Global Challenges in the 1920’s

Interwar period: 1920’s- 1930’s: Highlights

• Treaty of Versailles and impacts

• Rise of Nationalism in Europe

• Ending imperialism

• US and Japanese expansion

• Revolutions: Mexico, Russia, and China

Fascism Grows in Italy

• Former soldier and Socialist, Benito Mussolini, promotes the formation of the fascist party

• Fascists advocated a corporate state that could replace both capitalism and socialism with a new national identity

• They believed a strong state should fall into the hands of one strong leader with a few trusted advisors

Postwar Conditions Transform Italy

• Nationalists resented the fact that Italy gained nothing from WWI

• Veterans felt abandoned by both the leadership and the civilian society

• Peasants and labor become more active in demanding change

• 1922: In response to civil unrest the Italian king calls on Mussolini to form a new fascist government

• Political and social power became immediately consolidated and many marveled at Italy’s efficiency even though his regime was often oppressive

US Becomes the New Global power• US entered WWI late due to a tradition of

isolationist policies when dealing with foreign wars• Post WWI condition position the US to become the

economic global leader– Europe was devastated; heavily indebted and European

agricultural base gone• Socialism, Communism, and Imperialism become

the new enemies following WWI due to the rise of various nationalist/militaristic leaders in the World

• 1920’s America: Sees boost in economics, new technologies, cultural shifts, and exportation of culture around the World.– Jazz, art, sports, literature, sports, Hollywood, and

western consumerism spread worldwide

Japan: Isolation to Imperialism• Following the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 Japan

quickly became a World industrial power replacing the traditional feudal system of governance

• 1905-1918: Japan experienced a major industrial boom due to the Zaibatsu that spurred rapid industrialization

• Advancements in agriculture, shipbuilding, silk industry, electricity, iron, coal, etc.

• This created a high standard of living in Japan who were also becoming further involved in Western consumerism

• However… With new advancements, a strong economy, and a new military the Japanese continued to seek imperialist ambitions while the rest of the Western world was ending theirs

Limits to Expansion: Japanese Militarism

• Japanese military leaders began taking more direct control of government policies

• This was in response to the rapid decline in military prestige under a political regime that drastically cut military budgets

• Eventually nationalist/militaristic leaders become prominent figures in Japanese politics and begin steering Japan toward a new imperialist period focused mainly in China and surrounding regions– Remember Yellow Peril?..

Revolutions: Mexico

• 1876-1910 Porifirio Diaz held power and moved Mexico into tremendous economic changes, but at considerable expense

• Much of the wealth went into the hands of the few Mexican elite

• Foreigners controlled most economic sectors of Mexican society

• The political system was corrupt and often took violent repressive measures to keep oppositional voices silent

Mexico cont….

• However… In 1910 an aging Diaz meets strong opposition in Francisco Madero who felt more moderate political reforms aimed toward the Mexican people would relieve social unrest while allowing the government to continue economic development

• Diaz refuses to give that power to oppositional forces and arrests Madero, rigs the election, and returns to power

• Diaz’s actions resulted in a call for rebellion after Madero was released

Mexico cont…

• Rebellions developed in both northern and southern Mexico

• North: Farmers, railroaders, and cowboys joined under charismatic leader Pancho Villa

• South: Peasant-based guerilla movements formed under Emiliano Zapata whose reforms were expressed in his warcry– “Tierra y Libertad!” (Land and Liberty!)

Mexico cont…

• Diaz was driven from power and Madero attempts to resolve Mexico’s social problems– However, his moderate reforms were not enough for

revolutionaries who remove and assassinate Madero in a military coup

• General Huerta takes power and establishes a Diaz-type dictatorship supported by landowners, the army, and foreign interests.– However… Villa and Zapata, joined by middle class

political opponents, overthrew Huerta

Mexico cont…

• In 1915 Alvaro Obregon, a strong general who had learned tactics and strategy from WWI, defeated Villa and his Calvary forces and emerges as the new leader of the government

• 1917: Mexican Constitution promised land reforms, limited foreign ownership in society, education reform, and workers became represented in government which guaranteed the rights of labor in Mexico

• By 1920 the Mexican Civil War ends and Obregon is elected president. This began the consolidation of changes that were long sought after by revolutionary means

Revolutions: Russia

• WWI proved to many in Russia that the elites and Tsarist control had failed to strengthen Russian society– This provoked a call for change throughout the

peasant and working class of Russian society

• Popular unrest continued in Russia until the Bolshevik wing of the Social Democratic party unified under the leadership of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin– Bolsheviks later become the Communist party

Russia cont…

• Lenin quickly gained popularity among the workers and peasants (proletariats) of Russia and ignited the Communist Revolution that toppled the Tsar’s liberal government

• He immediately signed a peace treaty with Germany, but conceded Russian territory in doing so– However, after German defeat in WWI, Russia was ignored at

the Treaty of Versailles and their former territories were converted into new nations

• Though losing popularity due to the end of WWI, Lenin continued the development of the Communist state

Russia cont…

• Lenin focused on peasant support and rural reforms

• Lenin pursued a centralized “non-western” style of governance

• Parliament was shut down, he disbanded political parties (oppositional), decreed redistribution of land, and nationalized Russian industry

Russia cont…

• The success of the Communist Revolution had various global and national impacts…

• Nation like Britain, France, US, and Japan distanced themselves from Russia

• Communism and centralized outraged many peasants within Russia who had to give up what little land/business they owned

• More economic hardship, unemployment, and famine were created than were actually solved

Russia cont…

• Lenin’s Communist expansion resulted in an internal civil war that spanned from 1918 to 1921 and Russia would not stabilize until Lenin’s death and Stalin’s rise in 1924

• Under Stalin Russia would consolidate, stabilize, and within ten years became the Worlds 2nd largest industrial power

Revolutions: China

• The fall of the Qing dynasty left a vacuum in power where the best contenders for the job were regional military warlords who created alliances to quell enemies and consolidate power

• Sun Yat-Sen ran the Revolutionary Alliance that had spearheaded the 1911 revolution, Anti-Qing revolt that forced the abdication of the Manchu boy emperor, Puyi

• Sun was formally elected president but did very little to impact a warlord dominated China

China cont…

• 1912: Sun Yat-Sen concedes power to Yuan Shikai who was a warlord of the most powerful group of generals

• Yuan provided the best chance to unify China under a single government

• He took foreign loans to build a new military and paid off his competition… Thos who could not be bought were assassinated

• Once revealing through his actions that he was not for the betterment of China, Sun Yat-Sen and other nationalist leaders called for another revolution in the years following 1912

China cont…

• By 1915 Yuan seemed poised to become the next emperor of China

• However… He was foiled by continued rivalry from nationalist opposition like Sun Yat-Sen, as well as the growing imperialist threat of Japan

• 1915: Japan presents China with the Twenty-One Demands which would have relegated China to nothing more than a dependent nation of Japan

• Yuan neither accepts or rejects Japanese demands and due to his indecisiveness he was overthrown by rival warlords where he was forced to resign in 1916

China cont…

• 1919: Japan secures its hold in China after WWI by gaining German holdings (industry/territory) after the signing of the Treaty of Versailles

• China had allied themselves with the Entente powers and saw the allowance of this action by Japan as a betrayal by their European “friends”

• Protests by students, intellectuals, and nationalist politicians began in many major Chinese cities as a result

China cont…

• May Fourth Movement: A revolution aimed at changing China into a modern liberal democracy

• The movement progressed through media such as speeches, pamphlets, books, newspapers, etc.

• China began changes that mirrored Western democracies in education, industry, democratic government, and the military

China cont…• However… These changes were meaningless since

the Chinese warlords still regularly dictated political action

• Chinese intellectuals quickly discovered that more radical changes were necessary which leads to a Communist push within the Chinese nationalist movement

• 1921: China’s Communist party emerges with new nationalist leadership under individuals such as Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Zedong

• Under these leaders China sees the full establishment of the Guomindang (Nationalist Party) which was comprised of urban students and intellectuals