Lecture 18 Liberal democracy s bright dawn or setting sun The interwar years How was the Paris Peace Conference a disappointment to people inside and Why were the new European democracies ill equipped to face the challenges Why was Fascism seen as the answer to political instability I Key Themes outside of Europe confronting them II A world safe for democracy III Making Peace Woodrow Wilson many men US only in WWI for 1 year so british and French want bigger role because they lost so Wilson comes to Versailles with a lot of ideas but start to crumble Arabs not given territory they were promised In Asia China was promised support and Japan is disappointed b c they aren t treated with same respect Japan withdraws from paris peace conference Wilson believes Germany shouldn t be punished for war but should be able to become a democratic nation and rebuild David Lloyd George and Clemens blame germany for whole war charged 800 billion in reparations army stripped lost territories Treaty of Versailles New map redrawing of Eastern Europe self determination somewhat embraced Germany blamed significant reparations territory taken Wilson s vision Believes it will be a place that will encourage the rule of law and economic integration League of Nations differences can be mediated Britain and France support it make it capstone of Treaty of Versailles Wilson had to compromise other beliefs but got League of Nations US Senate kills the treaty ratification treaty dies and America doesn t join the League Wilson dies all of his goals defeated and people are disillusioned bad stability for post WWI IV Roaring Weimar Republic Germany s gov t following WWI Don t set up a strong govt with a strong leader b c they previously had an autocratic ruler Coalistion government governs country too many political parties and nothing gets done Roaring Twenties Idea that decadence and opulence take over in bourgeois Attitude of a lost generation not tied to any moral or cultural anchors Flappers women beginning to wear shorter skirts Lost Generation No purpose to European culture anymore Socialism knocking on Europe s door b c of Soviet Union V The Red Menace Comintern Communist International dedicated to the spread of socialism believed to have originally succeeded b c of movements across the world Left wing revolutionaries have good reason to b c the soviets win the war and rebuild the union along soviet lines Devastation of war seems to be turning around rather quickly Five Year Plan 1929 Lenin s plan new economic system govt will control big industries but rest of economy will be free market Stalin takes over and begins to establish firmer hold on economy Plan to industrialize Collectivizing agriculture Kulaks capitals Stalin rounds up wealthy people and farmers and sends them to gulags prison camps in Siberia many people executed starved In Ukraine Stalin embraces policy of starvation 14 5 mil died of starvation VI A new way forward industrialized nation Built on blood and bodies of millions Stalin has pushed to successful New leaders across Europe Communist revolutions in Hungary but gets crushed by Admiral Miklos Horthy General Jozef Pilsudski takes control to crush communist hopes in Poland People don t really want to hold onto old government systems threaten gov t reform through communism Benito Mussolini 1883 1945 Fought in WWI believed war was a life giving experience embraced romantic notion of the nation having a spiritual presence united for common cause by gathering people together to build a better future Originally was a communist Later argued class warfare is weakening the nation must work together nation will be represented through an all powerful state Powerful state backed up by powerful military In 1922 Democrats in Italy wanted to give him power but he says a Fascist must seize power not receive it Fighting in WWI has proved their strength and vitality of their nation according to BM Soldiers get on board Fascism Front line soldiers in Germany felt betrayed and neglected inspired by ideology that they didn t fight for nothing Adolf Hitler 1921 becomes leader of National Socialist German Workers Party Nazis Writes Mein Kumpf in prison of his vision for the future Image german soldier disabled begging for money on the street has the Iron Cross equivalent to Medal of Honor Socialism Communism and Fascism are growing across Europe VII Liberal Democracy s setting sun The Great Depression October 24 1929 Stock Market Crash in NYSE So few people saw it coming World had been struggling during 1920s to return to the gold standard US comes out of war flushed with cash American gov t withdraws from international affairs during 1920s but investors do not and invest all across Europe in order to help rebuild Europe By 1928 most of rebuilding of Europe is done and American stock market is booming investors begin pulling money out of Europe and investing more in America forces stock market to become inflated liquidity in the system dries up nobody can spend money on anything Governments around the world are incapable of responding to the crisis Idea to let all the poison out in order to recover but this economic theory fails to represent people like farmers Left wingers turn to communists right wingers turn to fascists Liberal democracy is discredited Image people waiting in line for soup kitchen with writing behind them World s Highest Standard of Living There is a gigantic American fascist party Hitler gets out of jail in 1924 and exponentially grows his popularity IX Conclusion Despite the grand hopes that accompanied it the Paris Peace Conference disappointed many people The defeated powers were punished much more harshly than they had anticipated leaving a feeling of bitterness Many colonial peoples who thought that their efforts in the war would be rewarded with independence instead saw themselves subjected to new imperial masters or renewed imperial control Afraid of a strong executive branch and built upon the most equitable system of democracy many of the new republics could not form strong governments capable of making the social and economic reforms necessary This allowed discontent to fester provoking fears of a growing socialist threat Believing that the weak and decadent bourgeois democracies were not capable to facing this threat many on the right began to turn to traditional military style regimes But new right wing ideologies also emerged that promised not to look back but to wage their