1. SSWH 17
The student will be able to identify the major political & economic factors that shaped world societies between WWI & WWII.

2. Science Changes Albert Einstein Theories of Relativity
Measurements of space/time are not absolute
Inspired post-war scientists to accept the universe was beyond human understanding

3. Science Changes Sigmund Freud
Began to apply the scientific method to studying human behavior
Believed that the subconscious mind (what is in our minds that we are NOT aware of) drives our behavior
Psychoanalysis
Method of treating mental disorders that involves the “talking cure”
Talking through problems with a therapist

4. Totalitarianism
Form of government with a one-party dictatorship that regulates every aspect of the lives of its citizens
Characteristics
Political enemies jailed/killed
Other political parties banned
Media controlled by gov’t
Propaganda
Denial of individual rights

5. USSR after the Revolution
Joseph Stalin
Took over the Communist Party after Lenin’s death in
Five Year Plans
Stalin’s economic plan that made the USSR self- sufficient.
Industrialization a priority
Protected the USSR from the worst effects of the Great Depression.

6. Stalin’s Rule Collectivization KGB Great Purge 1937-1938
All land in the USSR became the property of the gov’t.
Standard of living remained low.
KGB
Secret police that sought out political opponents and killed them or sent them to labor camps.
Great Purge
4 million people killed

7. Great Depression
The United States came out of WWI in the best shape economically.
The US loaned a lot of money to countries around the world to help them rebuild after the war.
By the 1920s, the US economy had gotten worse, so they tried to get countries to pay back their loans, which they couldn’t do.
A world-wide depression resulted
Long period where many people are without jobs. Spending by individuals, businesses, and governments goes down.
People blame their governments for this depression which opens the door for radical leaders to come to power.

8. Italy
After WWI, Italy was in chaos because of inflation and unemployment
Italians were also upset because they didn’t think they had been treated fairly by the Treaty of Versailles
Benito Mussolini
Promised to revive the economy & rebuild military
Fascism
Political party characterized by extreme nationalism & extreme militarism
Fascists gained in popularity until the King of Italy had no choice but to give power over to Mussolini in 1922

9. Mussolini’s Rule Black Shirts Focused on “shaping the youth”
Secret Police that found and punished dissidents
Focused on “shaping the youth”
Wanted to restore the glory of the Roman Empire
Aggression/expansion

10. Germany After WWI, Germany was in chaos because
Unhappy with terms of Treaty of Versailles
Dissatisfaction with the government put in place in Germany after the war (Weimar Republic)
National Socialist German Workers Party
AKA Nazi Party
Political party that began to rise in popularity in the late 1920s by promising to restore Germany to its former glory

11. Adolf Hitler Became leader of the Nazi Party in 1921 Mein Kampf (1925)
Book written by Hitler where he laid out his plans:
Germans (Aryans) master race)
Blames Jews and other “undesirable races” for Germany’s loss in WWI and economic problems
Germans should control Europe
Treaty of Versailles is unfair and should be ignored

12. Adolf Hitler Elections of 1933 Brown Shirts Gestapo
Nazi party won a majority of the elections
Brown Shirts
Hitler’s supporters
Later becomes known as the SS
Enforced Hitler’s beliefs and policies by using terror and intimidation.
Gestapo
Secret Police

13. Japan Constitutional monarchy
Emperor was seen as the supreme military commander and was believed to be divine.
Democratic influences increased after WWI
Hirohito
Became emperor in 1926
Increased the powers of the emperor
Built up Japan’s military