THE WORLD OF THE 1930s: RESPONSES TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION CHAPTER 34b.

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THE WORLD OF THE 1930s: THE WORLD OF THE 1930s: RESPONSES TO THE GREAT RESPONSES TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION DEPRESSION CHAPTER 34b CHAPTER 34b

Transcript of THE WORLD OF THE 1930s: RESPONSES TO THE GREAT DEPRESSION CHAPTER 34b.

THE WORLD OF THE 1930s:THE WORLD OF THE 1930s:RESPONSES TO THE GREAT RESPONSES TO THE GREAT

DEPRESSIONDEPRESSION

CHAPTER 34bCHAPTER 34b

THE GLOBAL GREAT DEPRESSIONThe Impact of the Great Depression

– Intensified the decline in globalization– Intensified the shakiness of Western democracy– Authoritarian regimes arose in Europe, Asia, and Latin America– Global framework established by Western nations seemed to collapse

Immediate Causes– The Kreditanstalt in Austria, German banks failed– Former Central Powers unable to pay reparations to Allies– Allies unable to repay loans to the USA– Crash of the US Stock Market in 1929

There were numerous economic problems in the aftermath of World War I– In order to repay the US, Allies needed German reparations– Germany suffered from massive inflation, which was difficult to control– Britain, dependent on exports, found a global market with much stiffer competition.– Agricultural overproduction sent prices for food products plummeting in all nations. – In Europe, falling farm prices made it more difficult to repay war loans.– Economic recovery in Germany and France in the 1920s was fragile. – Overproduction was a problem in dependent countries of the world trade system. – Inability of colonies, dependent regions to purchase European-manufactured goods– Weakened demand for Western goods– Nationalism frustrated international attempts to deal with these problems.– Tariffs barriers, which further reduced trade, were erected in many nations.

THE GREAT DEPRESSIONIn Images

THE DEBACLEThe economic collapse first occurred in the United States in 1929

– American banks closed their doors– Europe, which remained dependent on American credit, drawn into the crisis.– Investment funds were withdrawn when creditors went bankrupt. – Without capitalization, industrial production, demand for labor fell– Massive unemployment meant less money to consume goods produced

The social devastation of the Depression was evident at all levels. – This slump was deeper and more prolonged than previous ones. – It brought widespread unemployment and increased suicide rates– Popular culture turned towards escapism– The Depression confounded 19th century optimism

Depression led to extreme experiments and paralysis in government around world– The USSR

• Resisted the general trend to depression because it was a centralized, command economy• Without ties to most of the West, the Soviets were unaffected by the drop in worldwide demand.

– Colonial nations • Depended on exports of raw materials suffered enormously• Nations raised tariffs, trade barriers to protect themselves against competition• Colonies had replaced agriculture with export industries, crops suffered horribly

– Latin America. Japan• Industries were heavily dependent on exports• Countries suffered typically high unemployment figures• The Depression increased Japanese paranoia about the West • Promoted more aggressive imperialism in Asia• In Latin America, it inspired greater state involvement in the economy

– In the West • The Depression prompted new government-led welfare schemes and political radicalism• Rise of Keynesian economics where government used fiscal economics to remedy situation• State spent its way out of depression• State raised, lowered interest rates to benefit society• States taxed richer populations, industry to achieve end

World Trade Collapsed as nations protected domestic economies from competition

WESTERN EUROPE

& USAResponses to the Depression in Western Europe

– Depression showed that the achievements of the 1920s had been fragile– Weak governments responded counterproductively to the crisis– Old style economic policies often made things worse– Confidence in normal politics declined– Radical political parties gained new support. – In most cases, however, parliamentary forms of government were weakened.

In France– Popular Front government dominated by socialist groups won election in 1936. – Opposed by conservatives, Popular Front was unable to enact effective policy

In Scandinavia, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand– First Socialist (or Labor in UK) Governments come to power– Governments intervened more actively in economy with positive results– In Britain, new industrial sectors emerged under creative business leadership.– Labor parties become influential in English speaking world

In the United States: The New Deal – After floundering for a few years, the USA initiated a new economic program– Franklin Delano Roosevelt elected President, started the New Deal – Based on social welfare and government intervention– New Deal greatly increased size of government and restored public confidence

Western Europe all relied heavily on Keynesian Economics

NAZISMIn Germany

– The Depression led to Nazism, the German variant of Fascism• German Fascists attacked parliamentary democracy as corrupt and weak• Proposed a strong leader with a vigorous foreign and military policy• Supported by business leaders as they attacked unions and socialists

– Adolf Hitler called for the state to guide society• The state was greater than the sum of individual interests• He criticized much of modern life• Promised to end the humiliation of Versailles• Railed against Jews.

Nazis in power– Built a totalitarian state

• Exercised direct control over many aspects of German life • Eliminated opposition groups through terror, secret police, concentration camps• Jews were made the scapegoats for all modern problems and persecuted

– In foreign policy• Hitler prepared for war: looked to rebuild a German empire• He withdrew Germany from the League of Nations • Broke Treaty of Versailles by suspending reparations, rearming• Remilitarized the Rhineland• Germany declared a union with Austria in 1938• Threatened to invade Czechoslovakia in 1938: European nations demand a conference• France and Britain acceded to Hitler's demands in return for the hope of continued peace.• Appeasement failed when Hitler's forces swallowed all of Czechoslovakia in 1939. • The Soviet Union and Germany signed a peace treaty in the same year.

Finally, when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Britain and France declared war

RISE OF THE 3RD REICH

THE SPREAD OF FASCISM1935 Ethiopia

– Italy also wanted an empire– Started a war with, annexed Ethiopia– Western Allies, League of Nations did nothing to halt war

Spanish Civil War– 1931 Radicals oust Spanish king, declare Spain a republic– Military, Church, elite hate republic

• 1936: Spanish Army launches a coup, leftists resist• Francisco Franco assumes leadership, creates fascist organization

– Civil War 1936 – 1939 saw world involvement• UK, France refused to become involved• USSR sent aid, volunteers to Republicans• Italy, Germany sent aid, volunteers to Falangists (Nationalists)• Germany tested out its new weapons, tactics on SpanishFa

Fascists Elsewhere– Strong Fascist movements in France, Belgium, Eastern Europe– Groups often cooperated: many had great influence in society– Most fascists saw liberals, democrats, communists, socialists as enemies

MAPPING FASCIST AGGRESSION

EARLY 20TH C. CHANGES IN LATIN AMERICA World War I

– Latin American trade boomed, some growth of new industries– End of war brought sudden end to prosperity– Postwar inflation, declining standard of living hurt region

Labor and the Middle Class – Growing importance of labor and urban middle class

• Forced traditional landowning elite to make changes• Opened up the political structure to new groups, ideas

– Argentina and Brazil• 1916, middle-class Radical party won election in Argentina, forged ties with elites• Brazilian middle class allied with traditional landed interests in Republican party• Labor groups composed of European immigrants exerted some influence on politics• Strikes and other labor movements were often suppressed violently.• Despite government opposition, strikes, labor unrest common between 1914, 1930

Ideology and Social Reform In Latin America– Older liberalism seemed out of place– Middle-class political movements so often allied with traditional landed elites– Disillusioned intellectuals began to attack concepts of liberalism during 1920s– Movements for social reform spread rapidly in many countries– Both socialism and Communism appeared in Latin America– The Roman Catholic Church also contributed to the assault on liberalism.

MILITARIZATION OF JAPAN

Responses to Depression– 1931 Manchuria

• World distracted by domestic problems,• Japan invades China, conquers Manchuria• World reacts lamely and Japan walks out of League of Nations

– Authoritarianism appeared earlier in Japan than in the West• Nationalist groups emerged supporting Confucian and Shinto values

– Most groups supported increased militarization– 1932, some officers assassinated the prime minister

• Military Government – A second attempted military coup in 1936 was blocked by established officers– But the military gained further control over the government– Civilian politics were suspended

• Role of Emperor Hirohito confused: did he reign or rule? – After 1936

• Militaristic prime ministers presided over expansion in Asia• Began creation of a regional empire• Army demanded even wider conquests leading to entry into World War II.

Industrialization and Recovery – Massive government spending

• Armed the military and pulled Japan out of the Depression quickly• Industrialization grew quickly after 1931.

– New policies stabilized the labor force and reduced unrest.

JAPAN AND DIPLOMACY

STALIN & THE USSRJoseph Stalin

– Was able to gain control of the Communist apparatus,– Stalin wished to accelerate the process of nationalization – Repealed NEP: did not trust private initiative or capitalization – Establish an industrialized society under governmental control

Totalitarian Rule or StalinismStalin forced both artists and scientists to conform to government demandsCreated a totalitarian state through creation of state police, the partyPotential rivals were ruthlessly eliminatedDissemination of information was carefully controlledStalin's regime was repressive

A New Reign of Terror – The PurgesTo further his control, agenda purged all opposition, real, imagined

Soviet secret police arrested people without warrants, usually on gossip suspicionSystem of informers left society in utter terror awaiting the knock on the door

In early 1930s, began region of terrorPurged intellectuals and party officialsSome executed, some sent to prison camps in Siberia called Gulags

Late 1930sPurged Red ArmyExecuted more than 60% of all officers above the rank of majorLeft Red Army unable to resist Nazi invasion during World War II

THE NEW SOVIET SOCIETYEconomic Policies

Stalin ordered the collectivization of agriculture in 1928Large state-run farms replaced individual family units. Collectivization permitted government capitalization Collectivization permitted firmer control over the peasant populationWealthier peasants, or kulaks, resisted: Stalin ordered them killedCommunists imposed collectivization by forceGovernment-run farms produced little incentive for peasantryCollectivization siphoned capital, labor out of agriculture into industry

To foster industrializationStalin created a state planning commission and a series of five-year plansGovernment paid for infrastructure and industrializationThe focus was entirely on heavy industry, not consumer productionState planning reduced dependence on markets but created bottlenecks and wasteDespite problems, Russian industrialization under the five-year plans was rapid.

Toward an Industrial Society Soviet industrialization shared some aspects with early Western developments. Urbanization rapidly increasedFactory management of labor was strict, and welfare services developed over time.Standards of living remained lowIndustrialization produced few consumer products. The process was state-directed, and there was no mechanism to air worker grievances.