AP Euro Chapter 26
Explain the impact the loss of faith in reason and progress had on twentieth-century Christian thought.
1. Christian Thought—decades post WWI saw revival of Christianity & religion in general. Prior to WWI, Protestant theologians felt the need to interpret Christian doctrine so as not to contradict evolution, science, and common sense. Some even rejected the miraculous aspects of Christianity. After the war, some theologians began revitalizing Christian beliefs by emphasizing human beings' sinful nature, their need for faith, and the mystery of God's forgiveness. 2. Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)—Danish Christian theologian & author of Sickness unto Death (1849) Argued individuals must take "leap of faith" & accept existence of unknowable but majestic God, since it was impossible for ordinary individuals to prove the existence of God. 3. Karl Barth (1886-1968)—Swiss Protestant theologian, argued human beings were imperfect, sinful creatures, whose reason and will are hopelessly flawed. Religious truth is made known only through God's grace, not through reason. 4. Gabriel Marcel (1887-1973)—French existential Christian who found in the Catholic Church an answer to the postwar "broken world." Catholicism provided hope, humanity, honesty, and piety. Along with Jacques Maritain (1882-1973), Marcel supported closer ties with non-Catholics and spoke out against anti-Semitism. 5. Other Leading Christian Intellectuals—Between 1920 and 1950, T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Evelyn Waugh, Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis, Max Planck, and Arnold Toynbee were either converted to a faith or attracted to religion. VERSUS 1. Science—By the late nineteenth century, science had become a pillar of Western society's optimistic and rationalistic worldview. Unlike religion or philosophy, science was based on hard facts and controlled experiments that provided solutions to problems. This was comforting to people who no longer committed to religious beliefs. KEY AP EURO IDEA: Medical theories and technologies extended life but posed social and moral questions that eluded consensus and crossed religious, political, and philosophical perspectives. (EX: Eugenics, Birth control, Abortion, Fertility treatments, Genetic engineering) 2. Marie Curie (1867-1934) and Pierre Curie (1859-1906)—Physicists who discovered that radium emits subatomic particles and does not have a constant atomic weight. 3. Max Planck (1858-1947)—German physicist who showed that subatomic energy is emitted in uneven spurts ("quanta") and not in a steady stream. His discoveries called into question the old distinction between matter and energy. 4. Albert Einstein (1879-1955)—German-Jewish genius who postulated the theory of special relativity which argued that time and space are relative to the viewpoint of the observer and that only the speed of light is constant. 5. Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937)—Physicist who, in 1919, showed that the atom could be split. By 1944, seven subatomic particles had been identified, the most important being the neutron. This led to the development of the nuclear bomb in which a chain reaction of shattered atoms releases enormous amounts of energy. 6. Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976)—German physicist who, in his "uncertainty principle," argued that nature is unknowable and unpredictable, and that everything was "relative" (dependent on the observer's frame of reference). Ordinary people were drawn to this idea of a relativistic, unstable world. KEY AP EURO IDEA: When World War I began, Europeans were generally confident in the ability of science and technology to address human needs and problems despite the uncertainty created by the new scientific theories and psychology KEY AP EURO IDEA: The challenge to the certainties of the Newtonian universe in physics opened the door to uncertainty in other fields by undermining faith in objective knowledge while also providing the knowledge necessary for the development of nuclear weapons and power. (EX: Einstein)
Describe why and how Nietzsche, Bergson, and Sorel began the revolt against the idea of progress and the general faith in the rational human mind. How did Wittgenstein add to this belief?
1. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)—German philosopher, launched attacks on Enlightenment philosophies (progress, reason, democracy, rationality, & religion). Claimed West was in decline, "God is dead," & only few individuals could free themselves from humdrum thinking of the masses. His ideas became very influential in the 1920s. 2. Henri Bergson (1859-1941)— French philosophy professor, argued immediate experience & intuition were just as important as rational & scientific thinking for understanding reality. 3. Logical Positivism and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)—Logical positivism was a philosophy that sees meaning in only those beliefs that can be empirically proven. (rejects most of the concerns of traditional philosophy, from the existence of God to the meaning of happiness, as nonsense) Theology was deemed useless since religious claims were impossible to prove through logic. Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who in his Essay on Logical Philosophy (1922) argued that philosophy should concentrate on the study of language, which expresses thoughts. KEY AP EURO IDEA: In the later 19th century, a new relativism in values and the loss of confidence in the objectivity of knowledge led to modernism in intellectual and cultural life. Philosophy largely moved from rational interpretations of nature and human society to an emphasis on irrationality and impulse, a view that contributed to the belief that conflict and struggle led to progress. (Ex: Friederich Nitzsche, Henri Bergson, Georges Sorel)
Describe the part played by the United States in the economic and political settlements of the mid-1920s in Europe.
1. The Dawes Plan (1924)—plan proposed by American banker Charles G. Dawes. Accepted by France, Germany, & GB. Reduced Germany's yearly reparations, made payment dependent on economic prosperity, & granted U.S. loans to promote recovery. Germany used these loans to pay France & Britain, who used these payments to pay back war debts they owed to the U.S 2. Political Settlements—Agreements on borders & defense were signed at Locarno, Switzerland, 1925. Germany & France pledged to accept their common border, Germany refused to settle eastern borders which angered Poland and increased political tensions in central Europe. 3. Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)—15 nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact agreeing to "renounce [war] as an instrument of international policy" and settle international disputes peacefully, but it lacked any enforcement measures and could not prevent WWII in 1939.
Identify and explain the causes of the Great Depression.
2. Economic Weaknesses pre-1929—In the U.S, net investment in factories, farms, and equipment fell between 1925 & 1929, even as stock prices rose. The stock market boom was built on money bought "on margin." 1,000s of people started selling all at once to pay off their brokers=financial panic & wiping out investors & speculators. 3. Impact of the Financial Panic—Once the market crashed in 1929, U.S. bankers recalled loans made to many European countries. European businesses had difficulty borrowing money, & Europeans began withdrawing their savings from banks=bank crashes & general financial chaos in Europe. KEY AP EURO IDEA: Dependence on post-WWI American investment capital led to financial collapse when, following the 1929 stock market crash, the United States cut off capital flows to Europe. 4. Crisis of Production—Between 1929 and 1933, the world output of goods fell by 38 percent. Each country tried to manage the crisis alone, going off the gold standard and raising protective tariffs. This limited international trade, and recovery did not begin until 1933. 5. Reasons for the Depression—Poor leadership in the international economy & poor national economic policies (governments cut their budgets when they should have raised them and accepted large deficits). KEY AP EURO IDEA: World War I debt, nationalistic tariff policies, overproduction, depreciated currencies, disrupted trade patterns, and speculation created weaknesses in economies worldwide.
What does Sartre's statement that "man is condemned to be free" mean? How is this thought connected to the existential belief that man must seek to define himself?
4. Existentialism—A new philosophy, embraced by atheists, that stresses meaninglessness of existence & importance of the individual in searching for moral values in uncertain world. It gained widespread acceptance in Germany among postwar university students. 5. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980)—French existentialist, argued "existence precedes essence," (no God-given timeless truths outside of individual existence) However, existentialists recognized that individuals are forced to create their own meaning & define themselves through actions. This gave existentialism an ethical component & stressed individual responsibility/choice. Existentialism gained popularity during and after World War II. KEY AP EURO IDEA: The effects of world war and economic depression undermined this confidence in science and human reason, giving impetus to existentialism and producing postmodernism in the post-1945 period.
Bauhaus
A German interdisciplinary school of fine and applied arts that brought together many leading modern architects, designers, and theatrical innovators
Modernism
A label given to the artistic and cultural movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, which were typified by radical experimentation that challenged traditional forms of artistic expression
Stream-of-consciousness technique
A literary technique, found in works by Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and others, that uses interior monologue -- a character's thoughts and feelings as they occur -- to explore the human psyche
Logical Positivism
A philosophy that sees meaning in only those beliefs that can be empirically proven, and that therefore rejects most of the concerns of traditional philosophy, from the existence of God to the meaning of happiness as nonsense.
Existentialism
A philosophy that stresses the meaningless of existence and the importance of the individual in searching for moral values in an uncertain world.
Popular Front
A short-lived New Deal -- inspired alliance in France led by Leon Blum that encouraged the union movement and launched a far-reaching program of social reform.
The Great Depression
A worldwide economic depression from 1929 to 1939, unique in its severity and duration and with slow and uneven recovery.
Theory of special relativity
Albert Einstein's theory that time and space are relative to the observer and that only the speed of light remains constant.
Dadaism
An artistic movement of the 1920s and 1930s that attacked all accepted standards of art and behavior and delighted in outrageous conduct.
Explain the changes in architecture at this time and discuss the ideas and people who are involved.
Architecture and Design 1. Modernism—A label given to the artistic and cultural movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries typified by radical experimentation that challenged traditional forms of artistic expression. In architecture, Louis H. Sullivan (1856-1924) used steel, concrete, and electric elevators to build skyscrapers in Chicago that lacked exterior ornamentations. Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) built modern houses featuring open interiors, low lines, and mass-produced materials. 2. Functionalism—The belief in modern architecture that buildings and living spaces should be useful and "functional" and should serve the purpose for which they were made. 3. Le Corbusier (1887-1965)—Franco-Swiss architect and champion of modernism who argued that architects should no longer use fancy ornamentation but rather use the clean straight lines of practical construction and efficient machinery. His buildings were usually symmetrical rectangles made of concrete, glass, and steel. 4. Walter Gropius (1883-1969) and the Bauhaus—German architect who established an interdisciplinary school of fine and applied arts, the Bauhaus, to pioneer new trends in modern architecture. It stressed functionalism and good design. The Bauhaus brought together many leading modern architects, designers, and theatrical innovators. 5. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)—Bauhaus director who fled Nazi Germany and designed the Lake Shore apartments in Chicago in the modernist international style between 1948 and 1951.
Freud's view that human beings are basically irrational coincides with the picture of the universe drawn by modern physics. Discuss this relationship between psychology and science.
Civilization and Its Discontents—Freud's book written in 1930 in which he argued that civilization was possible only when individuals renounced their irrational instincts to live peacefully in groups. This made communal life possible but left basic instincts unfulfilled. Thus, Western civilization was inescapably neurotic. For some, such ideas undermined the old optimism about the progressive and rational nature of the human mind. For others, it encouraged the growth of sexual experimentation. ADD INFO ON SCIENCE + PSYCHOLOGY KEY AP EURO IDEA: Freudian psychology offered a new account of human nature that emphasized the role of the irrational and the struggle between the conscious and subconscious.
Department stores epitomized the emergence of what phenomenon in the twentieth century?
Consumer society
Define and analyze the relationship among the id, ego, and superego.
D. Freudian Psychology 1. Freud's Ideas—Freud was convinced that human behavior is essentially irrational and governed by the unconscious. a. Id—The primitive, irrational, unconscious source of sexual, aggressive, pleasure-seeking instincts that was completely amoral. b. Superego—The overly strict and irrational conscience or internalized voice of social or parental control that kept the id in check. c. Ego—The rational self that was mostly conscious that worked to negotiate between the demands of the id and the superego. 2. Freudian Therapy—Freud's "talking cure" often entailed sitting on a couch and sharing the innermost thoughts with the psychoanalyst. This was an attempt to resolve tensions between the id and the superego and restore the ego to its predominant role.
What was a key component of the 1924 Dawes Plan?
Germany's yearly reparations were reduced and linked to its economic output.
Explain how impressionism and expressionism reflect the rationality and irrationality of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, respectively.
New Artistic Movements 1. Visual Art in the WWI Era—Modern painting and sculpture became abstract as artists turned their backs on figurative representation and began to break down form into its constituent parts: lines, shapes, and colors. 2. Impressionism—An early modernist movement based in Paris that tried to portray sensory "impressions" and capture fleeting moments of color and light in often blurry images. The focus was on the surrounding world rather than battles, religious scenes, or wealthy elites. Famous impressionists included Claude Monet (1840-1926), Edgar Degas (1834-1917), and Mary Cassatt (1844-1926), an American who settled in Paris. 3. Postimpressionism and Expressionism—Added a deep psychological element to impressionist motifs of color and light. The most famous of these artists was Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). 4. Cubism—A type of art in the early twentieth century that concentrated on a geometry of zigzagging lines and sharply angled overlapping planes. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was a cubist pioneer. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944) founded futurism, a new art form that would express the modern condition. 5. Dadaism—An artistic movement of the 1920s and 1930s that attacked all accepted standards of art and delighted in outrageous behavior. They created "anti-art," works that were deliberately nonsensical and often shocking. Richard Huelsenbeck (1892-1974) was one of the movement's founders. Its authors also wrote radical and nonsensical manifestos to spread their ideas and challenge conventional assumptions of all kinds. 6. Surrealism—An artistic movement influenced by Freudian psychology that portrayed images of the unconscious, such as wild dreams and uncomfortable symbols. Salvador Dalí (1904-1989) was a famous surrealist. 7. Art and Politics—Art and culture had become politicized by the 1920s, and some artists became Communists and sided with the far left. Under the Nazi regime, hundreds of artists fled to the United States, turning New York into the global capital of modern art after WWII. KEY AP EURO IDEA: Modern art, including Impressionism, Post Impressionism, and Cubism, moved beyond the representational to the subjective, abstract, and expressive and often provoked audiences that believed that art should reflect shared and idealized values such as beauty and patriotism. (Ex: Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh) KEY AP EURO IDEA: New movements in the visual arts, architecture, and music radically shifted existing aesthetic standards, explored subconscious and subjective states, and satirized Western society and its values. (Ex: Cubism, Futurism, Dadaism, Surrealism)
The most serious international crisis of the 1920's occurred in the Ruhr in January 1923. Identify and explain the crisis and analyze the consequences?
Reparations & the Great Inflation—Facing reparations payments of $33 billion, Germany wrecked its currency by allowing runaway inflation and proposed a moratorium on further payments. 1923, French occupied the Ruhr, heartland of industrial Germany. Germany responded with passive resistance and hyperinflation, which wiped out the savings of many middle-class Germans. The newly established Nazi Party capitalized on the widespread discontent. Gustav Stresemann (1878-1929) assumed leadership of the German government and attempted to compromise with the French. The British & Americans were willing to help in order to resolve the issue of reparations payments.
"Modern girl"
Somewhat stereotypical image of the modern and independent working woman popular in the 1920s
Which philosopher argued that it was necessary for individuals to take "leap of faith" and believe in an objectively unknowable God?
Soren Kierkegaard
Analyze the ways radio and motion pictures changed society.
The Appeal of Cinema 1. Development—Cinema emerged around 1880 and spread in the 1910s when American directors set up movie factories in New York and Los Angeles and when European nations established their own production companies. Movies offered distraction to troops and served as propaganda to gain support for the war. 2. The Golden Age of Silent Film—Cinema became a mass medium in the 1920s when European nations and the United States established important studios. Movies made use of cutting edge techniques that thrilled audiences. The business of film became international. America led the charge, and German directors and stars flocked to Hollywood. This reinforced America's international domination of silent cinema until the appearance of talking films in the 1930s. 3. Growing Appeal—By the late 1930s, 1/4 of adults in Britain went to the movies twice a week, while 2/5 went at least once a week. 4. Propaganda—Because of their appeal, motion pictures were used as indoctrination tools by both the Soviets and the Nazis. Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948) produced epic propaganda films for the Russians, and Leni Riefenstahl (1902-2003) directed the masterpiece documentary Triumph of the Will depicting the 1934 Nazi Party rally at Nuremberg. The Arrival of Radio 1. The Spread of Radio—Radio sets were first made available in the 1880s. The work of Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937) and the development of the vacuum tube in 1904 made transmission of speech and music possible, but the first major public broadcasts in the United States and Britain took place only in 1920. 2. National Broadcasting Networks—In Europe, direct control of the networks by the government was the norm (BBC), while the U.S. networks were privately owned and funded by advertising. 3. Propaganda—Mussolini and Hitler controlled the airwaves and broadcasted their speeches to reach huge national audiences. Roosevelt and British prime minister Stanley Baldwin used informal "fireside chats" to bolster their support. KEY AP EURO IDEA: New communication and transportation technologies multiplied the connections across space and time, transforming daily life and contributing to the proliferation of ideas and to globalization. (EX: Radio, Television)
Which political groups came together to form France's Popular Front?
The Communists, Socialists, and Radicals KEY AP EURO IDEA: Despite attempts to rethink economic theories and policies and forge political alliances, Western democracies failed to overcome the Great Depression and were weakened by extremist movements. (EX: Cooperative social action in Scandinavia, Popular Front policies in France)
The New Deal ultimately failed to halt mass unemployment. Why? Why is it said that the WPA helped prevent social revolution in the United States?
The New Deal in the United States 1. Roosevelt sought to reform capitalism in order to preserve it. he rejected socialism, but advocated government intervention in the economy through social programs: a. Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933)—Attempted to raise prices and farm income by limiting agricultural production. b. The National Recovery Administration (NRA)—Attempted to fix prices and wages. Declared unconstitutional in 1935. c. The Works Progress Administration (1935)—Built public works projects such as buildings, bridges, and highways and employed up to one-fifth of the entire U.S. labor force at some point in the 1930s. d. National Labor Relations Act (1935)—Helped unions by declaring collective bargaining to be the law of the land. Union membership went from 4 million in 1935 to 9 million in 1940. 2. Legacy—Although it achieved a level of social reform, the New Deal failed to pull the United States out of the Depression. The Second World War would accomplish that. Capitalism IS the best economic system...Even Vladimir Lenin, arguably the most dedicated communist in history, used capitalism to correct the errors of communism through his NEP.
Which country or countries responded most successfully to the challenge of the Great Depression?
The Scandinavian countries
Identify and explain the differing French and British views of post-war Germany.
The Search for Peace and Political Stability Germany and the Western Powers 1. Reparations Payments—France believed that reparations payments would tie down Germany indefinitely and that France would realize its goal of security. John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), author of The Economic Consequences of the Peace, argued that reparations would impoverish Germany, encourage Bolshevism, and increase economic hardship in all countries. The British agreed that a prosperous Germany was essential to the British economy. 2. French Alliances—With Russia hostile and Communist and the United States and Britain unwilling to make firm commitments, the French signed mutual defense agreements with the countries in central Europe (Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Poland).
Functionalism
The principle that buildings, like industrial products, should serve as well as possible the purpose for which they were made, without excessive ornamentation
Which phenomenon did Einstein believe to be the only constant?
The speed of light KEY AP EURO: Developments in the natural sciences, such as quantum mechanics and Einstein's theory of relativity, undermined the primacy of Newtonian physics as an objective description of nature. (Ex: Marie and Pierre Curie)
What was the most significant domestic challenge faced by Britain in the early 1920s?
Unemployment.
Dawes Plan
War reparations agreement that reduced Germany's yearly payments, made payment dependent on economic prosperity, and granted large U.S. loans to promote recovery
superego
conscience, internalized voice of social/parental control, irrational due to its strict and puritanical nature conflicts with and keeps id in check
id
primitive, irrational, unconscious, sexual, aggressive, pleasure-seeking, instinctual. Overall amoral. Seeks to fulfill desires immediately
ego
rational self, mostly conscious, mediator of id and superego
