AP Interwar Politics and Economics
Published on Nov 18, 2015
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Interwar Europe
Political and Economic Trends
Treaty of Versailles
Former Empires and Eastern Europe
Mandate System
League of Nations - Administered by England and France
Successor States
New Countries Formed Out of Old Empires
New States
- Carved out of Germany, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Bulgaria
- Recognized ethnic minorities
- Principle of Self-Determination
- 14 National Currencies in 1914 - 27 by 1919
Eastern Europe
- Industry and Transportation destroyed by war
- Ethnic Tensions
- Poland and Hungary - failed democracies
- Austria - occupied by Nazi Germany
- Czechoslovakia - only successful democracy
Southeastern Europe
- Yugoslavia - multi-ethnic state dominated by Serbia
- Greece, Macedonia, Albania - consumed with military coups and royal dictatorships
Economic Instability
Extremism, Inflation, and Tariffs
Syndicalism
- Abolish the state and capitalist system
- Transfer ownership and governance to organized units of workers
- General Strikes as main strategy
Corporatism
- Society organized into corporations by type of economic production
- Eliminated competition between firms in favor of state controlled monopolies
Inflation
Printing Money to Pay War Debts - Devalued Currency
Trade Barriers
Tariffs to protect domestic agriculture
Weimar Germany
A Case Study for Fragile Democracy
Weimar Republic
- Formed in the crisis of the end of WWI
- Dominated by Social Democratic Party
- Criticized for signing the Treaty of Versailles and paying reparations
- Officer Corp not loyal to the government
Challenges from the Right
- Motivated by weak German state and hyper-inflation
- Kapp Putsch, 1920
- French Occupation of the Ruhr, 1923
- Beer Hall Putsch, 1923
The Golden Twenties
Social Democracy and the Arts
Rise of Nazi Party
Depression, Deflation, End of Social Democratic Majority
England and France
- England: New Labour Party, strikes, weakening of empire in Ireland and India
- France: 27 different cabinets, Little Entente, new alliances to replace Russia
- Both looked for quick repayment of reparations
