Hoofdstuk 2 'Between the Wars'

Hallo iedereen! Hier is mijn samenvatting voor Geschiedenis (Informatie hier beneden). Zelf maak ik eigenlijk nooit samenvattingen voor Geschiedenis omdat ik er eerlijkgezegd nooit moeite mee heb gehad. Ik moet wel alvast zeggen dat deze samenvatting niet alles wat je moet weten bevat. Ook werken we bij ons op school met zogenaamde 'Learning Targets', dat zijn dingen die je sowiezo moet weten voor het proefwerk maar die zijn hier niet bij inbegrepen. Als je die wel zou willen kun je me wel een berichtje sturen en mail ik het naar je!

Chapter 2 ‘Between the Wars’ summary

2.1 Prosperity and crisis in the United States

The United States had become one of the most, if not the most, prosperous countries in the world in the first ten years of the interbellum. Especially the car and electro-technical industry experienced a boom. Productivity increased because of the switch from coal to electricity and the introduction of the assembly line. The US became the first consumer society, with the increasing demand of e.g. refrigerators and washing machines.

Though, this tempestuous time wouldn’t last for long. After the stock market crash of 1929, where people frantically sold their stocks, the economy fell into a great depression. From 1933, President Roosevelt was able to ease the crisis with the New Deal, where he saved banks with government money and for example started investing in industry and agriculture again.

Interbellum                                          period between the two world wars                             

Assembly line                                      production system where workers always perform the same task on products that pass them by

Consumer society                               society in which many consumer products are bought

Stock market crash                             sharp and quick decline of the price of stocks on the stock exchange

New Deal                                              president Roosevelt’s policy to fight the economic crisis with government spending

2.2 Fascism and communism

Italy After 1915, Italian war veterans felt cheated by their politicians. They became members of commando groups and fought under the name of ‘fascism’, thought of by their leader Mussolini. The fascists came to power with violence in 1922. This believe quickly became popular, mainly because of Mussolini’s talent of speaking. Fascism glorified violence and was against democracy.

In October 1922 Mussolini organized a march on Rome and threatened that they would take over the city if the government did not step down. Fearing a civil war, the king dismissed the government and appointed Mussolini as prime minister. Afterwards, Mussolini drew all the power to himself and became a totalitarian state. Though, he did not completely succeed at becoming a totalitarian state, because the church, army and business life still partly remained independent.

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Russia The Russian revolution and civil war had caused a famine. To make revival of the economy, Lenin introduced the New Economic Policy (NEP). Small private companies were allowed again and farmers were allowed to sell part of their production on the free market. This resulted in a certain level of prosperity.

After Lenin’s death, Stalin came forward as communistic party leader. During his first years he eliminated his competitors. After this he thought it was time to make a superpower of Russia and decided that they’d have to catch up with industrialized countries. Very exact plans were made which contained precisely which goals had to be met. The development of heavy industry was a top priority. In this area planned economy was a great success.

Small peasant farms were eliminated and replaced by gigantic farms. Consequently, agriculture was collectivized. The land and other possessions of the farmers were taken away and given to large agriculture companies, named kolkhozy. This is because independent farmers did not fit in a communist society, according to Stalin. Millions of people were killed because of refusing to work on the collectivization of agriculture.

Fascism                                                 anti-democratic, totalitarian, and extreme-national political movement

Totalitarianism                                     system where the government has total control over complete society

New Economic Policy                         Lenin’s policy from 1921 that allowed farmers and small companies to work for the free market

Planned Economy                               economy in which the state decides what should be produced

Kolkhozy                                               large agricultural company where farmers worked together and had to make deliveries to the state at a fixed price

Kulaks                                                   rich farmers, communist term of abuse for farmers who did not cooperate with collectivization

Stalinism                                               variant of communism with extreme oppression under one leader who is revered

2.3 Germany from democracy to dictatorship

After the mass inflation of 1923, a period of peacefulness and prosperity followed. The stock market crash of 1929 ended all this. The economy plunged and millions of Germans became unemployed. The democratic parties did nothing and the two anti-democratic parties benefited from this: the communist party and Hitler’s Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterspartei (NSDAP)

The defeat in 1918 made Hitler a bitter man. In 1920 he joined the recently founded NSDAP. It appeared he was very talented in stirring up his audience. Because of this he quickly became the party’s leader. National-socialism was similar to fascism. It was just as anti-democratic, nationalistic and totalitarian. But unlike the fascists, the Nazis supported a racial doctrine.

In 1923 Hitler was arrested because of his attempt to overthrow the government in Berlin. After his release, the role of the NSDAP seemed to have played out. Because of the global crisis it even became more popular. Hitler blamed the democrats and the Jews. He would erase the ‘dictate of Versailles’ and would make Germany powerful again. He also promised work and prosperity. The SA, the armed division of the NSDAP stormed Jewish shops and bet up Jews, socialist and communists. Also the SS grew which came from Hitler’s security service and was feared for its extreme cruelty.