The Son of Man – Rene Magritte

Warm-Up Q: Who were the “Lost Generation”? How did the effects of WWI influence people’s perspective on the world?

A Worldwide Depression

Life in the 1920s (Review)

Rebuilding Euro. Nations

Every major Euro. Nation was bankrupt after the war

Relied on loans ($$) from the US

American Money European Money

Postwar Europe

Rise of new democracies – end to absolute

monarchs

Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary

Problem: Little experience with representative

gov’ts

Too many pol. groups

Coalition gov’t – temporary alliance of pol.

parties within a gov’t

no strong leadership, no long-term goals

Weimar Republic (WR)

Germany’s demo. gov’t, est. 1919

Major weaknesses from beginning

Lack of demo. tradition

Several major parties and many minor parties

Germ. ppl blamed WR for defeat in WWI and TofVer.

humiliation

Recall: What were the “humiliations” of the

TofVer.?

Weimar Republic

Inflation Causes Crisis

• Germ. had not wartime taxes

• To pay for the war, Germ. printed $$

– Paper $$ loses value

• TofVer. – war debt

– Print more $$ to pay off debt, loses value again

• Germ. ppl needed more $$ to buy basic goods -

inflation

• TPS: How would you feel if your $$ became

worthless?

Weimar Republic

Weimar Republic

Recovered from inflation with

help from int’l committee

Dawes Plan (1924) – provided $200 mil. loan

from US to Germ.

Kellogg-Briand peace pact (1928) – pledged to

“renounce war as an instrument of national

policy”

No means to enforce the treaty, relied on the League

of Nations

Great Depression

US Flawed Econ.

• Uneven distribution of

wealth

• Over production by busi.

and agri.

• Lower demand for

consumer goods

• Oct. 29, 1929 – NYSE

(US Stock Market)

crashes

MARKET COLLAPSE!!

Great Depression

Ppl could not pay $$ owed, busi. failed, banks closed

By 1933, ¼ of all Am. Workers had no jobs

Am. Investors withdrew their $$ from Eur.

Am. stopped buying European goods – imposed

high tariffs (taxes) on imports instead

Great Depression

Dependence on Am. $$, Germ. and Austria were hit

hard

In Asia, value of exports fell by ½

In Latin Am., prices collapse for products (sugar, beef,

copper, etc.)

TPS: Why did the Great Depression in the US

turn into a global depression?

World Confront the Crisis

Britain

• Brit ppl elected a coalition (National Gov’t)

• High protective tariffs

• Increased taxes

• Regulated currency

• Lowered interest rates to promote econ. growth

• Result: Slow and steady growth – avoided pol. extremes

and preserved demo.

World Confronts the Crisis

France

• Econ. crisis led to political instability

• 1936 –The Popular Front formed

• Passed reforms to help workers

• Price increases and high unemployment

• Preserved democratic gov’t

World Confronts the Crisis

Socialist Gov’ts Form

• Scandinavia built recovery programs through

existing cooperative community action

• Public works projects

• Raised pensions, increased unemployment benefits, gov’t

subsidies

• Taxed all citizens

World Confronts the Crisis

Rise of Fascism

• Many lost faith in democratic gov’t

• Move towards extreme gov’t system – fascism

• Fascism – new, militant pol. mvmt that

emphasized loyalty to the state and obedience

to its leader

Summary Q: What problems did the collapse of

the Am. econ. cause in other countries?