Unit 8 (1900-Present) World War I Flashcards
Europe’s Great Powers
Germany, Austria Hungary, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, France
Rivalry over industry
-Great Britain was home of the Industrial Revolution and had long been the leader of industry, finance, and shipping
-After 1850, countries like Germany began to challenge Britain’s power with its quickly growing economy
Rivalries over territorial disputes
-France had never gotten over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War (1870)
-Austria-Hungary and Russia both tried to dominate the Balkans, which had lots of nationalist groups (Serbs, Bulgarians, Romanians)
Imperialism leading to conflict
-European nations fiercely competed for colonies in Africa and Asia, sometimes bringing them to the brink of war
-In 1905 and 1911, Germany and France nearly fought over control of Morocco, but Germany stepped down bc most of Europe supported France
Militarism
-Policy of glorifying military power and keeping an army prepared for war
-Arms race in Europe, nations thought a great military was necessary for true greatness
-Generals developed complex plans for quick mobilization of troops
Otto van Bismarck
-Used war from 1864 to 1871 to unify Germany
-Once unified, turned his energy to maintaining peace
-Saw France as the greatest threat to peace (thought they were still mad about Franco-Prussian War) so he wanted to take away potential allies
-Formed the Triple Alliance in 1882 (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy)
-Made a treaty with Russia in 1887, taking another possible ally away from France
Kaiser Wilhelm II
-Forced Bismarck to resign in 1890
-Dramatically changed Germany’s foreign policy
-Let Germany’s treaty with Russia lapse in 1890
—Russia responded by allying with France in 1891 (very bad for Germany, could be facing a two front war)
-Challenged Britain by building a small colonial empire (1890s) and starting a huge shipbuilding program in an effort to make the German navy equal to Britain’s
—-Britain, in response, englarged their fleet and entered an alliance with France (1904) and later with France and Russia (Triple Entente)
Two rival groups in Europe by 1907
Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
Triple Entente: Great Britain, France, Russia
Balkans
-Mountainous peninsula in SE Europe
-Assortment of ethnic groups, history of nationalist uprisings and ethnic clashes
-Balkan groups broke away by 1900s because of weak Ottoman Empire (Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia)
Serbia wants to absorb the Slavs in the Balkans
-Russia supports this, Austria feels threatened
-In 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina (large Slavic populations), angering Serbian leaders
-Russia offered to support Serbia in this, but backed down when Germany backed Austria
-Serbia gained more territory and confidence by 1914, eager to take Bosnia and Herzegovina from Austria
Franz Ferdinand
-Killed along with his wife on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo (capital of Bosnia)
-Shot by Gavrilo Princip, 19 year old Serbian man who was a part of the Black Hand (secret society committed to ridding Bosnia of Austrian rule)
-Austria used this murder as an excuse to punish Serbia, German offered their unconditional support
Austria gives Serbia an ultimatum
-Demanded things like ending all anti-Austrian activiy and allowing Austrian officials in to investigate the murder
-Agreed to most, asked to negotiate the rest, Austria rejects this request for negotiation
-Russia (Serbian ally) moves troops towards Austria
-British, Italian, and even Kaiser Wilhelm urged Austria and Russia to negotiate, but it was too late
Paris Peace Conference
-1919 meeting at Versailles to figure out how to ensure peace going forwards
-Major decisions made by the Big Four: Woodrow Wilson (US), Georges Clemenceau (France), David Lloyd George (Britain), and Vittorio Orlando (Italy)
-
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
-Started making them before the war was even over
First five: no secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, reduced national armies and navies, and the adjustment of colonial claims with fairness for colonial people
6-13: specific border changes/new nations created, guided by the principle of self determination
14th: for there to be a “general association of nations” that would protect both large and small countries
Disagreements with Wilson
- Britain and France didn’t agree with Wilson, they were more concerned about national security and weakening Germany
-Clemenceau + the French were especially supportive of punishing Germany bc so much of the war happened on french soil
Treaty of Versailles
Compromise that was finally reached between the Allies and Germany, signed on June 28, 1919
League of Nations
-Created by Treaty of Versailles, followed Wilson’s 14th point
-International association whose goal was to keep peace among nations
-The Allied Powers (US, GB, France, Italy, Japan) were permanent members of the Executive council
-General assembly made up of reps from 32 allied and neutral nations
-Germany was excluded and so was Russia (they had quickly withdrawn from the war, outcast from allies)
How did the Treaty of Versailles punish Germany?
-Taking away territory
-Put military restrictions on them
-Article 231 “war guilt clause” said Germany was responsible for the war and had to pay reparations
-All their African and Pacific colonies were taken and administered by the Allies until deemed fit for independence (mandate system)
New Countries Created
-Out of the Austro-Hungarian Empire came Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia
-The Ottoman Turks only retained Turkey. Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan were given to Britain.
Syria and Lebanon went to France
-Romania and Poland gained Russian land, and Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became independent
Why did Americans reject the Treaty of Versailles?
-Many Americans didn’t like Wilson’s League of Nations bc they thought to the best path to peace was staying out of European affairs
Other discontent caused by the treaty of Versailles
-Germans were mad about the war guilt clause
-People in the mandated colonies were mad at the Allies’s disregard for their desire for independence (European colonialism continued through the mandate system)
- Some allies like Japan and Italy felt like they didn’t get much out of the deal
Cost of WW1
-8.5 million soldiers died, 21 million injured
-Countless civilians died (starvation, disease, slaughter)
-Cost Europe $338 billion
-Destroyed farmland, houses, villages, and towns
The Lost Generation
-People had feelings of disillusionment over the pointlessness of the war
-Insecurity and despair represented in the art and literature of the time (eg Anna Akhmatova poem)
Lawrence of Arabia
-British military officer
-Sent by the British Army in Egypt to try to unite the warring Arab tribes against the Ottomans
-Worked with Prince Feisal and local chiefs to make the Arabs a fighting force
-Led raids on Ottoman railroads
-Thought an Arab state would be created after the war (didn’t)
-Britain defeated Ottomans with Arab help, but made Middle East part of the mandate system
Balfour Declaration
-Letter sent during WW1 from a British diplomat to a prominent Jewish family (Rothschild)
-Asked for support in WWI in exchange for Britain supporting the Zionist movement
-Also supported the idea of creating an Arab state to motivate them to fight the Ottomans
—-Problem was, they were promising Jews and Arabs the same land
Zionist movement
Form of Jewish nationalism started by writer Theodore Herzel
-Gained momentum in early 1900s
-Goal was to create a state for Jews (many western) in their ancient homeland Palestine
Palestine
-Ruled by Britain as a mandate until WWII
-Constant fighting between Jews and Arabs
-In 1948, Britain, US, and the United Nations supported the creation of Israel as a Jewish state
—Arab countries attacked them as a result of this, they felt betrayed by the west after yet another world war
Sykes-Picot Treaty (1916)
Secret agreement between Britain and France to divide the Middle East among themselves
Mandate system
-Europeans controlled places like the Middle East until a European board reviewed it and said it could become free
-By the 1930s, conservative monarchies like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Egypt were made independent because they were friendly to the west
China and WWI
-Believed they would receive land from the German colonies in China, but the Treaty of Versailles gave them to Japan, leading to anger and resentment
-May 4th movement, symbolized nationalism in China, political groups hoping for a more independent China
Japan and WWI
-Had allied with Britain in the war
-Expected more land in exchange
-Fueled Japanese nationalism
India and WWI
-Believed it would receive democratic reforms bc they helped Britain with soldiers and supplies during the war
-Instead the British passed a law preventing large gatherings of Indians
-Indians gather to protest, British army opened fire on them (Amritsar Massacre)
—-Started the Indian independence movement
Alexander III
-Son of reform minded Alexander II
-Halted all reforms in Russia
-Wanted an autocracy (gov w/ total power)
-“Autocracy, Orthodoxy, Nationality”
—-If you questioned the czar, didn’t worship Russian Orthodox, or spoke languages other than Russian, you were flagged as dangerous
-Censored published things, written docs, letters
-Secret police watched secondary schools and universities
-Exiled political prisoners to Siberia
-Wanted a uniform Russian culture (Russian made official language, no speaking other languages in schools)
-Harsh treatment of Jews
Alexander III and Jews
-He targeted them
-Subjected them to harsh laws: can’t buy land or live among other Russians
-Had universities set quotas on amount of Jews
-Pogroms: organized violence against Jews, broke out around Russia, police and soldiers stood by as people destroyed Jewish homes, stores, synagogues
Nicholas II
-Alexander III’s son
-Became czar in 1894 and vowed to continue autocratic rule, blinded to the changing times, refused to see it
Sergey Witte
-One of Nicholas II’s ministers
-Launched a program that increased taxes to finance industrialization
-By 1900, Russia was the worlds’s 4th biggest steel producer (US, Germany, Britain before)
-Pushed for the building of the Trans-Siberian Railway
Trans-Siberian Railway
-World’s longest continuous rail line
-Construction started in 1891, finished in 1904
-Helped by British and French investors
-Connected European Russia in the west with Russia’s Pacific Ocean ports in the east
Industrialization brings problems
-Poor working conditions
-Low wages
-Child labor
-Gap between rich and poor
-Despite unions being outlawed, factory and railway workers organized strikes
Russian Marxists two groups
Mensheviks- wanted popular support for revolutions, gradual change, etc
Bolsheviks- Supported a small number of committed revolutionaries willing to sacrifice everything
Lenin
-Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
-Leader of the Bolsheviks
-Engaging personality, excellent organizer, ruthless
-Fled to western Europe in early 1900s to avoid arrest, stayed in contact with Bolsheviks, but waited out of Russia
Russo-Japanese War
-Late 1800s
-Russia and Japan competed for control over Korea and Manchuria, signed treaties, Russia broke them
-Japan attacked Russians in Manchuria in 1904, Japanese lose
-Caused unrest in Russia
Bloody Sunday/Revolution of 1905
-200,000 workers and their families approached the czar’s winter palace in St. Petersburg
-They carried a petition asking for better working conditions, more personal freedom, and an elected national legislature
-General and police chiefs ordered their soldiers to fire on the crowd
—-500-1000 unarmed people died
-Lenin called it the “dress rehearsal” for the later revolution
Duma
-Reluctantly approved by Nicholas after Bloody Sunday
-1st Russian Parliament
-Met in May 1906
-Led by moderates wanting to make Russia a constitutional monarchy
-Dissolved by Nicholas
-More would meet, none had enough power for big reforms
Russia enters WWI
-Nicholas brings them into it in 1914 despite the fact that Russia didn’t have strong generals and troops, especially compared to Germany (they had machine guns, etc)
-4 million Russians killed/wounded/taken prisoner in the first year, showed weaknesses of czarist rule and military leadership
Czarina Alexandra
-Left to run the gov when Nicholas moved to the war front in 1915, hoping to rally the troops
-Ignored the czar’s chief advisors, instead fell under the influence of Rasputin
Rasputin
-“Holy man” who claimed to have healing powers
-Seemed to help their son Alexis’s hemophilia, so Alexandra let him make political decisions out of gratitude
-Opposed reforms, promoted his friends, spread corruption
-Killed in 1916 by a group of nobles
The March Revolution
-March 1917- women textile workers led citywide strike in Petrograd
-More riots over bread and fuel shortages
-200,000 workers swarmed the streets, soldiers joined in eventually and fired at their commanding officers
-Exploded into a general uprising
-Forced czar Nicholas II to abdicate the throne (eventually him and his family were killed)
—-Czarist rule of the Romanovs (over 300 years) had finally collapsed, but a strong gov wasn’t created to replace it
Provisional Government
-Leaders of the Duma established it after the March Revolution
-Led by Alexander Kerensky, who eventually lost support because he decided to keep fighting WWI
Soviets
-Local councils of workers, peasants, and soldiers (social revolutionists)
-Often had more influence than the provisional gov (eg. in Petrograd)
Lenin returning to Russia
-Germans arranged for Lenin’s return to Russia
-They did this because they believed it would cause unrest in Russia that would hurt Russia in their war efforts
-Returned to Petrograd in 1917
Bolshevik Revolution
-Lenin and the Bolsheviks gained control of the Petrograd soviet and the soviets of other major cities
-By late 1917, people were shouting “All power to the soviets” and “peace, land, and bread”
-Bolshevik red guards made up of armed factory workers stormed the winter Palace in Petrograd
-Took over gov offices and arrested the provisional gov’s leaders
-Over in just a few hours, Kerensky and the others quickly disappeared
Lenin’s first actions in gov
-All farmland distributed among the peasants
-Control of factories given to the workers
-Signed a truce with Germany to stop fighting on the eastern front and begin peace talks
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
Russia had to surrender a lot of territory to Germany and its allies to bring peace, which angered Russians and turned them against the Bolsheviks
Civil war in Russia
-White Army (opposed Bolsheviks) vs Red Army (Bolsheviks, led by Leon Trotsky)
-Several western nations including the US sent military aid and forces to help the White Army
-In the 3 year struggle and the following famine, 15 million Russians died (fighting, hunger, flu epidemic)
-Red Army won, showing that the Bolsheviks could both seize power and maintain it
Effects of war on Russia’s economy
-Trade at a standstill
-Industrial production decreased
-Skilled workers fled to other countries
-Lenin shifted his role to addressing this
New Economic Policy (NEP)
-Launched by Lenin in 1921
-Put aside the plan of a state controlled economy; instead it put in place a small-scale form of capitalism
-Peasants allowed to sell their surplus crops instead of handing them in to the gov
-Individuals could now buy and sell good for profit
-Lenin encouraged foreign investment
-Gov still controlled major industries, banks, and means of communication
—However, some small factories, businesses, and farms allowed to operate under private ownership
Lenin’s political reforms
-To keep nationalism in check, he organized Russia into several self-governing republics under the central gov
—-In 1922, the country was named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
—-Each republic controlled from the new capital- Moscow
-Bolsheviks renamed their party to the Communist Part bc of Karl Marx
-Communists created a constitution based on socialist and democratic principles, but in reality, the Communist party held all the power (not really a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’)
Who were the communist leaders vying for power after Lenin’s death in 1924?
Troksky
-Brilliant Marxist thinker, skillful speaker, architect of the Bolshevik Revolution
Joseph Stalin
-Not a scholar nor an orator
-Shrewd political operator and behind the scenes organizer
Joseph Stalin
-Born Joseph Djugashvili to a poor family in Georgia
-Was going to be a priest but then took an interest in revolutions, read about French rev., etc
-By 1980, he had joined the Bolsheviks
—Helped organize robberies to get money for the party
—Had spent time in prison and in Siberian exile
-Became general secretary of the party in the 1920s
—-Built loyal group of communist officials who owed their jobs to him
-Lenin doubted him, said he was too rude and ambitious
-Isolated Trotsky from potential supporters, Trotsky ended up leaving the country
Trotsky and Stalin’s different views
-Trotsky was a firm Marxist and urged support for a worldwide revolution against capitalism
-Stalin instead wanted to just focus on building socialism at home first
Stalin’s Five Year Plan
-Plan to make the Soviet Union a modern industrial power
-First proposed in 1928
-Aimed at building heavy industry, improving transport, and increasing farm output
-Made the soviet union a command economy (gov owned all businesses and allocated resources (opposite of capitalism)
Soviet Union industrialization
-Bonuses to those who did well, punished those who didn’t
-1920/30s had new large factories, hydroelectric power stations, industrial complexes, oil steel and coal production, more mining, new railroads
-Some peasants could improve their lives by becoming skilled factory workers or managers
-For most, standard of living was bad (low wages, consumer goods were scarce, not equal distribution of resources, low quality goods since just trying to make the quota)
-Overall, did well in heavy industry (eg farm machinery) but lagged behind the capitalist world in consumer goods
Collectives
-Large farms owned and operated by peasants as a group
-Made peasants give up their private plots and work on these instead
-They could keep their houses and personal belongings, but had to give animals and tools to the collective
-State set prices and controlled access to farm supplies
-Gov planned to provide tractors, fertilizers, and better seed, and to teach them modern farm methods
-Gov needed to increase grain output to feed workers in the cities and to sell abroad
-Peasants resisted (killed animals, destroyed tools, burned crops)
-Gov responded with brutal force
-Wanted to destroy kulaks (wealthy peasants), took their land and sent them to labor camps
-Lots of starvation (gov took food they needed to eat)
Didn’t really improve farm outputs (a little better on grain, but not meat, fruit, or vegetables
Great Purge
-Launched in 1934
-Stalin and secret police cracked down on Old Bolsheviks, army heroes, industrial managers, writers, and normal citizens
-Charged with crimes like counterrevolutionary plots, failure to meet quotas, etc
-“show trials” where Communist leaders confessed to things after being tortured, sent to labor camps or killed without real trial
-This was done to replace old revolutionaries with young, loyal to Stalin ones
-Partially backfired- Stalin lost military support bc victims of the purge were often military officers
Two goals of Soviet foreign policy
- As communists, they wanted to bring about Marx’s worldwide revolution
- As Russians, they wanted security for their country by winning other nations’ support
Since these were contrasting, they resulted in unsuccessful foreign policy
Comintern
-Communist International
-Aided revolutionary groups around the world and urged people to rise up against imperialist powers
-Lots of propaganda- made countries like US and Britain suspicious of them
Totalitarian state
-One party dictatorship, controlled every aspect of life
-What the Soviet Union was, despite Marx’s prediction that the state would wither away under communism
Terror under Stalin
-Secret police
-Censorship
-Violent purges
-Opened private letters, planted listening devices, needed approval before anything printed
-People sent to labor camps (many died) for disagreeing
Propaganda
-Radio and loudspeakers in factories and villages
-Movies, theater, schools preached of communist successes and the evils of capitalism
-Newsreels and newspapers showed large harvests, hydroelectric dams, misery of capitalist workers in the west
-Billboards and posters urging workers to exceed production quotas
-Communist newspaper called Pravda “truth”
-Nationalism: Statues of heroes, etc
Religion under Stalin
-In accordance with Marx, atheism became the official state policy
-Communists targeted the Russian Orthodox Church, seized their property, turned churches into offices and museums, killed or sent to camps priests
-Roman Catholics also targeted
-Jewish synagogues seized and Hebrew banned
-Muslims had fewer restrictions bc they wanted support from colonized ppl in the Middle East)
-Religion replaced by Communist ideology, had their own “sacred” texts, shrines (tomb of Lenin), portraits of Stalin, etc
New elite in Soviet society
-Head of society were communist party members
—Many joined just to get ahead, not because they actually agreed with the ideology
—Only a fraction of citizens were allowed to join
-Elite also included industrial managers, military leaders, scientists, some artists and writers
-Had many benefits: best apartments in cities, vacation homes in the country, special stores for scarce consumer goods
Social benefits and drawbacks
-Free education, medical care, day care, cheap housing, public recreation
-Standard of living low because housing was scarce (industrialization led to crowded cities)
-Though bread was plentiful, meat, fruit, etc was scarce
Education in soviet union
-Schools built, required attendance, also built universities and technical schools
-Created educated workers and taught communist values
-Outside of school programs- sports, cultural activities, political classes, parades, etc
Women in soviet union
-Lenin’s wife Krupskaya had worked for hte revolution, spread radical ideas to peasants and workers
-Women like Alexandra Kollontai noted how little the party cared about women, one of the only high ranking women in Lenin’s gov and campaigned for women’s rights
-Under communism, women had equality unde rthe law, access to education, jobs (medicine, engineering, science by the 1930s)
-Contributed to economic growh
Socialist realism
-What art had to conform to under Stalin
-Boosting socialism by showing Soviet life in a positive light
-Showed peasants, workers, revolutionary heroes, Stalin, etc
Censorship
-Gov controlled what books were published, what music was heard, which works of art displayed, etc
-Jewish poet Osip Mandelstam imprisoned, tortured, and exiled for criticizing Stalin. Had to write “Ode to Stalin” for his wife’s safety
-Boris Pasternek was afraid to publish anything, instead became a translator of literary works Anna Akhmatova (poet) couldn’t publish her works, secretly wrote “Requiem” about her imprisoned son during the Stalinist terrors
-“And Quiet Flows the Don” by Mikhail Sholokhow told the story of a man who fought in WWI, Russian revolution, and civil war. Later won the Nobel prize in literature
Two groups in India that wanted independence
Indian National Congress
Muslim League
WWI and Indian Nationalism
-Over a million Indians enlisted in the British army because they promised reforms that would lead to self government
-During the war, Britain made decisions favoring more Indians in administration and self government eventually
-When returning from war (1918), still treated as second class citizens, led to violence
Rowlatt Act (1919)
-British passed it to curb dissent
-Allowed the gov to jail protestors without trial for up to two years
-Led to violent protests in Punjab (province with greatest amount of WWI veterans)
Amritsar Massacre
-10,000 Hindus and Muslims flocked to Amritsar (capital of Punjab) in protest against the Rowlatt Act
-Huge festival of prayer and political speeches, nationalist leaders present
-Most people didn’t know that there was a ban on public meetings, but General Reginald Dyer said they were openly defying it, had his troops fire at the crowd
-400 Indians killed and 1200 wounded
-Overnight, this changed millions of Indians from loyal British subjects to nationalists and revolutionaries
Mohandas K. Gandhi
-Attended law school in England
-Developed strategy for battling injustice from his religious background
-Gained millions of followers who referred to him as the Mahatma “Great Soul”
-When Britain didn’t punish the officers who carried out the Amritsar Massacre, he urged the Indian National Congress not to comply with Britain.
Satyagraha
-Civil disobedience/passive resistance in English
-Developed by Gandhi, means refusal to obey unjust laws
-Indian National Congress endorsed civil disobedience and nonviolence as the way to achieve independence in 1920
Indian defiance against British
-Gandhi called Indians to not buy British goods, attend gov. schools, pay British taxes, or vote in elections
-Boycott on British cloth (big source of their wealthy), had people weave their own (he did the same)
-Took an economic toll on Britain (struggle to keep factories and trains running, crowded jails, etc)
-Protests often led to riots, despite Gandhi’s calls for nonviolence (eg 1922 rioters attacking police office, setting officers on fire)
-Thousands arrested by the British (60,000 eventually including Gandhi)
Salt March
-1930 peaceful protest led by Gandhi against the Salt Acts (said Indians could only buy salt form the gov and had to pay sales tax on it)
-Gandhi and followers walked 240 miles to the coast and made their own salt by evaporation seawater
-Continued by demonstrators marching to a salt processing plant, but police officers attacked them with clubs
-Demonstrators remained peaceful, Gandhi earned international support for this
Government of India Act (1935)
-Provided local self-governance and limited democratic elections
-Led India closer to full independence
-Fueled tensions between Muslims and Hindus because Muslims feared Hindus would control India if independent
Turkey after WWI
-Turkey (Anatolia and small strip of land around Istanbul) was all that was left of the Ottoman Empire
-In 1919, Greek soldiers invaded Turkey and threatened to conquer it
—The Turkish sultan, weak and corrupt, was powerless
Mustafa Kemal
-Led Turkish nationalists to overthrow the last Ottoman sultan in 1922
-Became president of the new Republic of Turkey (first republic in SW Asia) in 1923
-Reforms to make Turkey into a modern nation
—-Separated Islamic and national law
—-New European inspired legal system (abolished religious courts)
—-Promoted Western clothing
—-Launched industrialization programs
—-Granted women more freedoms (voting, holding public office, etc)
Persia and WWI
-Before it, Britain and Russia had spheres of influence in it
-After, Britain tried to take all of it
-Caused a nationalist revolt: in 1921, a Persian officer seized power and deposed the shah in 1925
Reza Shah Pahlavi
-Persia’s new leader after the nationalist revolt
-Modernized the country (public schools, roads and railroads, industrialization, women’s rights)
-Kept all the power to himself (unlike Kemal)
-In 1935, changed the name of his country to Iran
Abd al-Azik Ibn Saud
-In 1902, Ibn Saud launched a successful campaign to unify Arabia
-Named in Saudi Arabia (for his family) in 1932
-Carried on Arab and Islamic traditions (eg alcohol was illegal)
-Some modern technology introduced (telephones, radios) but modernization was limited by strict religion)
Oil in SW Asia
-Oil explorations in the 1920s and 1930s led to the discovery of oil deposits in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait (Persian gulf area has 2/3 of the world’s oil)
-Foreign businesses invested guge sums of money to develop them
-Led to dramatic and rapid economic changes and development (eg Saudi Arabia became a nation of wealthy oil exporters)
-Brought profits but also encouraged Western nations to try to dominate this region
US: uneven distribution of wealth
-Richest 5% got 33% of all personal income
-60% of all families earned less than $2000 a year
US: lessening demand for goods
Families too poor to buy goods > lowered production > workers laid off > cycle starts again
US: overproduction
-New methods and machines increased output
-Increased competition (Australia, Latin America, Europe) drove prices down
-Many businesses couldn’t sell for profits, had to shut down
Buying stock on margin
-Paying a small percentage of a stock’s price as a down payment, rest borrowed from a stockbroker
-Only words if stock prices increase
-Common with middle class people
1929 Stock market crash
-Investors started selling stocks rapidly in 1929 bc prices were high, this caused prices to plummet, panic and mass selling ensued, nobody wanted to buy, only sell, 16 million sold on October 29, market collapsed
Unemployment rate in 1933 US
1/4 of all American workers didn’t have a job
Tariff
Tax charged by a gov on imported or exported goods
US policy of protective tariffs
-Put high tariffs on imported goods to protect US industries
-Caused other countries to impose their own (often higher) tariffs
-World trade drops by 65%
What areas hit hard by Great Depression?
-Germany and Austria (bc of war debt and dependence on American loans and investments)
-Asia because value of exports fell by half (farmers and urban workers suffered)
-Latin America (US demand for sugar and beef and copper dropped, causing prices to collapse)
Great Britain response to Great Depression
-Elected a multiparty coalition (the National Government)
-National Government did high protective tariffs, increased taxes, regulated currency, and lowered interest rates (to encourage industrial growth)
-Slow but steady recovery
-Unemployment halved by 1937
-Production rose above 1929 levels
-Avoided political extremes and preserved democracy
France responds to Great Depression
-Moderates, socialist, and communists formed a coalition called the Popular Front in 1936
-Passed a series of reforms to help the workers
-Unfortunately, price increases offset wage gains
-Unemployment remained high
-Did preserve democratic gov though
Scandinavia responds to the Great Depression
-Socialis govs built recovery programs on existing tradition of cooperative community action
-Public works projects (kept people employed, production continued)
-Raised pensions for elderly, increased unemployment insurance, housing subsidies, other welfare benefits
-Raised taxes for these
-Increased jobs, better conditions, democracy kept intact
US responds to the Great Depression
-FDR elected, implements New Deal
-Public works projects (jobs for unemployed)
-New gov agencies (financial help for businesses and farms)
-Welfare and relief programs
-Reformed stock market and banking system
-Restored country’s faith in democracy, established FDR as a leader in democracy
