Great Depression & Communist Russia

Slide 1: THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND COMMUNIST RUSSIA

Slide 2: I. Legacy of WWI & Peace A. By 1922, Germany unable to pay reparations 1. France occupied the heavily industrialized Ruhr valley, using mine and factories to collect money in place of reparations 2. Germany responded by printing more money, lowering the value and increasing inflation 3. Germany plagued with political unrest by those unhappy that Germany agreed to the Versailles Treaty

Slide 3: Map: Ruhr Valley

Slide 4: I. Legacy of WWI & Peace A. 1924, the U.S. Dawes Plan reduced German reparation payments and based payments on the ability of Germany to pay 1. Included a loan of $200 million 2. Heavy U.S. investment in Europe B. 1925, Treaty of Locarno 1. Allowed Germany into the League of Nations

Slide 5: I. Legacy of WWI & Peace 1. Alsace-Lorraine returned to France 2. Rhineland a neutral zone A. Disarmament weak – League said to disarm “to the lowest point consistent with national safety” – nations not quick to disarm due to mutual lingering mistrust

Slide 6: II. The Great Depression A. Domestic economies weak and increasingly controlled by governments 1. Countries plagued by war debts and reparation payments 2. Prices for agricultural goods declining due to over production 3. To protect economies, central and eastern Europeans countries closed borders off to trade and imposed tariffs

Slide 7: II. The Great Depression A. Economies were international 1. U.S. invested heavily in German bonds and industries, which brought prosperity to all of Europe between 1924-1929 2. American economy booming, so investors pulled out of Germany to invest at home a. Buying on margin (only paying 10% of cost at the time) led to a lot of buying and selling for profit – stock prices rose – when people lost confidence in the market, they sold in mass numbers

Slide 8: II. The Great Depression 1. October, 1929, crash of the stock market led to panicked withdrawal of money from German and European markets 2. Withdrawal of money weakened Germany and other European states

Slide 9: Primary Source: Newspaper

Slide 10: II. The Great Depression A. Women’s roles and the family 1. Women able to secure low paying jobs in housekeeping or servants while men were unemployed – men resentful of this 2. Young men with nothing to do joined gangs B. Government inability to fix bad conditions led some countries to be taken easily by Marxist doctrine and dictatorial solutions

Slide 11: Primary Source: Women Serving Soup

Slide 12: III. The World in Depression A. Britain 1. Suffering after WWI from a decline in the steel, coal, and textile industry – led to unemployment 2. Labour Party replaced by Conservatives who provided low interest loans, devalued the pound, balanced the budget, and used protective tariffs

Slide 13: III. The World in Depression 1. Cambridge economist, John Maynard Keynes said that unemployment could be brought to an end by putting people back to work even if the government went into debt so that demand would go back up 2. Britain alleviated when it began its armament industries again

Slide 14: III. The World in Depression A. France 1. Not hit hard until 1932 due to its balanced economy 2. Depression led to political chaos – leftist communist, socialist, and radicals formed Popular Front party a. Instituted collective bargaining, 40-hour work week, two week paid vacations, and minimal wages b. Did not solve conditions of depression

Slide 15: III. The World in Depression A. Germany 1. Weimar Republic established in 1918 2. Economic troubles led the German people to dislike the Weimar government, which gave rise to extremist parties

Slide 16: III. The World in Depression A. U.S. 1. Franklin D. Roosevelt brought in the New Deal, a program of government intervention in the economy 2. Public works projects put people back to work 3. Beginning of the welfare state and Social Security 4. U.S. alleviated by the growth of the armaments industry

Slide 17: IV. Socialism in Russia A. Problems in Russia: food hording so that it wouldn’t be taken, drought, and reduced industrial production B. March 1921- New Economic Plan (NEP) 1. Allowed peasants to sell their food 2. Allowed small private businesses though heavy industry, transportation and banking remained in the governments hands 3. By 1922, the market was revived and there was a good harvest

Slide 18: IV. Socialism in Russia A. Women’s Rights 1. Led by Alexandra Kollontai 2. Health care for women and children, marriage as a civil act, legal divorce, and legal abortions 3. Often faced violence from men who felt threatened by the possible rights of their wives 4. Undone by later Communist leaders

Slide 19: IV. Socialism in Russia A. Leadership after the death of Lenin 1. Lenin died in 1924 2. Two political groups battled for power a. Left- led by Leon Trotsky: end NEP, industrialize, and spread Communism abroad b. Right- concentrate on making a socialist state and continue the NEP

Slide 20: IV. Socialism in Russia A. Joseph Stalin was party secretary and used his skills of organization to become leader of the Communist Party

Slide 21: V. Culture and Intellectual Trends A. WWI supported beliefs that humans were violent animals incapable of rationality B. Women- shorter skirts, more makeup, short hair, and more exposed body – sexual issues more out in the open C. Popularity of nihilism- being does not have purpose, value, or truth – morality or higher power does not exist

Slide 22: V. Culture and Intellectual Trends A. Dadaism 1. “Everything happens in a completely idiotic way. . . . Like everything in life, Dada is useless.” 2. Anti-art to reflect the insanity of life 3. Hannah Hoch- Cut With The Kitchen Knife criticized the German Weimar Republic – popular for feminist themes

Slide 23: Primary Source: Cut With The Kitchen Knife

Slide 24: V. Culture and Intellectual Trends A. Surrealism 1. Reality outside of the material – dreamlike – the unconscious – nightmares and fantasies 2. Salvador Dali- The Persistence of Memory – objects outside of their rightful context and place stress irrationality

Slide 25: Primary Source: Persistence of Memory

Slide 26: V. Culture and Intellectual Trends A. Functionalism in architecture spread by German Bauhaus school B. Arnold Schonberg created atonal music without recognizable harmony C. “Stream of Consciousness” writing popular – stressed internal dialogue such as James Joyce’s Ulysses; other writers like Hermann Hesse wrote about the spiritual loneliness of modern life

Slide 27: V. Culture and Intellectual Trends A. Mass entertainment popular 1. Hollywood, radio shows, sports, and soap operas popular