Chapter 27: The European Search for Stability, 1920-1939

  • The Eastern European Empires fell   * Finland gained independence from Russia   * Poland was rebuilt in order to weaken Germany and Russia   * Czechoslovakia was taken out of German and Austrian lands   * Yugoslavia encompassed most of the Balkan region
  • After the war, the German civilian population, domestic infrastructure, and industrial power remained mostly intact   * Stayed the industrial power of Europe   * There was an increased sense that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair
  • Treaty of Rapallo (1922)   * Tried to create economic cooperation between Germany and Russia
  • Germany secretly started to rebuild its military to regain the Polish Corridor
  • The World Economy collapsed   * War debt   * Bonds (inflation increased leading to loss of wealth and destruction of savings)   * Inter-government loans   * Increased printing of currency   * Slowed demand for goods
  • Dawes Plan   * United States would provide Germany with loans and the allies would schedule payments over time
  • U.S. protectionist policies stopped European access to large U.S. markets and stable currency   * European and U.S. trade declined as U.S. goods were too expensive   * U.S. and German financial institutions became tied together as trade declined
  • Depression hit Germany due to the 1929 Stock Market crash
  • Great Purge (1934-1938)
  • Communism rose to popularity in the 1920s
  • Fascism: nationalistic, anti-liberal, authoritarian regime which based its ideology in irrational rhetoric
  • Corporate State: corporations sponsored by the state became the foundation for Italian Fascism   * Lateran Treaty
  • 1939 Pact of Steel   * Bound Italian military to Germany
  • Treaty of Versailles’ effects on Germany   * Democratic government (Weimar Republic) was implemented in Germany   * German sovereignty was limited
  • Hitler   * Leader of the National Socialist Party (Nazis)   * Attempted to lead a revolt in 1923   * Hitler’s popularity grew as the rates of unemployment dropped
  • The Popular Front (1936)
  • Great Britain failed to deal with the depression
  • Spain became a democratic republic in 1931   * Elected radical popular front in 1936
  • Hitler declared the Treaty of Versailles as null-in-void   * Began World War II

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