emmanuel gave power to Mussolini Mussolini took power without war but through intimidation

Fascism Characteristics A term used for an authoritarian government that was not communist Extreme nationalism Glorified action, violence, discipline, and blind loyalty Believed in Social Darwinism Sworn enemies of communist/socialist Single party dictatorship, control of the economy, use of spies to enforce terror, strict censorship, brainwash youth, unquestioned obedience to leader

Germany’s Many Problems Treaty of Versailles harshly punished Germany for WWI No strong leader to guide Germany and fix problems Multiple political parties made it difficult to form an effective government Inflation of goods, Great depression, high unemployment

Rise of Hitler Hitler was a smooth talker Germans were angry, unemployed and looking for a change. The Treaty of Versailles heavily punished Germany Hitler promised to reverse the Treaty of Versailles and restore Germany to a powerful nation Just like Mussolini in Italy, Hitler bullied his way to power…1933 he was elected Chancellor

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party 1921, became chairman of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazis) Attempted to overthrow government in 1923 Wrote popular autobiography Mein Kampf in jail Capitalized on public discontent with postwar era War guilt clause Reparation payments Inability of major parties to come to consensus Anti-Semitism

How did Hitler happen? Germany was in bad shape; high unemployment Weak government that couldn’t make decisions to fix Germany’s problems Hitler promised the world to Germans as long as they supported him Nazi membership soared when the Great Depression hit He promised to end the Treaty of Versailles, create jobs, expand the army Hitler promised to revenge all the “wrongs” done to Germany as well punish those responsible

The Racial State Theories of racial superiority, racial purity Pronatalist propaganda Policies of eugenics Compulsory sterilization of 30,000 Germans Abortions illegal for healthy Germans, mandatory for “hereditary ill” and “racial aliens” Euthanasia program killed 200,000 people with physical or mental handicaps between 1939 and 1945 Precursor to massacres of Jews, gypsies

Anti-Semitism Biological racial theories and religious descent 1935 Nuremburg Laws Prohibited marriages between Jews and non-Jews Removal of Jews from civil service, schools Liquidation of Jewish-owned businesses or purchase by non-Jews Kristallnacht: major country-wide pogrom on Jews, November 9–10, 1938 “Night of broken glass”