Chapter 18: Between Two Fires - Lincoln-Sudbury … History...Chapter 18 Between Two Fires 545 ... A...

Joseph Stalin carries out purges of party and governmentleaders in the Soviet Union.

1936

Stock market crashes in the United States.

1929 Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor ofGermany.

1933 Benito Mussolini becomes prime minister of Italy.

1922

1935193019251920

18C h a p t e r

1919–1939

BetweenTwo Fires

> Innovation The period afterWorld War I brings revolutionarychanges in science, the arts, andpopular culture. Section 1

> Change The Great Depressionforces governments in Europe andNorth America to increase theirinvolvement in social and economicaffairs. Section 2

> Uniformity Fascist governmentsin Italy and Germany limit individ-ual liberties and stress loyalty to thestate. Section 3

> Uniformity Communists in theSoviet Union impose state controland crush opposition. Section 4

SThetoryteller

From early evening until long past midnight, Nazi

stormtroopers and youth groups marched in disciplined columns

through Berlin. For many of the young people in that torchlight

parade in the 1930s, their marching was only a beginning. They

looked forward to a bright future, playing important roles in cre-

ating a new Germany out of the confusion and trouble that sur-

rounded them. To them, Hitler seemed like a deliverer who would

restore Germany’s greatness.

Years later, a number of them looked back on that night,

appalled at how little they really knew about the Nazis. But the

economic and political chaos caused by World War I and the

Great Depression led many Europeans to support powerful dicta-

tors during the 1920s and 1930s.

What factors led to the rise of dictatorships in Europeafter World War I? How were democratic nations affected bythe social and economic crises that came after the end ofWorld War I?

Historical Significance

544

Chapter Themes

Chapter 18 Between Two Fires 545

Interview an older person about his orher feelings and perceptions in the periodbetween 1930 and 1941. Use the chapterto formulate questions about events.Take notes during the interview, or writedown your impressions soon afterward.

Your History Journal

Automat, Edward Hopper, 1927. Des Moines Art Center PermanentCollection, Des Moines, IowaArt&

History

Chapter Overview

Visit the World History: The Modern Era Web site at worldhistory.me.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 18—Chapter Overviewto preview the chapter.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/worldhistory/whme2001/chapter18/overview.html

ARMISTICE SIGNED, END OF THEWAR!” proclaimed The New YorkTimes headline on November 11,

1918. In the United States and Europe, peopleexploded in a frenzy of celebration. The critic andauthor Malcolm Cowley wrote later of the feeling ofeuphoria that marked the end of the war: “Wedanced in the streets, embraced old women andpretty girls, swore blood brotherhood with soldiersin little bars….” But the excitement did not last.“On the next day,” continued Cowley, “…we didn’t know what to do.”

World War I marked the great divide betweenthe old and the new. The war changed the waymany people looked at the world, and the disillu-sionment it caused led artists and intellectuals on arestless search for something new. The postwar peri-od was a time for breaking with tradition and exper-imenting with new styles in politics and culture.

Changing Patterns of LifeWarren Harding was elected President of the

United States in 1920, promising a “return to nor-malcy.” But there was no going back to the past.The war had changed the world too much for thatto be possible. Instead, people in both NorthAmerica and Europe began to experiment with newcustoms and ways of life.

New Trends in Culture and StyleIn the postwar era, women gained a new level

of independence. With the ratification of theNineteenth Amendment in 1920, women in theUnited States won the right to vote at last. Womenalso won the vote in most other Western countriesfollowing the war.

Many women now demanded other freedomsas well. Throwing off the inhibitions of the prewarera, some women in the United States and western

546 Chapter 18 Between Two Fires

> Terms to Definecubism, surrealism, jazz, choreographer

> People to MeetAlbert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, T.S. Eliot,Pablo Picasso, Sergey Prokofiev, Walter Gropius

> Places to LocateHollywood

United Stateswomen win the vote.

1920 Ernest Hemingwaywrites The Sun Also Rises.

1926 Dance bands reachheight of popularity.

1935

1920 19401930

There was trouble in Hollywood. One ofTinseltown’s biggest names, with a bigger screenfollowing than 90 percent of the stars, accordingto columnist Louella Parsons, had “fallen afoul ofthe censors in a big way.” Censor boards through-

out the nation were receiv-ing vigorous complaintsabout the “devilish,naughty” behavior of thisnational celebrity. TerryRamsaye wrote in theMotion Picture Herald,“It’s the old, old story. Ifnobody knows you, you cando anything, and if every-body knows you, you can’tdo anything—except whateveryone approves.” Thestar was Mickey Mouse.

—adapted from Of Mice andMagic, Leonard Maltin, 1987

S e c t i o n 1

The Postwar World

SThetoryteller

Hollywood landmark

“Read to Find Out Main Idea New styles dominated thearts and popular culture from 1919 to1939.

Europe began to use rouge and lipstick openly.Their skirts rose from a few inches above the ankleto an inch above the knee. They cropped their hairto a shingle bob and aimed for a carefree, little-boylook. Thus attired, the “flapper” created a revolu-tion in manners and morals.

In the postwar era, not only the flapper butpeople in general disdained the familiar and thecommonplace. They wanted heroes who were larg-er than life. Babe Ruth, the “Sultan of Swat,” wasthe king of baseball. Tennis champions Big BillTilden and Helen Wills Moody became nationalheroes. When Gertrude Ederle swam the EnglishChannel and Charles Lindbergh flew nonstop fromLong Island to Paris, the public saluted them withtumultuous ticker-tape parades on Broadway.

Amid all the hoopla, bankers and businessleaders were having a heyday. The war had openednew prospects for economic development.President Calvin Coolidge neatly summed up thenation’s focus in the 1920s when he said, “The busi-ness of America is business.”

The Impact of TechnologyNew forms of technology altered people’s

lifestyles and brought people closer together in the1920s. The decade following World War I witnesseda revolution in transportation and communicationthroughout the world.

The automobile had perhaps the greatestimpact on European and American society. A net-work of highways began to crisscross Europe andthe United States. People could now move easilyfrom place to place, and move they did. The UnitedStates, in particular, became an increasingly mobilesociety. Americans traveled farther afield on vaca-tions and moved from rural areas to cities.

Radio also brought about dramatic changes. Byexposing millions of people to the same news andentertainment shows, radio helped to produce amore homogeneous, or uniform, culture. Throughits advertisements, radio also stimulated the pub-lic’s desire for consumer goods. Advertiserslearned the art of motivation, and ads now playedon people’s insecurities and self-doubts. “Why hadhe changed so in his attentions?” queried a forlorn-looking woman in an ad for a leading mouthwash.

Many products of the new technology easedthe burden of the homemaker. With the advent ofpackaged foods, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners,and electric irons, people had more leisure time.Instead of working at home, they could take adrive, listen to the radio, or go out dancing.Millions spent their idle moments with anothernew product of technology: the movies.

A Revolution in IdeasNew inventions had an enormous impact on

people’s daily lives in the postwar period. At thesame time, exciting new ideas in physics and psy-chology transformed the way people looked atthemselves and the world.

PhysicsIn 1905 German physicist Albert Einstein intro-

duced his theories of relativity, shattering Newton’sview of the universe as a machine that operated byuniversal laws. According to Einstein, there are noabsolutes in measuring time and space. Time andspace instead depend on the relative motion of bod-ies in space. For example, the speed of two trainsappears differently to bystanders on the station plat-form than it does to passengers on the trains.

Einstein also held that the speed of light is con-stant, and that all matter has energy. If matter couldbe broken down and changed into energy, theamount of energy would be enormous. Einstein’sformula E=MC2 was finally supported in 1945 whenscientists tested the first atomic bomb in New Mexico.

Although too difficult for the average person tounderstand, Einstein’s views had an impact beyondphysics. To many people, his views seemed to rein-force the idea that there were no absolutes in anyfield of knowledge or in moral values.

PsychologyThe Austrian physician Sigmund Freud

(FROYD) revolutionized people’s ideas about howthe human mind works. After observing manypatients, Freud concluded that the unconsciousmind plays a major role in shaping behavior. Theunconscious, he said, is full of memories of eventsfrom early childhood. If the memories are especiallypainful, people sometimes suppress them. Such sup-pression may lead to a variety of mental disorders.

When Freud first introduced his theories in thelate 1800s, many people ridiculed or attacked them.By the 1920s, however, his ideas about human


FadsThe 1920s was a time whenmany fads swept the

United States. These ranged from crossword puz-zles, to stunts, such as sitting on the top of flag-poles for days at a time, to parlor games, such asmah-jongg, a Chinese version of rummy playedwith tiles.

psychology had become more accepted and influ-ential. Freud’s theories eventually led to newapproaches in the treatment of mental illness, inchild rearing, and in education.

Upheaval in the ArtsThe break between old and new following

World War I was perhaps most sharply defined inthe arts. In painting, music, literature, and dance,artists abandoned long-accepted traditions. Theavant-garde experimented with new styles, media,and subject matter. Often the public greeted theirpioneering efforts with cries of shock and protest.

LiteratureMany of the period’s writers had been disillu-

sioned by World War I and its aftermath. The warhad destroyed their belief in the traditional valuesof middle-class society. In expressing that disillu-sionment, they broke new literary ground.

In his poems The Waste Land and “The HollowMen,” for example, American-born poet T.S. Eliotused a patchwork style that juxtaposed different lit-erary, religious, and historical references to conveya sense of despair about life. German novelistThomas Mann, Czech novelist Franz Kafka, andBritish novelist Virginia Woolf also experimented

with new literary techniques. Both in terms of theirstyle and content, all of these writers represented asharp break with the literature of the past.

While they echoed Eliot’s sense of disenchant-ment, American writers such as Ernest Hemingwayand F. Scott Fitzgerald developed markedly differ-ent literary styles. For instance, in his 1926 novelThe Sun Also Rises, Hemingway used a lean,straightforward style to tell the tale of Americansand Britons who roamed France and Spain, livingfor the moment while trying to find meaning intheir lives. In contrast, Fitzgerald used a more elab-orate poetic style in his 1925 novel The Great Gatsbyto explore the atmosphere and excesses of theRoaring Twenties.

Several years earlier, in 1922, Irish novelistJames Joyce had published Ulysses, an in-depthaccount of a day in the lives of three ordinary peo-ple in Dublin. Ulysses was a landmark in the devel-opment of the modern novel. Influenced by Freud’stheories, Joyce developed a style known as “streamof consciousness” in which he presented the innerthoughts—rather than just the external actions—ofhis characters. Joyce’s psychological emphasis andhis earthy language caused a storm of protest,which led to a number of court battles over the pub-lication of his novel.

In the late 1920s and the 1930s, many writersbecame interested in important social issues of the


Gertrude Stein by Pablo Picasso,1906. The Metropolitan Museum

of Art, New York, New York The Spanishpainter Pablo Picasso and the American writerGertrude Stein were two of the major culturalfigures of the 1920s and 1930s. What were twomajor characteristics of the arts during the periodbetween the world wars?

Art&History

day. Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, and ZoraNeale Hurston, who belonged to an AfricanAmerican literary movement known as the HarlemRenaissance, explored the African American experi-ence in America. In The Grapes of Wrath, JohnSteinbeck described the plight of Oklahoma farm-ers who, in the midst of a severe drought, aban-doned their farms and moved to California. JohnDos Passos’s U.S.A. trilogy was a broader social criticism of conditions in American society during the postwar period.

PaintingThe postwar world also saw a revolution in the

visual arts. Artists no longer tried to be realistic intheir works. Instead they developed radical newstyles and redefined the nature of painting. In 1907, the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso created an uproar in the art world when he painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. The painting was the ear-liest example of cubism, an abstract art form thatuses intersecting geometric shapes. Cubist painterstransform their subjects by flattening them, cuttingthem up, rearranging different portions of them,and altering shapes and colors to fit their ownvision. As Picasso explained: “Art is a lie thatmakes us realize the truth.”

Another development was Dada, an art formthat aimed to shock middle-class viewers. Dadastressed absurdity and the role of the unpredictablein life. For example, the paintings and poems ofDada consisted of meaningless and random arrange-ments of objects and words. Dada’s reliance on theimagination led to surrealism, an art form thatused dreamlike images and unnatural combina-tions of objects. Influenced by Freud, surrealistpainters tried to find a new reality by exploring theunconscious mind. The Spanish painter SalvadorDali created such realistically impossible images aslimp watches set in bleak landscapes.

In the tradition of Steinbeck and Dos Passos,other artists used their talents to attack social prob-lems. In their paintings and photographs, socialrealists such as Ben Shahn, Peter Blume, andDorothea Lange showed the human sufferingcaused by the Depression of the 1930s. Althoughnot a realist, Pablo Picasso protested the horrors ofSpain’s civil war in his symbolic painting Guernica.

Music and DanceComposers also broke new ground after the

war. Several eastern European composers trans-formed the classical form. Sergey Prokofiev

(sehr•GAY pruh•KAWF•yuhf), a Russian, com-posed driving and dissonant music that lacked thefamiliar harmonies of traditional forms. Criticsdubbed him the “age of steel composer.” Prokofiev,however, later composed more pleasant soundingsymphonies and operas.

Arnold Schoenberg (SHUHN•BUHRG), a self-taught Austrian composer, made radical changes inmusic theory. Instead of harmonies based on the tra-ditional eight-note scale, he proposed new musicalarrangements based on 12 equally valued notes. Inhis groundbreaking composition, Pierrot Lunaire(1912), Schoenberg used harsh, dissonant music toexpress what he regarded as the decay of Westerncivilization. His composition outraged conservativeaudiences.

Meanwhile, in the United States, musicianswere creating their own distinctive sound. The1920s was “the golden age of jazz.” What somehave called the only art form to originate in theUnited States, jazz is a mixture of American folksongs, West African rhythms, harmonies fromEuropean classical music, and work songs from thedays of slavery. Trumpet player Louis Armstrong,blues singer Bessie Smith, and pianist Jelly RollMorton popularized the new music which soonspread throughout the world.

The postwar era also saw a transformation in theart of dance. Performing barefoot in a loose tunic, theAmerican dancer Isadora Duncan changed people’sideas about dance. Another American, MarthaGraham, expanded on Duncan’s style and turnedmodern dance into a striking new art form.


Pablo Picasso’s mural paintingGuernica expresses the horror of

the bombing of the town of Guernica during the civilwar that devastated Spain in the 1930s. What changesdeveloped in the visual arts after World War I?

HistoryVisualizing


Racing down a dark road, the young men andwomen in this photograph enjoy a new free-dom. Cars were important throughout theindustrialized world of Europe and North

America, and the American auto industry led theglobal market. The automobile brought mobility tomany Americans during the years following WorldWar I. It was all part of a new lifestyle called theRoaring Twenties.

Behind the gaiety and frivolity, however, the1920s was a decade in which a new urban style of

living came into conflict with an older rural way oflife. In the United States this conflict was played outagain and again: Politician and orator WilliamJennings Bryan battled lawyer Clarence Darrow inthe famous Scopes trial over whether or not publicschools should teach Darwinian science. Farmsfailed and farmers lost their land, while the soundsof the new prosperity played on radios in their livingrooms. The new city slickers were jazz age flappers,like the ones here, racing along unpaved roads in afancy new Stutz Bearcat. �

Flying High�

PICTURING HISTORY

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Sergey Diaghilev (dee•AH•guh•LEHF), theRussian impresario, or sponsor, developed modernballet, which blended modern dance with classicalballet. When Russian composer Igor Stravinskywrote The Rite of Spring (1913) for Diaghilev and hiscompany of dancers, the Ballets Russes, it was aturning point for ballet. The leaping dance stepsthat ballet star Vaslav Nijinsky (VAHT•slahv nuh•ZHIHN•skee) performed to Stravinsky’s musiccreated a sensation. George Balanchine, who hadbeen a choreographer, or dance arranger, with theBallets Russes, expanded on Diaghilev’s work aftermoving from the Soviet Union to the United States.

ArchitectureThe 1920s and 1930s saw striking new designs

in buildings and furnishings. Walter Gropiusfounded the Bauhaus (BOW•HOWS) school ofdesign in Weimar (VY•MAHR), Germany. He andhis followers created a simple, unornamented styleof design. Linking beauty to practicality, Gropiuspioneered geometric concrete and glass structuresin both Germany and the United States.

In the United States, Frank Lloyd Wright blend-ed his structures with their natural surroundings.Because of their low horizontal form, his housesseem to grow out of the ground. Instead of creatingboxlike rooms, Wright reduced the number of wallsso that one room flowed into another.

Popular CultureWhile the revolutionary developments taking

place in art and music may not have had an imme-diate effect on the lives of ordinary people, filmsand big bands did. In the postwar era, Hollywoodproductions dominated the movie screens of the world. The movies reflected the new morality of the “Jazz Age” and the doctrine of living for themoment. During the 1930s the public flocked tomovie theaters, where for 10 cents they couldescape the harsh realities of hard economic times.

In the early part of the century, the creative useof the camera elevated the motion picture to an artform. In The Last Laugh, a silent film directed byGerman filmmaker F.W. Murnau, the camera workis so expressive that the story is told entirely with-out subtitles. British actor and director CharlieChaplin also broke new ground in his films whiledelighting millions of moviegoers with his humor.

In 1927 The Jazz Singer, starring American actorAl Jolson, changed motion pictures overnight andsignaled the end of silent films. During the early1930s American musicals, gangster movies, and horror movies were popular. However, some film-makers tried to educate as well as entertain theiraudiences. I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)was a forceful indictment of the Southern penal system, while Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)showed the effects of political corruption.

The public also sought escape from their trou-bles on the ballroom floor. In the 1930s and 1940s,dance bands reached their greatest popularity.Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Benny Goodman,Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, and their swing bandsperformed in ballrooms and hotels all acrossAmerica. Swing was the new word for musicplayed with a happy, relaxed jazz beat. But if swingwas not everyone’s cup of tea, there were alterna-tives. The bands of Guy Lombardo and SammyKaye played traditional waltzes and fox-trots.

Obviously, the social upheavals and economichardships that World War I created did not dampenthe creative spirit following the war. During this eraartists introduced new styles in every major artform. They took little interest in politics and reform.Many cried out against conformity and retreatedinto individualism. At times it seemed as if theywere transforming the world with their radical newvisions of life. But the euphoria did not last. Thestock market crash that took place on Wall Street inlate October 1929 brought on an economic depres-sion that had devastating and deadly consequences.


Main Idea1. Use a chart like the one below

to identify trends in the artsfrom 1919 to 1937.

Recall2. Define cubism, surrealism,

jazz, choreographer.3. Identify Albert Einstein,

Sigmund Freud, T.S. Eliot,Pablo Picasso, SergeyProkofiev, Walter Gropius.

Critical Thinking4. Analyzing Information The

era after World War I was a

time for breaking with tradi-tion. How could abandoningtraditions help a society? Howmight it harm a society?

Understanding Themes5. Innovation What impact did

technological advances intransportation and communi-cation have on American culture in the 1920s?

Trends in the Arts

SECTION 1 ASSESSMENT

1.

2.

Peace brought neither stability nor lastingprosperity to the Western democracies,which paid a heavy price for their victo-

ry in World War I. Although the United States suf-fered comparatively minor financial losses, hugewar debts threatened the economic and political sta-bility of Great Britain and France. The West did enjoya brief period of prosperity in the 1920s, but a globaleconomic depression soon followed. This depressionfurther weakened the Western democracies in the1930s, making it difficult for them to counter the ris-ing totalitarian threat in Italy and Germany.

The United StatesThe United States emerged from World War I in

better shape than its allies. No battles were foughton American soil, and because of its late entry intothe conflict, America suffered far fewer casualtiesthan the other nations. Moreover, unlike the eco-nomies of many European countries, the Americaneconomy remained strong until 1929.

Cutting Foreign TiesPresident Woodrow Wilson wanted the United

States to assume a greater role in world affairs fol-lowing the war. Americans, however, were weary ofwar and of the foreign entanglements that haddragged the nation into war. They wanted to returnto a life of isolation, free from international problems.

An idealistic man, Wilson had seized on thenotion of a League of Nations as the cornerstone ofa lasting peace. But the newly elected Republicanmajorities in Congress had no wish to accommodatethe Democratic President. When Congress failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, it also rejectedAmerican membership in the League. The absenceof the United States significantly weakened the


> Terms to Definedisarmament, general strike, coalition

> People to MeetFranklin D. Roosevelt, Ramsay MacDonald,Eamon De Valera, Léon Blum

> Places to LocateWashington, D.C., Irish Free State

Franklin D. Rooseveltintroduces the New Deal.

1933 French voterselect a Socialistgovernment.

1936 The General Strikeparalyzes Great Britain.

1926

1920 1925 19351930

Throughout 1932 the lines had grown. Theyformed at banks, as investors tried to withdraw

their savings before thebank collapsed. Theyformed at factory gates andemployment offices. Menlost their jobs, lost theirhomes. They swallowedtheir pride and formedanother line—for relief. If there was none to befound, another line waited.As one eyewitness report-ed, “We saw a crowd ofsome 50 men fighting over

a barrel of garbage which had been set outside theback door of a restaurant.”

—adapted from Since Yesterday,Frederick Lewis Allen, 1939

S e c t i o n 2

The WesternDemocracies

SThetoryteller

Depression-era foodline

Read to Find Out Main Idea Democratic government wasable to survive in the United States, GreatBritain, and France during the post-WorldWar I era.

Describe the factors that createdthe Dust Bowl. What did many DustBowl farmers do in the 1930s? How hasthe region developed since that time?

League’s effectiveness as a strong internationalpeacekeeping organization.

Meanwhile, many Americans feared the effectsof communism on the United States. In 1919 and1920 this “red scare” led to the expulsion of suspect-ed foreign-born radicals. Some native-born Americans also opposed immigration from southernand eastern Europe. In response, Congress enactedlimits to immigration from Europe. Earlier lawshad already excluded or limited Asian immigration.

From Boom to DepressionUnlike Europe, the United States emerged from

the war with a dynamic industrial economy. It wasnow a nation lending, instead of borrowing, money.American industries produced a major share of theworld’s manufactured goods, and many industrialworkers earned higher wages. As a result of thisprosperity, more Americans were willing to takerisks. Some bought expensive goods on credit.Others entered the stock market, buying stocks onmargin, that is, they paid only part of the cost andborrowed the rest from brokers.

Despite the soaring “bull market,” the econo-my had underlying weaknesses. Most farmersfaced hardships because of falling farm prices.Also, in certain industries, workers did not see theirwages rise as fast as the production of goods. As aresult, many people held back from buying goodsthat factories were rapidly turning out. This combi-nation of slow demand and overproduction pavedthe way for an economic crisis.

In late October 1929, concern about the econo-my led brokers to call in loans. When investorswere unable to pay, a financial panic began. Stockprices tumbled, wiping out the fortunes of manyinvestors. This stock market crash sparked theGreat Depression of the 1930s. In the three yearsafter the crash, prices fell and many businesses andbanks closed. Sales dropped off, forcing a produc-tion slump. Salaries and wages also fell, and manyworkers lost their jobs. By 1933 more than 13 mil-lion American workers were unemployed—nearlyone-fourth of the nation’s workforce.

Many Americans believed that direct relief forthe needy was the responsibility of the individual,the family, and the local community. Government-funded relief, they held, would destroy Americanself-reliance and lead to socialism. However, inthese desperate times, not everyone agreed.


The Dust BowlAmerican farmers in the 1930s suffered

greatly from the Great Depression, but theirhardships also came from a devastatingdrought that afflicted the central United

States from 1933 to 1937. As theGreat Plains became powder-dry,winds lifted vital topsoil in cloudsof dust that turned day into night.Dust storms had swept over thearea before, but never on such alarge and destructive scale.

The roots of this disaster laywell in the past. Ranchers’ cattleovergrazed an area that experi-

enced scant rainfall. The ranchers were fol-lowed by farmers, who planted wheat.These early settlers plowed land that shouldnever have been cultivated, and they farmed

it badly. They did not use contour plowingto check erosion, rotate their crops, or planttrees as windbreaks to hold the soil.

Ruined by drought, about 200,000 farmfamilies headed West, especially to California.They found little relief in their new home—only low-paying jobs and the resentments oflocal residents opposed to their coming. Ittook many years of normal rainfall andimproved farming methods to transform theGreat Plains into productive land again. Inaddition to agriculture, the region todayprospers from petroleum and coal mining.

Dust Bowl scene

CON

NECTIONS

CO

NNECTIONS

The New DealIn 1932 voters elected Franklin D. Roosevelt

President, who had campaigned on the promise of“a new deal” for the American people. He wantedthe federal government to aid the stricken economyand provide relief for the unemployed.

Roosevelt sent a number of bills to Congressthat quickly became laws. These measures regulat-ed the banks and stock market and established pro-duction guidelines for industry and agriculture. Toput people back to work, the government estab-lished public works projects to build roads, dams,bridges, homes, and parks. Later New Deal legisla-tion provided for social security and unemploy-ment insurance. Roosevelt’s New Deal policies didmuch to restore the nation’s confidence.

Foreign AffairsThe American government was concerned with

more than just domestic affairs during the 1920sand 1930s. Despite its rejection of the League ofNations and binding alliances, the United Statesdid take steps to prevent a future world war. In1922 in Washington, D.C., it hosted an internation-al conference on disarmament, the reduction ofmilitary weapons. There the United States signed atreaty with Japan and Great Britain limiting thenumber of naval warships each could stockpile.The leading powers at the conference also agreed toseek peaceful solutions to disagreements.

In 1928 the United States and France signed theKellogg-Briand Pact, which denounced war as ameans of settling disputes. Eventually, nearly all thenations of the world signed this agreement.Unfortunately, it was nothing more than a statementof intentions and had no powers of enforcement.

Great BritainAlthough World War I increased the United

States’s economic and political influence, it costGreat Britain its position as a leading economic


During the 1920s and 1930s, economic downturns led to laborunrest in many western democracies, especially Great Britain.

What was Great Britain’s economic standing after World War I?

HistoryVisualizing

Student Web Activity 18

Visit the World History: The Modern Era Web site at worldhistory.me.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 18—Student Web Activities for an activity relating to the New Deal.

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/worldhistory/whme2001/chapter18/webact.html

power in the world. Before the war British bankslent money to nations all over the globe. But the warwas costly, and Great Britain was forced to borrowheavily from the United States. As a result, GreatBritain became a debtor instead of a creditor nation.

The war also cost Great Britain its privilegedposition in world trade. American and Japanesecompanies captured many British overseas marketsduring the war. In addition, Great Britain’s factorieswere old and the equipment outdated. Countrieslike the United States and Japan, which had indus-trialized later, had newer factories and more modernequipment. Consequently, they could producegoods at a lower cost. Many factories in Great Britainclosed or cut back production after the war. By 1921more than 2 million workers had lost their jobs.

The General StrikeGreat Britain’s economic woes reached a crisis

point in 1926. Coal miners were engaged in a bitterstrike for higher wages that year. For months thecoal companies had refused to give in to theirdemands. In an effort to end the stalemate, the coalminers convinced many other trade union workersto join in a general strike, a strike involving all or alarge number of a nation’s workers. On May 4 alltransport workers, dockers, public utility employ-ees, and workers in the building trades and heavyindustry walked off their jobs. The governmentdeclared a state of emergency and called out thetroops to run essential services.

In the end, the General Strike was a failure. ByDecember 1926 the coal strike had also collapsed. In1927 Parliament passed the Trade Disputes Act,which made general strikes illegal.

Rise of the Labour PartyDespite the failure of the General Strike, British

workers gained political strength during the 1920s.The Labour party became the second leading partyin the country after the Conservatives. In 1924 andagain in 1929, Labour governments were elected tooffice. Each time, King George V named ScottishLabour leader Ramsay MacDonald prime minister.Because the Labour party supported Socialist poli-cies, its rise to power alarmed the Conservativesand their wealthy supporters. However, once inpower, MacDonald and other Labour leaders tem-pered many of their radical demands.

The Dominions and IrelandDuring the 1920s and 1930s, Great Britain held

on to most of its empire. However, dominions, suchas Canada and Australia, became independentstates. In 1931 Parliament passed the Statute of

Westminister, establishing the Commonwealth ofNations, a voluntary association linking GreatBritain and its former colonies on an equal basis.

One of Great Britain’s major problems was itsrelationship with Ireland. Unwilling to wait forhome rule, militant Irish nationalists on Easter 1916 had revolted against the British. The brutalcrushing of the Easter Uprising by British forcesincreased Irish support for full independence. In1921 moderate leaders in Ireland and Great Britainsigned a compromise. The Catholic southern part ofIreland became a dominion known as the Irish FreeState. The largely Protestant north remained joinedto Great Britain as Northern Ireland.

Wanting full independence for all of Ireland,Irish radicals, led by Eamon De Valera, revoltedagainst the Irish Free State. The Irish governmentsuppressed this uprising, but Irish elections in 1932brought De Valera to power. Five years later, thecountry’s name was changed to Eire, and a presi-dent replaced the British monarch as head of state.

FranceWorld War I had an even more devastating

effect on France than on Great Britain. In the fouryears of fighting, the combatants had destroyedthousands of square miles of farmland and forestsand reduced villages and cities to rubble. Frenchcasualties were enormous. Half of the malesbetween the ages of 18 and 32 had been killed.


Irish nationalist leader MichaelCollins, speaking here to crowds in the

Irish capital of Dublin, negotiated a 1921 treaty withthe British. What changes did the treaty bring to Ireland?

HistoryVisualizing

Troubled YearsLike Great Britain, France faced severe eco-

nomic problems after the war. High unemploymentand soaring inflation caused terrible hardships. TheFrench government was nearly bankrupt, and itswar debts were staggering. As a result of thesefinancial problems, France’s factories, railways, andcanals could not be quickly rebuilt.

The political picture was as bleak as the eco-nomic one. Many political parties competed forvotes. Since each party received seats in the nation-al legislature according to its percentage of the vote,no party ever won a majority of seats. In order toform a government, several parties had to bandtogether into a coalition, or alliance of factions, butthe coalition governments often fell apart quickly.

Extremist groups on both the left and the rightalso threatened the political stability of the nation.

Communists and Socialists struggled for poweragainst Fascists, extreme nationalists favoring astrong government, and outbreaks of violence werecommon.

The Popular FrontIn 1934 the political crisis reached a head.

Fascist groups rioted in Paris, killing several peo-ple. Fearing a Fascist takeover, the Communistsappealed to leaders of the Socialist party for “abroad Popular Front to combat fascism and forwork, liberty, and peace.”

The new coalition won enough votes in a 1936election to form a government. Léon Blum, theSocialist leader, became prime minister. ThePopular Front was in power for about a year, but inthat short time it passed many new laws that bene-fited workers and farmers.

Foreign PolicyExhausted and drained by World War I, France

wanted, above all else, to prevent another war.Consequently, the French government supportedthe League of Nations in the postwar years andworked to create a series of alliances to containGermany. But it also sought friendly ties withGermany’s new democratic Weimar Republic. In1925 France signed the Locarno Treaties withGermany, Italy, Belgium, and Great Britain thatappeared to ensure a lasting peace.

As added insurance against a future Germaninvasion, France built a series of fortifications thatwere 200 miles (320 km) long called the Maginot(MA•zhuh•NOH) Line. This stretch of concretebunkers and trenches extended along France’s bor-der with Germany. French military leaders boastedthat the Maginot Line could never be crossed. Whatthey failed to consider was that past German inva-sions had come through Belgium, whose borderwith France remained virtually undefended.


Main Idea1. Use a diagram like the one

below to give reasons whydemocratic government survived in the U.S., GreatBritain, and France during the post-World War I era.

Recall2. Define disarmament, general

strike, coalition.3. Identify Franklin D. Roosevelt,

Ramsay MacDonald,Commonwealth of Nations,Eamon De Valera, Léon Blum.

Critical Thinking4. Evaluating Information

How did British workers

expect a general strike toimprove working conditions inthe coal mines?

Understanding Themes5. Change How did President

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s NewDeal policies change the rolethe federal government playedin American society after1933?

Jordan

Jordan Gains Jordan Gains IndependenceIndependence

Jordan, 1921After World War I, lands east and west of the Jordan River were administered by Great Britain. In 1921 the territory east of the Jordan gainedpartial self-government. This land—then called Transjordan—won full independence in 1946 as a monarchy under King Abdullah. The country was renamed Jordan after it annexed the West Bank of the Jordan River following the 1948–1949 Arab-Israeli war.

AROUND THE


U.S. Great Britain France


After World War I, political, economic,and social strife engulfed manyWestern nations. Long-established

democracies remained strong in the United Statesand Great Britain, but in Italy, Germany, and Russia, a new form of dictatorship known astotalitarianism emerged. Totalitarian governmentsaimed at total control over every aspect of citizens’lives. Under totalitarianism, the individual wasviewed as a servant of the state and was allowedfew personal freedoms. Books, radio, films, the arts,and the schools were used to promote the govern-ment’s political philosophy.

Totalitarianism grew out of World War I. Tofight a total war, democratic and autocratic govern-ments alike had temporarily assumed sweepingpowers. After the war, totalitarian dictatorshipsextended such powers further, using their vastauthority to remodel entire societies and conquerother lands. In seeking these goals, totalitarian gov-ernments came into conflict with each other andwith the Western democracies. Their actions set thestage for the beginning of another world war.

Rise of Fascism in ItalyAfter World War I, a general mood of dissatisfac-

tion gripped the people of Italy. Italian nationalistswere outraged that the Paris peace treaties had notgiven Italy huge portions of territory from theCentral Powers. Returning veterans found no work,workers went on strike or took over factories, andpeasants seized land. Reeling from an economicdownturn, the government was unable to relieve themounting discontent.

These chaotic conditions favored the rise ofBenito Mussolini (MOO•suh•LEE•nee). Born in1883, Mussolini came from a working-class family.As a young journalist, he was active in Socialist pol-itics; but during the war, he switched loyalties andbecame an ardent nationalist.

Italy‘s Benito Mussolini assumes dictatorial powers.

1924 NurembergLaws in Germanydeprive Jews of rights.

1935 Adolf Hitlerbecomes chancellorof Germany.

1933

1920 1925 19351930

> Terms to Definetotalitarianism, fascism, corporate state, syndicate, Kristallnacht, concentrationcamp

> People to MeetBenito Mussolini, Adolf Hitler

> Places to LocateWeimar

Alice Hamilton was dismayed. Twenty-fiveyears earlier, she had spent a year in Frankfurt asa student. She now returned to visit the city only

to find the lovely Römer Platzdraped with Nazi flags. The city’schildren and young people also hadchanged. Formerly they playedgames; now they marched in regularranks. Where tuneful songs hadbeen sung in public houses, militantmusic blared forth. Mrs. Hamiltonunderstood why this transformationhad taken place. Hitler was inspir-ing Germany’s impoverished, hope-less youth to believe they were theelect of the earth.

—adapted from “The Youth WhoAre Hitler’s Strength,” New YorkTimes Magazine, October 8, 1933.Alice Hamilton. Reprinted in Sourcesof the Western Tradition, MarvinPerry, 1991

S e c t i o n 3

Fascist Dictatorships

SThetoryteller

Nazi poster

Read to Find Out Main Idea Fascist dictatorships arose inItaly and Germany.

Mussolini formed a new political party in 1919called the Fasci di Combattimento, or Fascist party.Fascism (FA•SHIH•zuhm) is a political philosophythat advocates the glorification of the state, a single-party system with a strong ruler, and an aggressiveform of nationalism. Like communism, fascismgave the state absolute authority. But fascismdefended private property, although with somegovernment regulation, and the class structure.According to its principles, the nation’s cause wasto be advanced at all cost even by war.

Mussolini’s Road to PowerConditions in Italy continued to deteriorate in

the months following the war. The value of the lira

declined steadily, the price of bread rose, and ashortage of coal hampered industrial production.To express their dissatisfaction, workers staged aseries of strikes that paralyzed the country. InSeptember 1920, workers in Lombardy andPiedmont took over the factories. Mussolini showedhis support for the strikers in a speech at Trieste:

I demand that the factories increase theirproduction. If this is guaranteed to me bythe workers in place of the industrialists,I shall declare without hesitation that theformer have the right to substitute them-selves … [for] the latter.

The unrest spread to rural Italy. Peasants seizedland from wealthy landowners, and tenant farmersrefused to pay their rents. The situation was sochaotic that the middle and upper classes feared aCommunist revolution. Ever the politician,Mussolini offered “a little something to everyone.”To appease the landowners, he vowed to end theunrest and protect private property. To woo theworkers, he promised full employment and work-ers’ benefits. He pleased nationalists by pledging torestore Italy to its former greatness.

By 1922 the Fascists were ready to use force ina bid for power. The Blackshirts, as Mussolini’s fol-lowers were called, did not rely on verbal assaultsalone to achieve their goals. They physicallyattacked political opponents in the streets anddrove elected officials from office.

Believing that fascism was a useful way of con-trolling the Socialists and workers, the democraticgovernment did nothing to stop the Blackshirts. As aresult, Mussolini grew even bolder. In October 1922the Fascists staged a march on Rome. Mussolini wait-ed in Milan to see how the government would react.Believing that the Fascists were planning to seizepower, the cabinet asked King Victor Emmanuel IIIto declare martial law. The king refused, and the cab-inet resigned. Instead of calling for new elections,the monarch named Mussolini prime minister.

Mussolini’s DictatorshipMussolini quickly put an end to democratic rule

in Italy. In a 1924 election, Blackshirts used their nowfamiliar brutal tactics to make sure that Italians votedfor Fascist candidates. As a result, Fascists won amajority of seats in the Italian parliament. The Fascist-controlled parliament gave Mussolini sweeping newpowers. After this election Mussolini began callinghimself Il Duce (eel DOO•chay), “The Leader.”


Italian dictator Benito Mussolinisalutes soldiers at a military parade.

He dreamed of making Italy a great nation and reviv-ing the Roman Empire. How did Mussolini come to powerin Italy?

HistoryVisualizing

To consolidate his power, Mussolini reorga-nized the Italian government and established a corporate state. Under the corporate state, Mus-solini hoped to bring workers and employerstogether and consequently to end the politicalquarreling that he associated with a democratic,multiparty system. To this end, he banned non-Fascist parties and ordered that syndicates, or cor-porations of workers and employers, be formed ineach industry. Each syndicate sent representativesto a legislature in Rome that set policies on wages,production, and distribution. In theory, the corpo-rate state was a new form of democracy; in practice,it was a political tool expressly designed forstrengthening Mussolini’s power.

Many Italians bitterly opposed fascism. Theymourned the loss of democracy and individual free-doms. The Fascists arrested, assaulted, and murderedany who dared speak out against the abuses. “Themasses must obey,” thundered Mussolini. “They can-not afford to waste time searching for truth.”

A majority of Italians, however, supportedMussolini. They believed he had done Italy a greatservice by preventing a Communist revolution andhad brought order to the nation. After all, they said,he “made the trains run on time.”

By building up Italy’s armed forces, Mussolinidid solve the unemployment problem. Even moreimportant, he rekindled the feelings of patriotismand nationalism that had lain dormant in the Italianpeople. He made it clear to Italians that it was intheir destiny to recapture all the greatness that hadmade the glory of ancient Rome. He would use allthe economic and human resources available tomake Italy a great power again.

The Weimar RepublicWhile Mussolini was establishing fascism in

Italy, the Allies were preoccupied with ensuringthat Germany would never again threaten peace.As a result, the Treaty of Versailles limited the sizeof Germany’s armed forces and required theGermans to form a democratic government. Whilemany Germans believed that democracy hadbecome inevitable after the breakdown of themonarchy, few really believed in it.

In early 1919 Germans went to the polls andelected delegates to a national assembly. Meeting inWeimar, the assembly drafted a constitution forGermany establishing a democratic republic. Therepublic, which lasted from 1919 to 1933, was calledthe Weimar Republic.

Soon after the Weimar Republic became a reality, political instability and violence threat-ened to overwhelm it. In 1920 nationalist army officers tried to overthrow the government in acoup d’état. Like many other Germans, theyclaimed that Weimar leaders had betrayed thenation by accepting the Treaty of Versailles.Although the revolt was suppressed, the govern-ment failed to overcome widespread opposition toits policies.

ReparationsMore than just political problems threatened

Germany. Great Britain and France promised theircitizens that the German government would payreparations for the full cost of the war. The Allies setthis cost at $35 billion. Already beset by serious eco-nomic problems, the German government in 1922


The blockade ofGermany in World War I

and postwar reparations on Germanybrought hardships to many German citizens. These women in Berlin aresearching in a garbage pile for food.What form of government did Germany havebetween 1919 and 1933?

HistoryVisualizing

announced that it could not under present circum-stances meet its obligations.

France, however, insisted that Germany pay itsdebt. To ensure this result, French troops marchedinto Germany’s industrial Ruhr Valley in 1923 andtook control of the coal mines and steel mills.Angered at the French invasion, German workerswent on strike while their government paid them.With income from Ruhr industries going to France,Germany had lost an important asset.

InflationTo meet expenses, the German government

printed more and more paper money. As a result,inflation soared. Before the war, 4 marks equaled 1American dollar. By late 1923, it took 4 trillionmarks to equal 1 dollar. Inflation wiped out the sav-ings of many middle-class Germans.

In the mid-1920s, Germany finally saw somerelief ahead from its troubles. The French reached acompromise with the Germans that eased pay-ments, and they left the Ruhr. Freed of debt and

strengthened by American loans, Germany entereda five-year period of relative prosperity. But theseeds of discontent had already been sown.

Rise of NazismAmong the political parties challenging the

Weimar Republic was the National Socialist Work-ers’ party, or Nazi party. One of its first recruits wasWorld War I veteran Adolf Hitler. Born in Austriain 1889, Hitler failed in his efforts to become a suc-cessful artist. After the war, he settled in Munichand joined the Nazi party.

Hitler soon formed the Brownshirts, a privatearmy of young veterans and street thugs. Duringthe inflationary crisis of 1923, Hitler made anattempt to seize power. With armed Brownshirtsoutside, Hitler jumped on a table in a Munich beerhall and announced, “The revolution has begun!”

of theof the

Life in Nazi GermanyDuring the 1930s, Hitler’s National Socialist

party ruled Germany with an iron hand. ManyGermans accepted the Nazi dictatorship, believingthat it would solve the country’s problems. OtherGermans, however, suffered underHitler’s rule.

Adolf Hitler at a Nazi rallyaccepts flowers from a Germanchild. German children weretaught in schools to honor Hitleras Germany’s savior.

560

German young people joined Nazi youthgroups where they participated in paradesand athletics and learned Nazi ideas.

When the police intervened and arrested Hitler,however, the revolt quickly collapsed.

While in prison, Hitler wrote his autobiogra-phy, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In Hitler’s view, theGermans were not responsible for losing the war.He blamed the Jews and the Communists for theGerman defeat. He also declared that the Germanswere a “master race” whose destiny was to rule theworld. Hitler saw himself as the leader who wouldunite all German-speaking people into a newempire that would dominate other groups.

After his release from prison, Hitler resumedhis activities. When the Great Depression struck in1929, he appealed to German workers and industri-alists alike with his promise to end unemploymentand restore Germany’s military might. In the early1930s, the Nazis won a large number of seats in themultiparty Reichstag, or legislative lower house.With the government paralyzed by divisions, con-servative politicians decided to back Hitler and usehim for their own ends. In 1933 Hitler became chan-cellor. Through entirely legal means, the Nazis hadcome to power.

Hitler in PowerHitler’s goal all along was the creation of a

totalitarian state. Because the Nazis were still aminority in the Reichstag, however, he planned tohold a new election. But a week before it was to beheld, the Reichstag building mysteriously caughtfire and burned to the ground. Hoping to reduceCommunist support among the workers, Hitlerblamed the Communists for the fire. In the election,the Brownshirts forced German voters to back theNazis. When the Nazi-dominated Reichstag metafter the election, it voted Hitler emergency powersto deal with the “Communist threat.”

Hitler used his new powers to crush his oppo-nents and consolidate his rule. All political parties,except the Nazi party were banned, and constitu-tional guarantees of freedom of speech, assembly,press and religion were ended. The Nazi govern-ment took over the labor unions and regulated pro-duction and wages. It also tried to control theChristian churches and silence clergy who opposedNazi policies.

REFLECTING ON THE TIMES

1. How were Germany’s young people influencedby the Nazis?

2. How did Nazi rule affect Germany’s Jews?

561

The Jews of Germany were persecuted by theNazis. Nazi groups often terrorized Jewish peo-ple and vandalized Jewish-owned businesses.

Attacks on the JewsHitler directed his most bitter attacks against

the Jews. In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws strippedJews of their citizenship and their right to hold public office. The laws barred Jewish students fromschools and destroyed Jewish businesses. In theKristallnacht of November 9 and 10, 1938, Nazisattacked Jews on the streets and vandalized Jewishproperty. Hitler ’s secret police, the Gestapo,arrested Jews and political opponents by the thousands. Many were shot. Others were sent toconcentration camps, large prison camps wherepeople were confined under harsh conditions.

Hitler was suspicious of even his closest sup-porters. He particularly feared radical membersamong the Brownshirts and set out to weaken theirranks. On June 30, 1934, the “Night of LongKnives,” Hitler had hundreds of Brownshirts andtheir leaders shot.

The Third ReichAssured of absolute power, Hitler took the title

of der Führer (duhr FYUR•uhr), “the Leader.” Hecalled his government the Third Reich (RYK), orThird Empire, and boasted it would last 1,000



below to list factors that led tothe rise of dictatorship in Italy.

Recall2. Define totalitarianism, fascism,

corporate state, syndicate,Kristallnacht, concentration camp.

3. Identify Benito Mussolini,Weimar, Adolf Hitler.

Critical Thinking4. Analyzing Information Why

did fascism appeal to many Ital-ians and Germans in thedecade following World War I?

Understanding Themes5. Uniformity Analyze the Nazi

government. What were its goals?

After becom-ing dictator of

Germany in 1933, Adolf Hitleroften held large rallies toinspire the loyalty of Germans.Hitler also adopted the sloganEin Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer(One People, One Empire, OneLeader). What ambitions did AdolfHitler have for Germany?

HistoryVisualizing

years. To reach this end, he set about restoringGermany’s military might. He ignored the provi-sions of the Versailles Treaty, which limited the sizeof the German army, and ordered German factoriesto begin turning out guns, ammunition, airplanes,tanks, and other weapons. He made no secret of hisambitions to expand Germany’s territory: “Today,Germany; tomorrow, the world!”

Hitler also brought all intellectual and artisticactivity in Germany under his control and imposedhis own ideas on the arts. To glorify Nazism, hemade plans to rebuild Berlin in the style of monu-mental classical architecture. He discouraged theartistic experimentation that had flourished duringthe 1920s. As a result, many of Germany’s most tal-ented artists and scientists—such as WalterGropius, Arnold Schoenberg, Sigmund Freud, andAlbert Einstein—fled the country.

Hitler actively used the media to floodGermany with propaganda praising the Nazicause. The government stressed the importance of astrong military and devotion to the nation and itsleader. Hitler also set up organizations for youngpeople between the ages of 6 and 18 to moldGerman youth to accept Nazi ideas.

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Rise of Dictatorship


Do you enjoy reading the comics section in the newspaper? Most people do.Cartoons also appear on the editorial

page. These give opinions on political issues.Political cartoons are good historical sourcesbecause they reflect opinions on current affairs.

Learning the SkillUsing caricature and symbols, political

cartoonists help readers see relationships anddraw conclusions about events. A caricatureexaggerates a detail such as a subject’s features.Cartoonists use caricature to create a positive ornegative impression. For example, if a cartoonshows one figure three times larger than anoth-er, it implies that one figure is more powerfulthan the other.

A symbol is an image or object that repre-sents something else. For example, a cartoonistmay use a crown to represent monarchy. Symbolsoften represent nations or political parties. UncleSam is a common symbol for the United States.

To analyze a political cartoon, first identifythe topic and principal characters. Read labelsand messages. Note relationships between thefigures and symbols. Reviewyour knowledge of the cartoon’stopic to determine the cartoon-ist’s viewpoint and message.

Practicing the SkillThe political cartoon on this

page, published in 1938, makes astatement about the dictatorshipsthat developed in Europe afterWorld War I and the reaction ofthe Western democracies towardthem. Study the cartoon and thenanswer these questions.1. What do the figures represent?

2. Why is the standing figure so large?3. What is the standing figure holding and

what is it attached to?4. What is the message of the cartoon?

Applying the SkillChoose a current issue on which you hold a

strong opinion. Draw a political cartoon express-ing your opinion on this issue. Show it to a friendto find out if the message is clear. If not, revisethe cartoon to clarify its point.

For More PracticeTurn to the Skill Practice in the Chapter

Assessment on page 569 for more practice in ana-lyzing a political cartoon.

Analyzing Political Cartoons

Critical ThinkingCritical Thinking

The Glencoe SkillbuilderInteractive Workbook, Level 2provides instruction and practice in key social studies skills.

By 1921 Russia had endured the horrorsof world war, revolution, and civilwar. In the course of seven years of

conflict, 27 million people had perished. Most haddied on the battlefields and in countless guerrillaengagements, but millions had died of disease andstarvation as well. In addition, the nation’s trans-port system was in ruins, the peasants were in openrevolt, and the economy was plunging toward col-lapse. At the Tenth Party Congress, Red Armydirector Leon Trotsky proclaimed: “We havedestroyed the country in order to defeat theWhites.”

Lenin in PowerIn their struggle for survival during the civil

war, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (ool•YAH•nuhf), alsoknown as Lenin, and the Bolsheviks had introducedan economic policy called war communism in 1918.Under war communism, the government carried outa policy of nationalization, in which it broughtunder state control all major industries. Applyingthe principle that those who would eat must work,the government required everyone between the agesof 16 and 50 to hold a job. It also erected a hugebureaucratic administration that wielded tremen-dous power but was extremely inefficient.

In 1921 Lenin tried to bring order out of thechaos that both war and government policy hadcaused. He announced a plan called the NewEconomic Policy, or NEP. Major industries such assteel, railroads, and large-scale manufacturingremained under government control. But in anattempt to stimulate the economy, Lenin allowedsome private businesses to operate. In a startlingdeparture from Marxist theory, NEP permitted smallmanufacturers and farmers to own their own busi-nesses and to sell what they produced for a profit.

In 1922 the Communists changed the officialname of the country from Russia to the Union of


> Terms to Definenationalization, dictatorship of the proletariat, collectivization, kulak, purge,Socialist realism

> People to MeetVladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin), LeonTrotsky, Joseph Stalin, Maksim Gorky

> Places to LocateGeorgia, Ukraine

Lenin announcesNew Economic Policy.

1921 “Terror famine“ sweeps Ukraine.

1932 Stalin promotescollective farms.

1928

1920 19401930

It was 35 degrees below zero when the teamset out for work at Magnitogorsk. They wouldweld fittings to the blast furnaces 100 feet off the

ground. It was hazardouswork, for ice coated everysurface. Three hours intothe day a rigger fell off thescaffolding. Badly injured,he was carried to the first-aid station. His shakencompanions talked of theneed to improve the scaf-folding. The foreman, how-ever, blamed the workers.“You ploughboys don’tknow how to be careful. Youdon’t pay as much attention

as you should. People will fall, but we are buildingblast furnaces all the same, aren’t we?”

—adapted from Behind the Urals: AnAmerican Worker in Russia’s City ofSteel, John Scott, reprinted in TheGlobal Experience, Volume 2, 1987

S e c t i o n 4

The Soviet Union

SThetoryteller

Soviet construction project, 1930s

Read to Find Out Main Idea Joseph Stalin’s rule trans-formed the Soviet Union.

Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), or the SovietUnion. During this time, Lenin and otherCommunist leaders also completed a new constitu-tion. This constitution stated that the USSR was aSocialist state, meaning that the government con-trolled the means of production.

In theory this state, called the dictatorship ofthe proletariat, was controlled by workers. But inpractice the leadership of the Communist partycontrolled the workers. It was, as GermanCommunist party member Rosa Luxemburgobserved: “… a dictatorship, to be sure, not the dic-tatorship of the proletariat, however, but only thedictatorship of a handful of politicians.” The class-less society envisioned by Marx was, in the SovietUnion, a pyramid, with the party boss at the topand the peasants at the bottom.

The non-Russian nationalities in the USSR didnot fare much better than the peasants. BecauseLenin did not want to break up the old RussianEmpire into independent states, he gave each majornationality its own republic with its own bureau-cracy. In reality, however, the central government inMoscow still made the important decisions forthese republics. In spite of the government’s talkabout equality for all nationalities, the Russiansremained the dominant group in the Soviet Unionand largely determined its policies.

Trotsky and StalinIn 1922 Lenin suffered two strokes that left him

permanently disabled. He died two years later atthe age of 54.

The struggle to succeed Lenin began during hisfinal illness. The two main contenders for the posi-tion were Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. Next toLenin, Trotsky had been the most important personin the Communist party. He had played a key rolein the Bolshevik Revolution and had built the RedArmy into a powerful fighting force. Trotsky camefrom a middle-class background and was a scholarwho contributed many new ideas to the Marxistmovement. He was also a speaker of great powerand eloquence.

Born in Georgia, a territory south of Russia,Stalin was the son of artisans. A seminary studentin his youth, Stalin was punished for reading books about revolution and social conditions,including novels such as Les Misérables. Stalin laterrenounced Russian Orthodoxy and became aMarxist revolutionary. Unlike Trotsky, Stalin was askilled administrator. In 1922 he rose to the post ofgeneral secretary of the Communist party.

Trotsky and Stalin held fundamentally differ-ent views about the path the Soviet Union shouldfollow. Like Lenin, Trotsky believed in the theory ofa “permanent revolution.” He believed that onlywhen the Russian Revolution had touched offuprisings all over the world could Socialists buildan ideal society in the Soviet Union. Stalin, in con-trast, declared it possible and necessary to “buildsocialism in a single country.” By this he meant thatthe Soviet Union should concentrate on growingstrong first, before it tried to spread revolutionaround the world.

Trotsky was better known than Stalin, both athome and in the Comintern (CommunistInternational), an organization of Communist par-ties from all over the world. Moreover, Trotsky hadbeen closer to Lenin. Nevertheless, Stalin managedto outmaneuver Trotsky politically. As general sec-retary, Stalin had the authority to appoint andremove officials. He gradually gained control of theparty bureaucracy. As soon as he was securely inpower, Stalin exiled Trotsky to Siberia and thenexpelled him from the Soviet Union. Trotsky even-tually settled in Mexico City, where he continued towrite about communism and the Soviet Union. Anassassin acting on Stalin’s orders murdered Trotskyin 1940.


Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP)helped put the Soviet Union’s econ-

omy back on its feet in the early 1920s. In what way didNEP depart from Marxist theory?

HistoryVisualizing

Five-Year PlansFearing war with the West, Stalin wanted to

rapidly transform the Soviet Union into an indus-trial power. In 1928 he declared an end to NEPand announced the first of his Five-Year Plans, aprogram that set economic goals for a five-yearperiod. The plan brought all industrial and agricul-tural production under government control. It also provided for housing, health care, and otherservices.

While promising a better future, Stalindemanded sacrifices from the Soviet people. Thefirst Five-Year Plan concentrated on building heavyindustry. Consumer goods were produced in smallamounts and were of inferior quality.

Responsibility for administering the plan lay inthe hands of bureaucrats in Moscow. Theirs was adifficult task requiring tight control and carefulplanning. Not surprisingly, they made plenty ofmistakes. For example, one Soviet enterprise

purchased its nail supply from a nail factory manymiles away, while a nail factory across the streetwas shipping its goods a similar distance. Despitethe mistakes, the first Five-Year Plan was a successin spurring industrial growth.

Collective FarmsIn agriculture, Stalin’s plan called for

collectivization, a system of farming in which thegovernment owned the land and used peasants tofarm it. Stalin believed that collective farms wouldbe more efficient. They would not only producefood for the Soviet people but produce it for exportas well. By increasing agricultural exports, Stalinhoped to pay for Soviet industrialization withoutborrowing from the capitalist West.

Stalin also planned to use collectivization tointimidate the Soviet Union’s peasant majority,most of whom were fiercely anti-Communist.Kulaks, or the most prosperous peasants, espe-cially opposed collectivization. They had pros-pered under NEP and did not want to give uptheir land, livestock, and machinery. Fighting brokeout in the countryside when the government triedto impose its plans. Thousands of peasants andtheir families were killed or arrested and sent tolabor camps in Siberia. Stalin also took measures to crush anti-Communist resistance in Ukraine. By seizing the region’s grain during the terriblewinter of 1932, Stalin promoted a “terror famine,”causing the deaths of millions of Ukrainian peasants.

ResultsThe first Five-Year Plan transformed the Soviet

Union into an industrial power, but the human costof the plan was enormous. Industrial workersreceived low wages, or none at all, and food wasoften limited in quantity. Millions of people diedbecause of rural unrest, and collective farms wereoften unable to provide enough grain to feed thenation’s population.

Stalin’s DictatorshipStalin ruled the Soviet Union from the mid-

1920s until his death in 1953. During this period heestablished one of the most brutal dictatorships theworld has ever seen. Stalin demanded completeobedience from the people he ruled and got itthrough an effective use of terror. He granted thesecret police immense power, which they used toscrutinize every aspect of the nation’s social and


TURKEY

LATVIA

EAST PRUSSIA

HUNGARY

ROMANIA

BULGARIA

Brest-Litovsk

Minsk

Petrograd

Moscow

Kiev

Odessa Rostov

Tsaritsyn

YUGO

SLAV

IA

Lambert Conic Conformal Projection

0 150

150

300 mi.

0 300 km

N

E

S

W

60°N

50°N

50°E

20°E 30°E 40°E10°E

FINLANDSWEDEN

Ukraine

RUSSIA

ESTONIA

LITHUANIA

POLAND

CZECHO-SLOVAKIA

Russian border, 1914

Area lost at Brest-Litovsk, 1918

Area regained, 1922

Vol

gaRi

ver

Don

River

Dnieper River

Black Sea

B altic

Sea

MapMapStudyStudy

Russia gave up a vast amount of territory in the 1918 Treaty ofBrest-Litovsk.

Region Why was the land Russia regained by 1922 particularly valuable to the nation?

Russia 1914—1922

political life. Secret police agentsencouraged workers to spy on eachother and children to spy on theirparents. Those accused of disloyaltywere shot or sent to labor camps inSiberia. The secret police and theiractivities helped to create a climateof fear in Soviet society.

PurgesIn the 1930s Stalin began a

methodical attack upon his poten-tial enemies, which even membersof the Communist party did notescape. In the year 1934 an unknownassailant, probably acting on Stalin’sorders, assassinated a high partyofficial. Stalin used the event to ridhimself of opponents and strength-en his hold on the party. He hadmillions of party members expelled, arrested andput in labor camps, or shot.

Stalin then turned against the Old Bolsheviks.These officials had been associates of Lenin andStalin in the early days of the movement. Becausesome of them had sided with Trotsky, Stalin movedin 1936 to purge, or remove, them from any posi-tion where they could threaten his leadership. Hehad them arrested and put on trial. In open court inMoscow, with foreign reporters looking on, theypleaded guilty to false charges of treason, murder,and other crimes. Although these prisoners showedno signs of mistreatment, many Western expertshave since concluded that the secret police usedpsychological torture to break their wills.

The ArtsStalin also set out to put all artistic and cultural

activities under the Communist party’s control. In

1934 he put Maksim Gorky, oneof the Soviet Union’s leadingwriters, in charge of all Sovietculture. Gorky promoted a newliterary style that soon becameobligatory in the arts: Socialistrealism. Writers and artists created a “new reality” by glori-fying Soviet heroes and achieve-

ments, while denouncing the rumors about forcedlabor and terror. Artists who violated these dictatesfaced exile or imprisonment in labor camps.

Stalin’s restrictions had a chilling effect onSoviet artists. Although talented writers and artistsstruggled to survive, most official artistic workswere predictable and uninspiring.

The CominternIn 1919 Lenin had established the Communist

International, or Comintern. The goal of theComintern was to encourage Communist parties inother countries to overthrow their governments byany means and to establish Soviet-style regimes.While Stalin at first gave low priority to Cominternaffairs, he later took them more seriously. However,Stalin decided to dissolve the Comintern in 1943, towin the favor of the Western Allies during WorldWar II.



below to identify ways in whichStalin’s rule changed the SovietUnion.

Recall2. Define nationalization,

dictatorship of the proletariat,collectivization, kulak, purge,Socialist realism.

3. Identify Vladimir IlyichUlyanov (Lenin), Leon Trotsky,Joseph Stalin, Georgia, Ukraine,Maksim Gorky.

Critical Thinking4. Analyzing Information

What effects did Stalin’s policies have on the Soviet people? Are these effects stillfelt today? Explain.

Understanding Themes5. Uniformity Predict what

might have happened if Trotskyhad succeeded Lenin.

The Soviet gov-ernment used

posters to glorify Soviet achieve-ments and to urge people tocarry out the goals of theCommunist party. How did Stalinstrengthen his hold on the SovietUnion and the Communist party?

HistoryVisualizing

How Stalin’s RuleChanged Soviet

Union


Reviewing Facts1. Government Use a diagram like the one below

to show governmental actions Hitler took aftercoming to power.

2. Technology List the technological advances inthe 1920s and 1930s that impacted people.

3. Culture Identify three artists who producedchanges in literature, art, music, or architecture.Describe the contributions each made.

4. History Explain why the United States retreatedinto isolationism after World War I.

5. Culture Explain the rise of fascism in Italy.6. Culture Discuss how Hitler rose to power.7. Government Explain how Hitler and Mussolini

strengthened their political power.8. Economics Identify Lenin’s NEP.9. Government Describe how Stalin defeated

Trotsky.

Critical Thinking1. Apply Why was World War I a watershed event

in the twentieth century?2. Apply How did Einstein’s theories affect

twentieth-century science and culture? 3. Analyze Compare totalitarianism and de-

mocracy. Why did totalitarian governments rise to power after World War I?

4. Analyze How does the term “Night of Terror”describe Kristallnacht?

Using Key TermsWrite the key term that completes each sentence. Then write a sentence for each term not chosen.

a. cubism g. concentration campsb. coalition h. disarmamentc. surrealism i. corporate stated. fascism j. nationalizatione. purge k. Kristallnachtf. kulaks l. general strike

1. Under the _________, Mussolini hoped to bringworkers and employers together.

2. Because there were numerous political parties,the formation of a government in Francerequired a _____________ of several parties.

3. _________ is a political philosophy that glorifiesthe state, supports a single-party system under astrong leader, and promotes an aggressive formof nationalism.

4. In the ___________, members of the Nazi partyattacked Jews on the streets and vandalizedJewish businesses, homes, and synagogues.

5. The art form of ___________ used dreamlikeimages and unnatural combinations of objects.


CHAPTER 18 ASSESSMENT

Use your notes from the interview ofa person who lived through the periodbetween the wars. Write an account ofhow events affected ordinary people’slives.

Using Your History JournalSelf-Check Quiz

Visit the World History: The Modern EraWeb site at worldhistory.me.glencoe.com and click on Chapter 18—Self-Check Quiz to prepare for the Chapter Test.

Developing a MultimediaPresentation Search theInternet or your local libraryfor sources on World War I. Based on yourresearch, create a multimedia presentation aboutthe economic effects of World War I on Westerncountries. Use images from the Internet in yourpresentation. Include a plan describing the typeof presentation you would like to develop andthe steps you will take to ensure a successfulpresentation.

Technology Activity

Hitler’sActions

http://www.glencoe.com/sec/socialstudies/worldhistory/whme2001/quiz.shtml?BOOK=005&CHAPTER=18&TITLE=Between+Two+Fires

5. Synthesize To aid Germany’s economic recov-ery after World War I, how might the Allieshave structured the peace settlements?

6. Compare How does fascism differ from com-munism? How do both differ from capitalism?

7. Analyze Salvador Dali was influenced bySigmund Freud. How is Freud’s influence evi-dent in The Persistence of Memory (1931)?

Understanding Themes1. Innovation How did new movements in litera-

ture and the arts reflect changes after World War I?

2. Change How was Roosevelt’s New Deal similarto Stalin’s Five-Year Plan? How was it different?

3. Uniformity Why did the Nazis try to controllabor unions and the Christian churches? Whydid they mistreat Germany’s Jewish population?

4. Uniformity How did Lenin try to unify all non-Russian republics under one government?

Skill PracticeStudy the cartoon and answer the questions.

1. Who is the figure in the cartoon?2. What country does the flag represent?3. What is the message of the cartoon?

Geography in History1. Place In which countries did Fascist govern-

ments come to power during the 1930s?2. Region In what region of Europe were 10 of the

11 democracies in the 1930s?


CHAPTER 18 ASSESSMENT

NORWAY

SWEDEN ESTONIA

LATVIALITHUANIA

GERMANY

FRANCE

DENMARK

SPAIN

POLAND

ROMANIAHUNGARY

ALBANIA

AUSTRIA

CZECHO-SLOVAKIA

BULGARIA

GREATBRITAIN

FINLAND

IRELAND

ITALY

SWITZER-LAND

NETHER-LANDS

BELGIUM

LUXEMBOURG

GREECEPOR

TU

GAL

YUGOSLAVIA

Democratic

Fascist

Conservative, repressive

N

E

S

W

Lambert Conic Conformal Projection

0 200

200

400 mi.

0 400 km

NorthSea

ATLANTICOCEAN

Mediterranean Sea

Politics of Europe 1930s

The Persistence of Memory, Salvador Dali.Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

During the 1920s and 1930s the automobile,motion pictures, and the radio transformedthe way Americans lived. What technologi-cal advances shape our lives today? Are theynegative or positive? Explain.

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