When the Great Depression hit Europe, an entire continent that had been very carefully pieced back together after World War I, was rocked and shattered once again. Fragile economies that were just starting to build up momentum, and just beginning to participate in the idea of America's "Roaring Twenties", came crashing back down. As a result, new leaders with new ideas about government and reform began to take center stage and rise to prominence throughout much of Europe.
FRANCE
France came out of World War I as probably the most powerful country in Europe, with the exception of Great Britain. France had a stronger, more balanced economy than most European nations, so it did not suffer from the immediate problems caused by the Great Depression like many countries. The Great Depression would take strong hold in France in 1932 (it hit in America in 1929...). Despite the fact that it held on longer than most countries would, France was not immune to governmental upheaval. Between 1932 and 1933, France would go through SIX DIFFERENT CABINETS! (How stable would that government be?) Eventually, a group called the Popular Front Government, made up of communists, socialists, and radicals, would take over the French government and put into place a large set of socialistic programs and ideas, commonly nicknamed the French New Deal. In 1936, the Popular Front would win the French prime minister's office with a man named Leon Blum, who was a Jew, who would serve two very tumultuous stints in office from June 1936 to June 1937, and again from April to October in 1938. He managed to survive a stint in Buchenwald concentration camp, avoided Nazi-ordered execution, and eventully returned to the Prime Minister's post for a little over a month from December 1946 to January 1947 as the French were setting up their post-war government.
GREAT BRITAIN
Despite the fact that they "won" World War I, Great Britain suffered a pretty severe economic downturn when the war was over. Over two million Britons, incluing over 500,000 women, were unemployed after the war because the steel, coal, and textile industries settled back to pre-war levels of production and tens of thousands of people were laid off. There was a brief pick-up in the economy from 1925 to 1929, but when the Great Depression hit in late 1929, Great Britain was just as vulerable as most other countries. The ruling Labor Party would be ousted in 1931 and replaced by the Conservative Party, which managed to pull Britain out of the worst parts of the depression through the use of balanced budgets, protective tariffs (taxes on imported goods), and ignoring the deficit spending ideas (basically, going into debt, if necessary, to continue to buy goods, thus driving up demand and creating jobs) of a noted British economist by the name of John Maynard Keynes, whose Keynsian theories are still used by many economists today.
ITALY
Italy's problems started almost as soon as World War I ended...never mind the Great Depression! Inflation skyrocketed, people in all sectors of work went on strike, and revolution was threatened by, you guessed it, communists and socialists. People were afraid of a situation like that which had developed in Russia (remember, Italy and Russia were fairly close friends at this time). All this unrest left a wide-open door for a man named Benito Mussiolini.
Similar to Hitler, Mussolini fought in World War I and was dismayed by the events of the
War, even though Italy was on the "winning" side. Mussolini was originally a socialist, but he didn't think that worked 100% the way he wanted, so he came up with the Fascio di Combattimento (League of Combat), which is where the word facism comes from. He published his Fascist Manifesto in 1921, which outlined his beliefs and, ideally, those of all fascists. Fascists glorify the state above all else, including individual people. Fascists seek to drive out any foreign influence that is believed to be harmful to the homeland. Fascists hold a strong belief in Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest on a cultural level), by arguing that society, Italian society in this case, must weed out those who are not socially or biologically beneficial to the general culture. Fascist governments are always led by dictators who control the people and eliminate opposition. Political violence and war are actually PROMOTED by fascist governments to eliminate opponents or to bolster the fascist party's strength.
The Italians in the early 1920's were very fearful of outside influences, such as communism, which made Mussolini and his fascists look very attractive on the surface, because Mussolini preached all-things-Italian. In 1922, Italy elected Mussolini as Prime Minister. By 1925, he had begun referring to himself as Il Duce (The Leader) and had siezed dictatorial control of the country, but many people didn't mind. He appeared to be trying to do good things for the country. He recognized the Vatican as an independent Catholic state, gave large amounts of money to the Vatican and the Catholic Church, and he recognized Catholicism as the only religion of Italy; in return, the Vatican encouraged people to support fascism. He set up numerous government construction plans to combat unemployment, ordered more than 5,000 government farms to be established, and drained lakes and marshes to take back land that he hoped could be used for economic development. By 1935, it is estimated (and claimed by Mussolini, himself) that the government controlled nearly 3/4 of all businesses in Italy, and practically banned foreign trade (with any country except Germany) by instituting sky-high tariffs and taxes on imports.
GERMANY
Germany had been struggling in just about every way imaginable following the end of the War. Crushed by nearly every single point of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany seemed to be in a hole that had no bottom...and no ladder to the top. The democratic government that had been rapidly put into place had to fight constant battles against communists who were trying to take over. Inflation was at insane levels, unemployment was skyrocketing, many people who had jobs went on strike against the government, and there seemed to be little hope for improvement. The Dawes Plan had started to turn things around, giving Germany's economy a boost for a period from about 1925 until 1929, but the Great Depression ended that, and Germany once again fell into disarray.
In 1923, a small movement known as the National Socialist German Worker's Party, better known as the Nazi Party, began to make a lot of noise thanks largely to it's leader, Adolf Hitler. Contrary to what most people believe, Hitler did not start the Nazi party, nor was he the party's first leader; that distinction belongs to Anton Drexler, who led the party from 1920-1921. Hitler, however, took control of the party in 1921 and would retain that leadership role until he committed suicide in 1945. In 1923, Hitler attemted to start a revolution in what is called the Beer Hall Putsch, or Beer Hall Riots. While the revolution failed, Hitler became a household name almost immediately, which gave the Nazi Party instant recognition. Hitler was arrested and imprisoned for his role in the failed revolution; it was in in prison for "political crimes", as Hitler called them, that he started writing Mein Kampf ("My Struggle" or "My Battle"), his combination autobiography/political manifesto. (He reportedly wanted to call it "Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice", but was convinced to change it by his publisher.)
By 1933, the German economy was in such a disastrous state that the German president, Paul von Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as Chancelor of Germany, which is the German equivalent of Prime Minister. The move was done, in part, because the German government didn't know what else to try, and also partly because the Nazi party had grown very loud and very strong and the government felt that if Hitler failed, like everyone else had, to pull the government out of its current mess, the Nazis would disappear. However, rather than fail, Hitler's policies actually started to show positive effects and his strengthy and popularity grew. Hitler used heavy governmental spending to rebuild Germany's outlawed military, which resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs, bringing an end to the crippling unemployment Germany had struggled with. He ordered the building of the Autobahn road system, as well as other massive public works projects, to rebuild the demolished country and to create even more jobs, further stimulating the economy.
Hitler quickly solidified his power by declaring Germany a totalitarian regime, called The Third Reich. (Hitler referred to Germany as the Third Reich, which fits the definition provided below). Hitler was referred to as Fuhrer (leader) and he instilled a system referred to as Führerprinzip, which means "leader principal" in which Hitler's word was considered to be above all other laws.
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its power or authority and attempts to sieze control of ALL aspects of public and private life. Heavy usage of propoganda help to keep totalitarian regimes in control, as does the restriction of virtually all individual rights. Totalitarian states control all media, including the radio, television, and newspapers. Opposition political parties are usually outlawed.
Nazism can be thought of as a combination of totalitarianism and fascism. Hitler had complete and total control of his government and his country (totalitarianism) and also applied the ideas of purging his country of outside influences and of those who were not considered to be socially or biologically beneficial to society (fascism), as exampled by his extermination of not only the Jews, but also Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, blacks, homosexuals, the physically and mentally handicapped, criminals...and political opponents.
Tomorrow, we will look at how America and Russia are faring in the Great Depression era, and see what happens as Hitler begins the push towards thrusting the world into World War...again...
FRANCE
France came out of World War I as probably the most powerful country in Europe, with the exception of Great Britain. France had a stronger, more balanced economy than most European nations, so it did not suffer from the immediate problems caused by the Great Depression like many countries. The Great Depression would take strong hold in France in 1932 (it hit in America in 1929...). Despite the fact that it held on longer than most countries would, France was not immune to governmental upheaval. Between 1932 and 1933, France would go through SIX DIFFERENT CABINETS! (How stable would that government be?) Eventually, a group called the Popular Front Government, made up of communists, socialists, and radicals, would take over the French government and put into place a large set of socialistic programs and ideas, commonly nicknamed the French New Deal. In 1936, the Popular Front would win the French prime minister's office with a man named Leon Blum, who was a Jew, who would serve two very tumultuous stints in office from June 1936 to June 1937, and again from April to October in 1938. He managed to survive a stint in Buchenwald concentration camp, avoided Nazi-ordered execution, and eventully returned to the Prime Minister's post for a little over a month from December 1946 to January 1947 as the French were setting up their post-war government.
GREAT BRITAIN
Despite the fact that they "won" World War I, Great Britain suffered a pretty severe economic downturn when the war was over. Over two million Britons, incluing over 500,000 women, were unemployed after the war because the steel, coal, and textile industries settled back to pre-war levels of production and tens of thousands of people were laid off. There was a brief pick-up in the economy from 1925 to 1929, but when the Great Depression hit in late 1929, Great Britain was just as vulerable as most other countries. The ruling Labor Party would be ousted in 1931 and replaced by the Conservative Party, which managed to pull Britain out of the worst parts of the depression through the use of balanced budgets, protective tariffs (taxes on imported goods), and ignoring the deficit spending ideas (basically, going into debt, if necessary, to continue to buy goods, thus driving up demand and creating jobs) of a noted British economist by the name of John Maynard Keynes, whose Keynsian theories are still used by many economists today.
ITALY
Italy's problems started almost as soon as World War I ended...never mind the Great Depression! Inflation skyrocketed, people in all sectors of work went on strike, and revolution was threatened by, you guessed it, communists and socialists. People were afraid of a situation like that which had developed in Russia (remember, Italy and Russia were fairly close friends at this time). All this unrest left a wide-open door for a man named Benito Mussiolini.
Similar to Hitler, Mussolini fought in World War I and was dismayed by the events of the
War, even though Italy was on the "winning" side. Mussolini was originally a socialist, but he didn't think that worked 100% the way he wanted, so he came up with the Fascio di Combattimento (League of Combat), which is where the word facism comes from. He published his Fascist Manifesto in 1921, which outlined his beliefs and, ideally, those of all fascists. Fascists glorify the state above all else, including individual people. Fascists seek to drive out any foreign influence that is believed to be harmful to the homeland. Fascists hold a strong belief in Social Darwinism (survival of the fittest on a cultural level), by arguing that society, Italian society in this case, must weed out those who are not socially or biologically beneficial to the general culture. Fascist governments are always led by dictators who control the people and eliminate opposition. Political violence and war are actually PROMOTED by fascist governments to eliminate opponents or to bolster the fascist party's strength.
The Italians in the early 1920's were very fearful of outside influences, such as communism, which made Mussolini and his fascists look very attractive on the surface, because Mussolini preached all-things-Italian. In 1922, Italy elected Mussolini as Prime Minister. By 1925, he had begun referring to himself as Il Duce (The Leader) and had siezed dictatorial control of the country, but many people didn't mind. He appeared to be trying to do good things for the country. He recognized the Vatican as an independent Catholic state, gave large amounts of money to the Vatican and the Catholic Church, and he recognized Catholicism as the only religion of Italy; in return, the Vatican encouraged people to support fascism. He set up numerous government construction plans to combat unemployment, ordered more than 5,000 government farms to be established, and drained lakes and marshes to take back land that he hoped could be used for economic development. By 1935, it is estimated (and claimed by Mussolini, himself) that the government controlled nearly 3/4 of all businesses in Italy, and practically banned foreign trade (with any country except Germany) by instituting sky-high tariffs and taxes on imports.
GERMANY
Germany had been struggling in just about every way imaginable following the end of the War. Crushed by nearly every single point of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany seemed to be in a hole that had no bottom...and no ladder to the top. The democratic government that had been rapidly put into place had to fight constant battles against communists who were trying to take over. Inflation was at insane levels, unemployment was skyrocketing, many people who had jobs went on strike against the government, and there seemed to be little hope for improvement. The Dawes Plan had started to turn things around, giving Germany's economy a boost for a period from about 1925 until 1929, but the Great Depression ended that, and Germany once again fell into disarray.
In 1923, a small movement known as the National Socialist German Worker's Party, better known as the Nazi Party, began to make a lot of noise thanks largely to it's leader, Adolf Hitler. Contrary to what most people believe, Hitler did not start the Nazi party, nor was he the party's first leader; that distinction belongs to Anton Drexler, who led the party from 1920-1921. Hitler, however, took control of the party in 1921 and would retain that leadership role until he committed suicide in 1945. In 1923, Hitler attemted to start a revolution in what is called the Beer Hall Putsch, or Beer Hall Riots. While the revolution failed, Hitler became a household name almost immediately, which gave the Nazi Party instant recognition. Hitler was arrested and imprisoned for his role in the failed revolution; it was in in prison for "political crimes", as Hitler called them, that he started writing Mein Kampf ("My Struggle" or "My Battle"), his combination autobiography/political manifesto. (He reportedly wanted to call it "Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity, and Cowardice", but was convinced to change it by his publisher.)
By 1933, the German economy was in such a disastrous state that the German president, Paul von Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as Chancelor of Germany, which is the German equivalent of Prime Minister. The move was done, in part, because the German government didn't know what else to try, and also partly because the Nazi party had grown very loud and very strong and the government felt that if Hitler failed, like everyone else had, to pull the government out of its current mess, the Nazis would disappear. However, rather than fail, Hitler's policies actually started to show positive effects and his strengthy and popularity grew. Hitler used heavy governmental spending to rebuild Germany's outlawed military, which resulted in the creation of thousands of jobs, bringing an end to the crippling unemployment Germany had struggled with. He ordered the building of the Autobahn road system, as well as other massive public works projects, to rebuild the demolished country and to create even more jobs, further stimulating the economy.
Hitler quickly solidified his power by declaring Germany a totalitarian regime, called The Third Reich. (Hitler referred to Germany as the Third Reich, which fits the definition provided below). Hitler was referred to as Fuhrer (leader) and he instilled a system referred to as Führerprinzip, which means "leader principal" in which Hitler's word was considered to be above all other laws.
Totalitarianism is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its power or authority and attempts to sieze control of ALL aspects of public and private life. Heavy usage of propoganda help to keep totalitarian regimes in control, as does the restriction of virtually all individual rights. Totalitarian states control all media, including the radio, television, and newspapers. Opposition political parties are usually outlawed.
Nazism can be thought of as a combination of totalitarianism and fascism. Hitler had complete and total control of his government and his country (totalitarianism) and also applied the ideas of purging his country of outside influences and of those who were not considered to be socially or biologically beneficial to society (fascism), as exampled by his extermination of not only the Jews, but also Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, blacks, homosexuals, the physically and mentally handicapped, criminals...and political opponents.
Tomorrow, we will look at how America and Russia are faring in the Great Depression era, and see what happens as Hitler begins the push towards thrusting the world into World War...again...
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