HISTORY OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Name
Institution
History of Western Civilization
The Great Depression
In October 1929, America’s stock market crashed, thus began the spiral of the economy in the country. The Great Depression refers to the time in history where America experienced the worst economic downturn, which lasted from 1929 to 1939 (History.com Editors, 2009). The following are causes of the Great Depression: First, the stock market crashed. This came after the historic expansion in the early 1920s. With the rise in stock prices, people took the opportunity to invest. In October 1929, the worst began to happen; stock prices rapidly declined, sending the stockholders into a frenzy. Secondly, banks started to panic in 1930-1932 as customers started withdrawing their money for fear that they would lose it. Banks had less money to lend due to the decrease in consumer investments (Duignan, n.d.). Thirdly, the country’s gold standard took a plunge.
The Great Depression shook the confidence of the American government, thus, affecting their politics. President Herbert Hoover recommended Laissez-faire economics to be applied, and it failed; hence he was outed. Franklin Roosevelt voted who proposed the application of Keynesian economics, which worked, and slowly the economy began improving.
The looming world was said to be what ended the Great Depression. During that time, over 12million Americans were deployed to war zones; this reduced unemployment, seemingly sustaining the citizens who had lost their jobs earlier due to the Great Depression.
Totalitarian regimes of Europe
Totalitarianism refers to a form of rule in which the government maintains total control over the country and dictates every aspect of the nation and the citizens. This form of government aims to have complete control over people. The application of this regime differed depending on the country. The Nazi Germany under the rule of Adolf Hitler, 1933-1939. Once Hitler assumed power in 1933, he assumed complete control over the entire country and no one would go against him as they would face execution or imprisonment. The Nazi, under hitler’s command terrorized people with the aim to control them. The Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin (1924-1953) is also an example of a totalitarian regime.
Characteristics of Nazism
Nazism is a totalitarian regime led by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. It was led by racial hierarchy and there was no equality amongst the people. German Aryans held positions of power and were considered important, the Jews on the other hand, were considered the lowest of the lowest.
Characteristics of Fascism
Fascism refers to a centralized form of government that work for a totalitarian one-party state, and is governed by a one-party dictatorship. This regime was applied in Italy (1922-1943). The Italian government was autocratic, racist and militaristic. The fascist parties applied militaristic nationalism and they abhorred the idea of democratic form of leadership. The believed in hierarchy and elite rules, in that they stated what they wanted disregarding the subordinates.
Adolf Hitler taking over Germany
In 1914, the World War 1 began, Hitler joins the army. He then gets promoted to corporal and was decorated with the iron cross for his services during the battle. Hitler believed that he had found his calling in the army, thus was appointed to the intelligence section, in 1919 where he went through political training (The OpenLearn team, 2005). He was in charge of spying on small political parties and acted as an informer. In 1920, he left the army and joined the German Worker’s Party where he was responsible for publicity and propaganda. He later changed the party’s name to Nazi which held hatred for the politicians who signed the Versailles treaty.
In 1921 Hitler becomes the leader of the Nazi after challenging Anton Drexler. Together with the right-wing faction, hitler marched to the Beer Hall to take over the meeting that was being held by the Bavarian politicians. In 1932, hitler becomes a German citizen, thus was able to run for presidency against Hindenburg. He later became the Chancellor of the coalition government in February 1933, the same month in which they destroyed the German Reichstag and blamed it on the communists, this led to elections being held. March 1933, Hitler gains the powers of legislation making him a dictator.
The fall of the Weimar Republic
First, the declining of the economy proved to be a challenge facing the Weimar Republic. It caused depression within the country in that they lost the motivation to recover. Secondly, people were not satisfied with the signing of the treaties and this led them to side with the Nazis. In 1923, the government failed to make their deliveries of coal and other products and this angered the other countries thus causing the economy to sink even deeper as the Weimar government had to print more bank notes so as to pay workers.
Governing policies of Joseph Stalin in the 1930s.
Stalin’s policies developed in the Soviet Union focused on Industrialization, a totalitarian state, subordination of foreign communist parties, the theory of socialism in a country, and agriculture.
Events in the Soviet Union during Joseph Stalin in the 1930s
In 1933, the recognition of the Soviet Union by the U.S and later in 1934, the Soviet Union admitted to the league of Nations (BBC news, 2013). The communists plotting against Stalin’s regime in 1936-1938, which saw them being sentenced to death. In 1939, aggression pact between the Nazi and the Soviet Union comes to an end and German invades Poland initiating the World War 2. Russian- finish war in 1939-1940.
Causes of World War 2 and events in the 1930s that led to it.
German was forced to sign the Versailles treaty after the end of World War 1 by the allied powers. The Economic depression in the late 1920s which led to people losing their jobs, trade reducing and business falling. Citizens looked to their strong political leader to resolve their problems. Germans militarism under the leadership of Adolf Hitler in 1933 and later the formation of the Axis powers in 1936. The German’s invading Poland in 1939 after breaking the Munich Agreement, this led to Britain and France declaring war on German, thus World War 2 begun.
References
BBCnews. (2013). Soviet Union timeline. BBC News. Retrieved 22 May 2020, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17858981.
Duignan, B. Causes of the Great Depression. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 May 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/story/causes-of-the-great-depression.
History.com Editors. (2009). Great Depression History. History.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020, from https://www.history.com/topics/great-depression/great-depression-history.
Lcps.org. Retrieved 22 May 2020, from https://www.lcps.org/cms/lib/VA01000195/Centricity/Domain/10599/Causes%20of%20WWII.pdf.
The OpenLearn team. (2005). Hitler’s rise and fall: Timeline. OpenLearn. Retrieved 22 May 2020, from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/hitlers-rise-and-fall-timeline.