Unit 7: Age of Anxiety – 1919-1939 C.E. The Interwar Years
In this unit we will explore the results of WWI. The Great War ended in 1918, but its disruptive effects would ripple throughout Europe for years afterward. While many dubbed the conflict the war to end all wars, it was in fact a direct cause of WWII and the start of the deadliest century to date. The time between the wars was one of disillusionment, anxiety, and economic crisis.
Soldiers returning home to devastated cities and towns became disillusioned—for what had they fought? This sentiment spread across Europe spawning a generation of people looking for a new approach to politics and culture.
Many of the problems that were to plague Europe in the 1920s and 1930s can be traced to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, specifically the Treaty of Versailles and its harsh treatment of Germany. Steep reparations payments imposed on Germany, American wariness to engage in foreign trade, and economic booms-busts together contributed to a devastating economic depression. The Balfour Declaration, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and the Treaty of Lausanne were other agreements that also created resentment and hostility in the former Ottoman Empire.
Germany’s new democratic government after WWI, the Weimar Republic, was weak from the start and served as a scapegoat for many of the ills Germany suffered in the 1920’s. With the steep reparations payments, coupled with the lack of free trade and the global stock market collapse of 1929, economic problems and a weak democratic tradition all served as the foundation of the rise of Hitler and the Nazism.
The flawed peace of 1919 also fueled resentment in Italy and with growing economic problems and a rise in the popularity of the Communist party, many Italians looked to a leader who would take action. Benito Mussolini was such a man, and by 1922 he had taken power with the Fascist Party. Fascism would come to dominate Italy as the world heads towards another war in the 1930’s, and its influence would extend to Spain, Argentina, and a number of other countries as well.
In East Asia, Japan had been steadily gaining industrial and economic power since the middle of the 19th century. Their effort to build a strong military based on samurai values was working, and after being on the winning side of WWI and emerging as a great power in international politics, Japanese militarism continued to rise in the late 1920s and continue into the 1930s.
Around the world, embers smoldered from all the flaws associated with WWI and the subsequent peace, treaties. These embers were kept hot with the winds of economic insecurity and an uneasy populace, and would ultimately lead to a new conflagration that would become known as the Second World War.
Many saw this crisis as a “crisis of the mind,” and new ideas on how to perceive reality and/or break-away from the horrors were investigated. The art and literature of the time period reflected the uncertainty many people were experiencing. Compounding this anxiety were the new scientific discoveries of Einstein and Freud.
Questions
In what ways did the Treaty of Versailles foster resentment and hostility in German and Italian societies instead of peace?
How did boundary shifts affect economic and political structures in Europe and the Middle East?
What were the causes and effects of the postwar disillusionment?
How did political disillusion and economic devastation give rise to totalitarian leaders in the Soviet Union, Germany and Italy?
What were the impacts of the postwar isolationism of countries like the U.S., France and Britain?
How did the Great Depression impact political systems around the world?
How do people and nations respond to crisis?
At what point should the international community act against aggressive nation-states?
What impacts of exploring new possibilities of reality have on the arts, architecture, and music?
What were the new ideas of the times that challenged the old, traditionally held beliefs?
What do art and literature reveal about societies and historical eras?
What impact did new science have on the way people viewed the world?
Topics
The Twenties
Postwar Social Change
Age of Anxiety
New forms of technology
The Great (Worldwide) Depression
Coalition government
Weimar Republic
Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact
Hyperinflation
Balfour Declaration
Sykes-Picot Agreement
Treaty of Lausanne
Rise of Benito Mussolini
Fascism and National Socialist Party
Nazism
Third Reich
Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf
Nazism
Lebensraum
Nonaggression Pact
Appeasement
Isolationism
Munich Conference
Spanish Civil War
Francisco Franco
Nationalism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
Japanese militarism
Emperor Hirohito
Modern philosophy, art, literature and science
Albert Einstein
Theory of relativity
Sigmund Freud
Existentialism
Salvador Dali
Surrealism
Jazz
In this unit we will explore the results of WWI. The Great War ended in 1918, but its disruptive effects would ripple throughout Europe for years afterward. While many dubbed the conflict the war to end all wars, it was in fact a direct cause of WWII and the start of the deadliest century to date. The time between the wars was one of disillusionment, anxiety, and economic crisis.
Soldiers returning home to devastated cities and towns became disillusioned—for what had they fought? This sentiment spread across Europe spawning a generation of people looking for a new approach to politics and culture.
Many of the problems that were to plague Europe in the 1920s and 1930s can be traced to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, specifically the Treaty of Versailles and its harsh treatment of Germany. Steep reparations payments imposed on Germany, American wariness to engage in foreign trade, and economic booms-busts together contributed to a devastating economic depression. The Balfour Declaration, the Sykes-Picot Agreement, and the Treaty of Lausanne were other agreements that also created resentment and hostility in the former Ottoman Empire.
Germany’s new democratic government after WWI, the Weimar Republic, was weak from the start and served as a scapegoat for many of the ills Germany suffered in the 1920’s. With the steep reparations payments, coupled with the lack of free trade and the global stock market collapse of 1929, economic problems and a weak democratic tradition all served as the foundation of the rise of Hitler and the Nazism.
The flawed peace of 1919 also fueled resentment in Italy and with growing economic problems and a rise in the popularity of the Communist party, many Italians looked to a leader who would take action. Benito Mussolini was such a man, and by 1922 he had taken power with the Fascist Party. Fascism would come to dominate Italy as the world heads towards another war in the 1930’s, and its influence would extend to Spain, Argentina, and a number of other countries as well.
In East Asia, Japan had been steadily gaining industrial and economic power since the middle of the 19th century. Their effort to build a strong military based on samurai values was working, and after being on the winning side of WWI and emerging as a great power in international politics, Japanese militarism continued to rise in the late 1920s and continue into the 1930s.
Around the world, embers smoldered from all the flaws associated with WWI and the subsequent peace, treaties. These embers were kept hot with the winds of economic insecurity and an uneasy populace, and would ultimately lead to a new conflagration that would become known as the Second World War.
Many saw this crisis as a “crisis of the mind,” and new ideas on how to perceive reality and/or break-away from the horrors were investigated. The art and literature of the time period reflected the uncertainty many people were experiencing. Compounding this anxiety were the new scientific discoveries of Einstein and Freud.
Questions
In what ways did the Treaty of Versailles foster resentment and hostility in German and Italian societies instead of peace?
How did boundary shifts affect economic and political structures in Europe and the Middle East?
What were the causes and effects of the postwar disillusionment?
How did political disillusion and economic devastation give rise to totalitarian leaders in the Soviet Union, Germany and Italy?
What were the impacts of the postwar isolationism of countries like the U.S., France and Britain?
How did the Great Depression impact political systems around the world?
How do people and nations respond to crisis?
At what point should the international community act against aggressive nation-states?
What impacts of exploring new possibilities of reality have on the arts, architecture, and music?
What were the new ideas of the times that challenged the old, traditionally held beliefs?
What do art and literature reveal about societies and historical eras?
What impact did new science have on the way people viewed the world?
Topics
The Twenties
Postwar Social Change
Age of Anxiety
New forms of technology
The Great (Worldwide) Depression
Coalition government
Weimar Republic
Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact
Hyperinflation
Balfour Declaration
Sykes-Picot Agreement
Treaty of Lausanne
Rise of Benito Mussolini
Fascism and National Socialist Party
Nazism
Third Reich
Adolf Hitler
Mein Kampf
Nazism
Lebensraum
Nonaggression Pact
Appeasement
Isolationism
Munich Conference
Spanish Civil War
Francisco Franco
Nationalism in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
Japanese militarism
Emperor Hirohito
Modern philosophy, art, literature and science
Albert Einstein
Theory of relativity
Sigmund Freud
Existentialism
Salvador Dali
Surrealism
Jazz