Chapter 29 - The World in the 1920s: Challenges to European Dominance

Chapter 29
The World in the 1920s: Challenges to European Dominance

1. Introduction
   1. Introduction
      1. Responses to Crisis
         1. Revolutionary regimes
         2. Authoritarian Political Systems
      2. Three major patterns
         1. Western Europe - economically/politically incomplete
            1. But culturally creative
         2. Growth of Japan and the United States
         3. Impact of 1920s Revolutions in China, Mexico and Russia
   2. Diplomatic Deafness
      1. Methods of protest
         1. India - Gandhi - Hinduism tradition + criticized caste/gender
         2. Turkey - military force + diplomacy
            1. Deaf guy uses disability as negotiating technique
2. The Disarray of Western Europe, 1918-1929
   1. Introduction
      1. War messed up European economy, diplomacy, governments
         1. Hapsburg and German empire end
      2. Devestating material and psychological impact - lost generation
         1. Huge deb - not enough taxes - not a popular war idea
   2. The Roaring Twenties
      1. Happy joy joy feelings in mid-1920s
         1. Germany wants to be friends
         2. Nations agree to never go to war again - Kellogg-Briand Pact
      2. Clash of values
         1. Right wing - return to authoritarian regime
            1. Good ol' days of national honor
         2. Left wing splits - authoritarian or...
            1. Let's try that fun communism idea
         3. Ummm...what happened to the middle - why polarization
      3. But...people getting wealthy and can buy more stuff - radios/cars/appliances
      4. New art - film, geometric art (cubist), new play styles, books w/ funky plots
         1. Defiance of traditional styles - conflict conservatives vs. radicals
      5. Science advances - people can't even understand it - too specialized
      6. Women - critical gains
         1. Women suffrage in Britain, Germany, US
         2. More fashion/leisure freedom - prosperity + declining birth rate
         3. Sexual promiscuity on rise - some even dance - naughty
            1. Conservative backlash - women's place in the home
      7. Industrialization - cult of efficiency - manager's organize/discipline masses
   3. Fascism in Italy
      1. Benito Mussolini creates fascio di combattimeno (union for struggle)
         1. Nationalistic, strong leader, violent methods appropriate
         2. Don't want inefficient parliament or socialist class struggle - need leader
         3. Catalysts - anger over Italy's gains after WWI
            1. Plus...labor problems...have to control crabby workers
      2. Italian King eventually asks Mussolini to help - best option
         1. Parliament inefficient, but communism was scary
      3. Mussolini takes power - steps to victory
         1. Eliminate opposition - suspend elections
         2. State control of economy
         3. Glories of military conquest
      4. Demonstrated that parliamentary rule not the best idea
   4. The New Nations of East Central Europe
      1. Tougher to fix situation in Eastern Europe - more rural based
      2. Fixated on nationalistic issues
         1. Waahh...I want more territory, I don't want to focus on domestic issues
      3. Tried parliamentary structure, but ended with monarch or dictator
         1. Ahhhh...notice the cycle of revolution
         2. Supported by huge landlords who needed to put down peasant revolts
3. III. Industrial Societies Outside Europe
   1. Introduction
      1. 1921 - Commonwealth of Canada, Australia and New Zealand considered as equals
         1. United by crown, but no hierarchy - no subjugated peoples
         2. Canada finds economic success
            1. Immigration, transnational railroad, exported food, natural resources
         3. Australia started on social legislation agenda
            1. Government involved in solving labor problems
            2. Government contols infrastructure
            3. New international pride
   2. The Rise of the American Colossus
      1. America - isolationist or interventionist
         1. Enters war late, but still active in Latin America
         2. Severely anti-communism - Red Scare
         3. Senate ignores League of Nations
      2. Economic boom in 1920s
         1. Gov't supports business at expense of labor
         2. High tariffs/low taxes
         3. Small companies combine > big conglomerates - return to monopoly
         4. Huge consumer culture - installment buying
      3. Industrialization innovators
         1. Research and development departments + assembly line
         2. Most efficient ways to boost output
      4. Cultural innovation
         1. Jazz, marketing, Hollywood
         2. Hollywood stars begin to symbolize sexual ideal
         3. Western Europe now follows US styles
   3. Japan and Its Empire
      1. A bit like Germany and Italy
         1. Parliament tested w/ Depression – fails test
         2. Fewer people vote
         3. Solution to problems – hey…let’s take over the region
      2. Interwar period – life getting better for Japan
         1. Rice production increases – population growth
         2. Growth in consumer culture, industrialization, zaibatsu
         3. More education
      3. Problems – vulnerable to trade issues
         1. Resource poor – imported a lot
         2. If people don’t buy few products, in trouble
         3. Tradition of oligarchy still ruling
            1. Military leaders educated part from civilians
               1. Not big fans of parliament/political parties
   4. A Balance Sheet
      1. Who gains?
         1. Creativity, “settler societies”, Japan
      2. Who loses?
         1. Democracy, US isolationism
4. IV. Revolution: The First Waves
   1. Mexico’s Upheaval
      1. Latin America heads into new age of revolutions
         1. Mexican Revolution
         2. European markets for goods dry up – have to be self-sufficient
         3. US becomes dominant global power
      2. Problems in Mexico – huge industrial growth, but…
         1. Foreign ownership
         2. Small elite dominate land
         3. Political system corrupt
         4. Gov’t repressive against resistance
      3. Mexican Revolution Events
         1. Francisco Madero runs for office > arrested > calls for rebellion
         2. Pancho Villa leads band of rebels in North
         3. Emiliano Zapata leads rebels in the South
         4. Madero eventually wins > but then removed from power/killed
         5. Cycle of Revolution – guess what we get?
            1. General Victtoriano Huerta pushed for dictatorship
            2. But now Villa, Zapata control regions still
               1. Villa eventually defeated by Alvaro Obregon
      4. How is Mexico like other agrarian nations?
         1. Try to industrialize w/ foreign capital – bad idea
            1. Problem – when money dries up, problem
            2. Citizens annoyed – become nationalistic
      5. Changes due to Mexican Revolution
         1. Mexican Constitution – 1917 – land reform, foreign ownership, workers
            1. Educational reforms
            2. Restricted clerical education/property ownership
            3. Changes come slowly
   2. Culture and Politics in Postrevolutionary Mexico
      1. Nationalism, indigenism – helping natives
         1. We’ve treated them like garbage for centuries, let’s change our depiction
            1. Changes art, education
               1. Communism + Christianity + Indian past
         2. Patriotic/Nationalistic songs
      2. Ideology
         1. Some communist-like, anti-religion – want to secularize
         2. Conservative backlash – Cristerors and Catholic Church resist
      3. US intervenes
         1. Pancho Villa Invades the United States!!!!!
         2. Fear of Germans – access to oil
      4. Attempts to maintain continuity – no more chaos
         1. One party system – Party of the Institutionalized Revolution
         2. Presidents look like a caudillo, smell like a caudillo, but only 6 year terms
   3. Revolution in Russia:
      1. Liberalism to Communism
   4. Stabilization of Russia's Communist Regime
      1. How did Russia restore order?
         1. Trotsky improves army – generals and soldiers (taken from the lowest low)
         2. Lenin’s New Economic Policy – middle option before communism
            1. Gave freedom to small businesses and peasant landowners
               1. Yeayy…we now have a reason to work
            2. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
               1. Federalist system made of socialist states
               2. Many nationalities given say, but…central gov’t still calls the shots
            3. Is this a republican government?
               1. Well…it has a parliament and voters, but…
               2. No second political party
               3. In reality, just an updated authoritarian structure
                  1. New and improved secret police
   5. Soviet Experimentation
      1. How was civil society created?
         1. Youth, women’s, worker’s groups discuss topics/influence management
         2. Education started to spread > literacy
         3. Conflict between conservative old and new values/teachings
      2. Who succeeds Lenin?
         1. Stalin is brilliant, beats out frontman Trotsky
      3. How was Stalin different than Lenin?
         1. Believed in protecting Russia, not spreading communism
            1. Unlike Comintern’s goals
         2. Rival leaders/visions killed/expelled
         3. Collectivized farms from peasants
      4. Was it a revolution?
         1. New types of leaders at army, bureaucracy, central gov’t
         2. Gone was the aristocracy
   6. Toward Revolution in China
      1. Puyi abdication symbolic end to century of peasant uprisings and foreign control
      2. Who would rule next?
         1. Coalition of students, middle class, secret societies, military split apart
         2. Military commanders have best chance
            1. Made alliances and ruled regions for decades
               1. Yuan Shikai – primary example
      3. Merchants/bankers in Shanghai/Canton had power
      4. University students/intellectuals – great ideas, no power
      5. Secret societies want return to Chinese monarchy
      6. Foreign powers want to take advantage of situation – Japan for example
   7. China's May Fourth Movement and the Rise of the Marxist Alternative
      1. How successful was China at a republic?
         1. Sun Yat-sen – father of China – tries parliament with cabinests, but…
            1. Outside cities, no one really in favor
      2. Warlord Yuan Shikai has more power
         1. Kills opposition, but…
         2. Eventually, Japanese and rival warlords topple him
            1. Yuan doesn’t deal with WWI Japanese threat
            2. 1916 gives up presidency > power vacuum
            3. Post WWI
               1. Japan takes N. China, Chinese angered
               2. May 4th Movement – students + intellectuals go for democracy
                  1. Favored Westernization over Confucianism/Chinese tradition
                  2. Rights to women, easier Chinese script, individualism
               3. Hey…do you notice a class of culture yet again?
                  1. Liberal changes vs. conservative backlash
            4. Why didn’t liberal reforms work?
               1. Warlords control everything
               2. People dying, need immediate change, not promises
                  1. Democracy takes a long time – debate
            5. So…what about Communism?
               1. Maybe take Marxist ideas and modify them
               2. Hard to have a revolution against industrialization, when its peasant
               3. Li Dazhao sees power of organizing youth
                  1. So…proletariat now equals – peasants + workers
                  2. Why was Li attractive?
                     1. Those felt betrayed by imperialist powers
                     2. Anti merchants/commerce
                     3. Return to social reform/social welfare
                  3. So…summer 1921, meet and form Communist party
   8. The Seizure of Power by China's Guomindang
      1. Nationalist Party hanging on to control through early 1920s
         1. Build an army, start making alliances with social groups
         2. Unfortunately, focused on political/foreign issues, forgot to feed the people
         3. Made pact with Communists, used them for connection to peasants
      2. Enter the Whampoa Military Academy
         1. Chian Kai-shek in control
            1. Gradually increased power
            2. Hopes to be able to confront communists and warlords
            3. Umm…did people forget about the peasants?
         2. 90% of population starving to death after century of exploitation/neglect
   9. Mao and the Peasant Option
      1. Chiang Kai-shek starts defeating warlords one at a time
         1. Takes over regions, becomes head of warlord hierarchy
         2. Attacks Communists – detaches heads from torsos
         3. And…gets support from Europe and United States…why?
            1. Because he’s not communist
            2. But Mao takes a Long March north
               1. Mao becomes undisputed leader of Communists
            3. Eventually Chiang Kai-shek has to ask Communists for help pushing out Japanese
5. Global Connections:
   1. Globalization retreated, but world still connected through:
      1. League of Nations – potential meeting ground to settle disputes
         1. International Labor Office tried to help working conditions
      2. Hollywood, culture spread across region
6. But…
   1. US and Russia becoming isolated – set up barriers from rest of world – tariffs
   2. Japan expands army
   3. Nationalism increases – more rivalries with other nations