Post War Europe • New nations began to establish governments that were responsible to mass electorates. Germany, Austria, and Hungary, etc. were not used to this style of government. • The Treaty of Versailles left many European nations feeling betrayed or in the case of Germany humiliated. • Other nations, such as the United States wanted to return to Pre-War economic prosperity. Warren G. Harding return to Normalcy. • The European economy was devastated by World War I. Europe’s infrastructure in shambles. The Soviet Experiment • The Communist Party established in 1917 lasted until 1991. The formation of the Soviet Communist state establishes a fear in the rest of Europe of the spread of Communism. • The Red Army under the leadership of Leon Trotsky crushed resistance. The Cheka or secret police used surveillance and enforced the Central Committee’s orders. • The government seized grain from peasants and controlled production, and ran banks, heavy industry, and transportation – called War Communism. War Communism and the New Russia • The Communists in order to defeat their many enemies adopted “War Communism” taking over banks, factories, mines, etc. and drafting peasants into the military. • Trotsky organizes the army into an effective fighting force. Every 10th man was shot if they didn’t perform their duties. • Lenin adopts a Constitution and the Supreme Soviet, an elected legislature. Lenin used the army and the secret police to keep control. Adopts NEP -semi capitalism. Stalins’ Soviet Union • Lenin adopts limited capitalism-the“ New Economic Policy”,by 1928 production is back to prewar levels. Lenin dies in 1924. • The two contenders for power were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Stalin wins the struggle and later Trotsky is murdered in Mexico. • Stalin sets out to turn Soviet Russia into a modern nation. He begins five-year plans or goals for industry. A Command Economy – the government makes all the economic decisions. ( it doesn’t work) Post War Italy and Germany • Italy was outraged by the Treaty of Versailles. They had hoped for land across the Adriatic Sea.(Yugoslavia) • The economy was in shambles from the expense of World War I. Socialism, Nationalism, and political turmoil added to the growing disorder. • From the chaos of Italian politics emerges Benito Mussolini. • He organizes the Fascist party. Black shirted thugs enforce his orders. Il Duce Italy’s Postwar Problems • Mussolini organizes a March on Rome, to take over and fix the problems of government. • Mussolini without firing a shot is asked by the King of Italy to organize a government. • Mussolini took more power. He called himself Il Duce-the leader. • The state took control of business and workers lost rights as well as pay. Fascism vs. Communism • In theory they are opposite ends of the political spectrum. Fascism favors the corporate state and Communism favors the worker run state. • In reality they look the same. • Totalitarian governments control the media, limit freedoms to participate, one man, leadership. • They use schools to indoctrinate, state spies to spread fear, state control of the economy. Italy and Mussolini Mussolini, Hitler and Roosevelt Italy Invades Ethiopia Post War Germany • In 1919 a new German Republic drafted a constitution in Weimar, called the Weimar Republic. • The Republic was faced with run away inflation, unemployment, Communists and conservatives clashed in the streets. • The German people blamed the Republic for selling out when negotiating the Versailles Treaty. • France occupied the Ruhr Valley, when Germany missed reparation payments. • U.S. helped with aid in the Dawes Plan. German Recovery and Hitler • American loans and France withdrawing troops helped Germany begin the long road to recovery. • Germany begins to recover when the Great Depression hits. Hitler promises to end the economic problems. • Hitler was born in Vienna Austria moved to Germany. He served in the military in WWI. He was a struggling artist. Hitler joins the National Socialists and becomes the leader in a year. He uses Storm Troopers-Brown Shirts to enforce his rules. Hitler Takes Control • Britain’s economy was a wreck after WWI. Low wages, and high unemployment caused a general strike in 1926. • Problems and violence in Ireland lead to the creation of Eire or Irish free State. • Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand become the British Commonwealth Nations. Postwar France • France was devastated from the WWI. Casualties were high, the economy was not as bad as some due to war reparations. • Socialist Leon Blum and the Popular Front dominated French politics. • The Maginot Line a series of forts across French and German border attempted to protect france from German aggression. Postwar U.S. • The U.S. economy was great after WWI. “The Roaring 20’s” • The United States tried to be leaders in peace, and also leaders in isolationism. • The Red Scare of the 1920’s and fear of Bolsheviks. • The Great Depression bursts the bubble. Leads to the election of F.D.R. • Roosevelt implements the New Deal, government programs to help people. Russia: 1917-41 Nicholas and Alexis: 1909 Tsarina Alexandra (1906) “OTMA” Rasputin: the starets Nicholas II and Rasputin Alexander Kerensky (1917) Vladimir Ilych Ulayanov (Lenin) Lenin: Propaganda Lenin and Trotsky: 1917 or ‘18 Trotsky, reviewing Red troops, Civil War Lenin and Stalin Romanovs in Tobolsk (1917-18) Ipatiev House, Ekaterinburg (1921) Ipatiev House basement (1921) The execution of the Romanovs (July, 1918) collectivization poster (1930) coal mining poster (1930) espionage trail (British engineers): 1933 poster – “cult of personality” (1930’s) Nazi-Soviet Pact (1939): Molotov on right David Low cartoon (9/’39) Stalin in 1941.