C29: The 20 Year Crisis

US was diplomatically isolated for two decades b/c senate rejected the League of Nations

Isolation broken --> Us intervenes in Mexican revolution, motivated by fear of german influence; mission failed

leads to communist scare in the US; red scare

most western euro countries = increasing political extremism; communist parties supported by war vets

facism came about in the 19th century w/ groups disenchanted with liberal, parliamentary powers; power > economy & class struggle

nationalists hated that italy got so little out of ww1; labor unrest; incapable of decisive measures; political divisions → mussolini rise

east central europe control - began with parliaments excited about nationalism; rivalries amongst these small euro nations → weak countries diplomatically and economically → authoritarianism through dictator or monarch’s seizure of power; heavily dependent on sales to W europe

Key support support through aristocratic estate owners who tried to repress peasant movements in Argentina

Russian government became headed by the Council of People's Commissars; Lenin went to them for vote on seizure of power, however the power of the group weakened and changed

Russia's government regains stability w/ the Red Army under the leadership of Leon Trotsky; Union of Soviet Socialist Republics = new capital system in Moscow - dominance of ethnic Russians preserved

Stalin takes over; strongly national communism; revolutionary forces cut back under him in order to make a difference in Russian developments; accelerated industrialization through new collectivization program
He wanted modernization but with a communist and noncapitalist twist

Support increased during the GD b/c of economic problems

Germany was a breeding ground for facism; Hitler repeated these arguments about need for unity and hopeless weakness of oarliamentary politics --> totalitarian state - massive and direct control over all activities, eliminating all opposition parties with the secret police, Gestapo;

Spread of Facism to Spain; leads to Spanish Civil War backing parlimentary republic & social reform vs. communism; included many different social groups

authoritarian government took over japan but pol divisions increased --> militaristic rule within prime ministers

Stalin took new controls over intellectual life; controlling classes activities, main focus in schools was socialist realism

Liberalism was not deep in Russia, however Alexander Kerensky was eager, like other revolutionary leaders, to see parliamentary rule

By October, 2nd Rev - Bolshivek wing of the Social Democratic Party/Communist Party & Vladimir Lenin as the leaderde

Germans conquered West Russia b/c of a treaty signed by Lenin, did not comply with the Treaty of Versailles

1918-1921 - civil war upheavals; communist regime V tsarist generals, religiously faithful peasants, and minority nationalities

Bolshiveks established a new political regime, combining tsarist powers and bureaucracy

Fal of Qing --> struggle for power; contenders were warlords, middle class politians, japanese intruders, and eventually take over by the Chinese Communist party

most successful clique was Yuan Shikai, wanted to seize Manchu throne and created a new era; intellectuals worked together to work through post-Qing China; Yuan was on his way to becoming emperor despite opposition;

japanese are a cause of the long, bloody battle for Chinese mastery & were eager to join the Western Alliance in battling Germany

Li Dazhao called for a reworking of Marxist ideas to fit China's situation; shifted from orthodox Marxist methods = appeal to Mao Zedong, a member of his study group

organized Long March to Chiang, another communist sector

Guomindang, head of the nationalist party, was struggling in the south; found alliances with key social groups; need to unify under one gov; Whampoa Military Academy founded for Nationalists w/ first head Chiang kai-shek, worked his way to the inner circle

mexican revolution caused by internal forces & WWI; elimination of euro goods disrupts econ

Porfirio Diaz - economic changes, foreign concessions in mining, railroads, and other sectors; haciendas ruled; corruption across nation, repressive to american indians, workers, peasants

Victoriano Huerta sought to impose a diaz dictatorship supported by large landowners, the army, and the foreign companies

Pancho Villa was the commander of the farmers, railworkers, and cowboys of the north; in the south a peasant based group started under Emiliano Zapata, goal was for land reform → diaz driven from power & madero could not resolve social probs; zapata rose & madero lost control → military coup

Alwaro Obregon a general mastered trench war & weaponry, beat villa’s cavalry → leader of the government
1920, war ends, Obregon becomes pres & then followed by revolutionary era; Mexican Constitution of 1917 - land reform, limited foreign ownership of keu resource and guaranteed the rights of workers; organized workers in natl confed

secularization of society → opposition from the catholic church; 1920s conservative peasant movement backed by the church erupted in central mexico (Cristeros)

1920s-30s = liberalism; an expression of ideas not suited to the realities of the Latin American people; industrialization in their case did not decrease class boundaries
Corporatism curbed capitalism and avoided Marxist ideas; emphasized organic nature of society
reforming admin = Lazaro Cardenas - redistrubted land and took care of social problems

Getulio Varagas = pres of Brazil in short civil war; promised liberal reforms, but launched centralized power program

the dominions registered export growth and pop gains from imm.; australia in in 1901

us economy rapidly increased in the 20s (cultural exports - music, films, hollywood)

japanese industrialization; agricultural output w/ fertilizers, mechanical equipment; dependent on cheap exports to west for imports of fuel

e euro = agriculture & dependent on W euro; hit hard by the collapse of ag prices in 1920s

labor agitation increased under syndicalism, sought to use a general strike to seize power → major strikes in Argentina

us emerges as top econ power & it greatly influenced the economy

Russian economy declined during the civil war b/c of Lenin's efforts to industrialize --> famine and unemployment

the New Economic Policy promising freedm of action for small business owners and peasants --> food production recovery

The Great Depression began in 1929
overproduction in the Western world; borrowed heavily new equipment; lowered earning; leads to decreased production on low levels

responses: national tariffs; cut of gov spending --> worse of econ

led to either 1) a parliamentary system that became increasignly incapacitated 2)outright verturning of the parliamentary system

Popular Front was formed by liberal, socialist, and communist parties; uneffective
New Deal offered direct action, public works projects, jobs, Social Security System --> period of rapid growth

japanese economics during the militant period were declining; starving children, etc; half of the factories were closed by 1931 but generally suffered way less than Western nations did in the GD

Industrialization can be increased through taxation, resources from peasants (stalin's example)
Stalin's approach to industry was flawless; a system of five-year plans were instituted, planning commission began to set clear priorities for ind. development