Europe After WWI
Political Challenges
• New democracies struggled
– Lack of political skill and experience
Economic Struggles
•War casualties caused a decline in both producers
and consumers of good
•Most European nations were in heavy debt to each
other and the U.S.
•Nations followed nationalistic economic rather than
cooperative goals
•Tariffs
• U.S. and Japanese competition lowered demand for
European products
Failures of the New Democracies
• Poland: 1926 – military coup
• Czechoslovakia: struggled with nonCzech ethnic groups
• Hungary: controlled by a series of
aristocrats; ruling party emphasized
anti-Semitism
• Austria: political parties, including
Nazis, used small armies to terrorize
their opponents
• The Balkans – royal dictatorships
Communism Established in Russia
• War Communism:
• Confiscate banks, transportation
systems, and heavy industries.
• Seized grain to feed troops
• Repressed all opposition
• Years of shortage and sacrifice led to
strikes and resistance from peasants
• Red Army crushed a mutiny by Baltic
Fleet
Communism Established in Russia
• New Economic Policy (NEP)
– A retreat from complete communism
• Peasants could sell grain for profit
• Light industry and retail shops
were also allowed to function for
personal profit.
• Generally unsuccessful
Communism Established in Russia
– Led to disputes in Politburo
• Left wing (Trotsky) –
–rapid industrialization and
collectivized agriculture
–Exportation of the revolution
• Right wing (Stalin)
–Gained support of lower levels of
party
–Supported the NEP and slow
industrialization
–Won control of the Central Committee
Split in Socialism
• Third International (Comintern)
– Issued 21 Conditions
• Rejected democratic socialism
• Adopted the Communist Party name
– Led to spit among socialist parties all over
Europe
– Intense political battle raged between the
two
groups
– Right wing parties capitalized on their
public rhetoric
Fascism -- Italy
• Mussolini capitalized on
– Frustration of Italian veterans who believed Italy
had been cheated by the Versailles peace
– the fear of Communism among middle class,
business owners, farmers
– Political gridlock
• October, 1922 – Black Shirt March on Rome
– October 29 – asked to be Prime Minister
– November 23 – dictatorial authority
• By 1927 – Italy had only one party
– Fascism was enforced by violence and
intimidation
Rise of Hitler – Struggles of the
Weimar Republic
• Hitler capitalized on the unpopularity of the
Weimar Republic and economic struggles
– 1920 – the Twenty-five points
• Popularized “socialism” as a subordination
of the economy to the welfare of the state
• Created “storm troopers” (the SA) to attack
communists and intimidate the Republic
• 1923 – attempted a coup; imprisoned
– Wrote Mein Kampf – outlined his program
Rise of Hitler – Struggles of the
Weimar Republic
• 1924 - Dawes plan –lowered German
payments
• Germany began to prosper
• Stressemann
– Sought conciliation with Allies
– Hoped to recover territories lost through
accommodation
• 1925 Locarno Agreement
– Germany agreed to western border
– Italy and Britain promised defense of the border
– Germany joined the League of Nations
• 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact
France Struggled for Security
• Conservatives gained power
– Clemenceau was unpopular because of his failure
to dismember Germany
• Signed alliances with Czechoslovakia,
Romania, Yugoslavia, and Poland
• Germany and Russia signed a treaty of
cooperation
– Reinforced French fears
• January, 1923 – France occupied the Ruhr in
order to collect reparation
– Alienated England; led to economic difficulties in
France and Germany
• Conciliatory leftists took power in France
(Briand)
England – Economic troubles
• 1920s – a poor economy
• Expansion of social welfare programs
• Neither the Conservative party or
Labour Party was able to improve the
economy
–Many social welfare laws and laws to
improve the condition of the poor
were passed
The “Irish Question”
• Easter Uprising (April 1916)
– Leaders executed
– Sinn Fein took control of the nationalist
movement
• 1918 – Sinn Fein formed the Dail Eireann
– January 1919 – declared independence
– Irish Republican Army formed
– guerilla war between IRA and British
• 1921 – Irish Free State established as part of
British Commonwealth
– Civil war between moderates and diehards
• 1932 – Irish president abolished the oath of
allegiance to British monarch
• 1949 – declared the Republic of Ireland