EURO Chapter 25, 26 & 27
National Socialist German Workers Party
(Nazi Party) was a far-right, racist political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. They spread the myth that Germany did not lose on the battlefield, but the nation was "stabbed in the back" by socialists and pacifists at home.
Second Balkan War (1913)
- Bulgaria attacks its former allies with Austria, which forced Serbia to give up Albania - demands for freedom from A-H rule and increased nationalism - Britain called for conference -> Serbians defied conference -> Austrians intimidated them out -
Schlieffen Plan
- This was a failed German plan calling for a lightning attack through neutral Belgium and a quick defeat of France before turning on Russia. - GB was pissed they Germany violated Belgian neutrality and declared war on them the next day (Aug 4) - France had fortification and Belgium was apart of the lowlands
Why did the Bolsheviks come to power?
1. By later 1917 democracy had given way to anarchy: power was there for those who could take it. 2. In Lenin and Trotsky the Bolsheviks had an utterly determined and superior leadership, which both the tsarist and the provisional governments lacked. 3. As Reed's comment suggests, Bolshevik policies appealed to ordinary Russians. Exhausted by war and weary tsarist autocracy, they were eager for radical changes. Bolsheviks appealed to the hope for peace, better living conditions, and a more equitable society.
Lenin's 3 concepts
1. He stressed that only violent revolution could destroy capitalism and denounced all "revisionist" theories of a peaceful evolution to socialism as betrayal of Marx's message of violent class conflict. 2. Under certain conditions a Communist revolution was possible even in a predominantly agrarian country like Russia. Peasants could take the place of Marx's traditional working class in the revolutionary conflict 3. The possibility of a revolution was determined more by human leadership than historical laws. Disciplined workers' party controlled by dedicated elite of intellectuals and professional revolutionaries that wouldn't stop until brough to power.
Modernity
1. Positive side that embodied the developments associated with science and the spread of reason 2. Negative side that embodied in persistent irrationalism and pessimism and the violence and destruction of modern war.
modern consumer culture
1. Undermined social differences: consumerism helped democratize Western society - anyone could purchase if they had the money which broke social barriers based on class, region and religion. 2. Reinforced social differences: manufacturers could manipulate groups of people by creating direct advertisement to sought after/valuable items. *automobiles and vacuum cleaners were a status symbol in the 1920s
Lateran Agreement of 1929
A 1929 agreement that recognized the Vatican as an independent state, with Mussolini agreeing to give the church heavy financial support in return for public support from the pope.
The Battle of the Somme Movie
A British film released in August 1916 that was frankly intended to encourage popular support for the war. This is one of the earliest example of cinematic propaganda
Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973)
A French existential Christian believed Catholicism/religion provided hope, humanity, honesty and piety for which he hungered. He denounced anti-Semitism and supported closeness with non-Catholics.
Auxiliary Service Law
A German law requiring all males between the ages of seventeen and sixty to work only at jobs considered critical to the war effort. Women worked in war factories, mines and steel mills where they labored heavy and dangerous jobs.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
A German-born physicist who offered startling new ideas on space, time, energy, and matter. In 1905, he theorized that while the speed of light is constant, other things that seem constant, such as space and time, are not (theory of special relativity). He is often regarded as the "father of modern physics."
Bolsheviks
A group of revolutionary Russian Marxists who took control of Russia's government in November 1917. Lenin's radical, revolutionary arm of the Russian party of Marxist socialism, which successfully installed a dictatorial socialist regime in Russia.
modernism
A label given to the artistic cultural movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which were typified by radical experimentation that challenged traditional forms of artistic expression.
Battle of the Somme (1916)
A major British offensive that began on July 1, 1916 in northern France. It lasted five months with only a few kilometers of territory captured by the Allies. The Newfoundland regiment took part in the battle on the first day and had 90% casualties- the highest of any Allied battalion. In September, the British used the tank for the first time in the history of warfare. There were some 1.25 million casualties suffered altogether on both sides.
Triple Entente
A military alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia in the years preceding World War I.
National Socialism
A movement and political party driven by extreme nationalism and racism, led by Adolf Hitler; its adherents ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945 and forced Europe into World War II.
Fascism
A movement characterized by extreme, often expansionist nationalism, anti-socialism, a dynamic and violent leader, and glorification of war and the military.
Existentialism
A philosophy based on the idea that people give meaning to their lives through their choices and actions. Stressed meaninglessness of existence and need to come to terms with fear caused by the situation
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.
"new women"
A phrase used to describe young women in the 1890s and early 1900s that reflected their rising levels of education, economic independence, and political and social activism.
Five Year Plan
A plan launched by Stalin in 1928, and termed the "revolution from above," aimed at modernizing the Soviet Union and creating a new Communist society with new attitudes, new loyalties, and a new socialist humanity.
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare
A policy that the Germans announced on January 1917 which stated that their submarines would sink any ship in the British waters without notifying
Totalitarianism
A radical dictatorship that exercises "total claims" over the beliefs and behavior of its citizens by taking control of the economic, social, intellectual, and cultural aspects of society.
Total War
A war in which distinctions between the soldiers on the battlefield and civilians at home are blurred, and where the government plans and controls economic and social life in order to supply the armies at the front with supplies and weapons.
League of Nations
A world organization established in 1920 to promote international cooperation and peace. It was first proposed in 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson, although the United States never joined the League. Essentially powerless, it was officially dissolved in 1946.
Fuhrer
Adolf Hitler's idea of the leader-dictator whose unlimited power would embody the people's will and lead the German nation to victory.
Hitler and Mussolini
After Italy's Ethiopian Campaign, Mussolini visited Berlin in Fall 1937 where he pledged support for Hitler and promised that Italy and Germany would "march together right to the end."
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Although the existence of God was basically impossible to prove, he did not think that Christianity was an empty practice. He believed that people must take a "leap of faith" and accept the existence of an objectively unknowable but nonetheless majestic God.
Enabling Act
An act pushed through the Reichstag by the Nazis that gave Hitler absolute dictatorial power for four years.
Dawes Plan (1924)
An arrangement negotiated in 1924 to reschedule German reparations payments. It stabilized the German currency and opened the way for further American private loans to Germany.
impressionism
Artists of this movement (Claude Monet [colorful and atmospheric}, Edgar Degas [pastel ballerinas], Mary cassatt) looked to the world for subject matter, they did not paint/draw/capture the traditional themes fo battles, religious scenes and the wealthy.
cubism
Artists of this movement, such as Pablo Piccasso, used analytical tactics to create complex shapes that overlapped and had zigzag lines. This is an example of nonrepresentational or abstract art.
expressionism
Artists of this movement, such as Vincent van Gogh, used color and light to portray a deep psychological element to their pictures. They wanted to reflect the attempt to search within the self and express inner feelings on the canvas.
When did Russia enter WWI?
August 1914
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
Austrian philosopher that argued that philosophy is only the logical clarification of thoughts and that therefore it should concentrate on the study of language, which expresses thoughts. He also believed that God, freedom, and morality were a waste of time and nothing could demonstrate their validity.
Impact of WWI on Social Equality
Blurred the class distinctions and lessened the gap between the rich and the poor. Full employment, distribution of rations, and they shared similar hardships.
Vladimir Lenin
Born into the middle class (noble) Ulyanov family. He tuned against imperial Russia when his older brother was executed in 1887 for plotting to kill Tsar Alexander III. He studied Marxist socialism as a law student. Leader of the Bolshevik (later Communist) Party. He lived in exile in Switzerland until 1917, then returned to Russia to lead the Bolsheviks to victory during the Russian Revolution and the civil war that followed.
Petrograd Soviet
Composed of two thousand or three thousand workers, soldiers, and intellectuals, the Petrograd Soviet was modeled on the revolutionary soviets of 1905 that acted as a parallel government. It issued its own radical orders, weakening the authority of the provisional government.
Whites
Counterrevolutionaries who were loyal to the czar. Organized by the old army. Came from many social backgrounds and were united by their hatred of communism and the Bolsheviks.
War Raw Materials Board
Created by Walter Rathenau. Rationed and distributed raw materials in Germany
Impact of WWI on Death
Decimated the young aristocratic officers and fell on the peasant population. Spared highly skilled workers - their lives were too valuable to lose.
theory of special relativity
Einstein's theory that time and space are relative to the viewpoint of the observer and that only the speed of light remains constant for all frames of reference in the universe.
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Federation of four Soviet republics: The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Ukraine, Belorussia, and a Transcaucasian republic (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia)
Jean-Paul Sarte (1905-1980)
French existentialist that said "existence precedes essence." That means there are no God-given truths outside of individual existence. He also believed that individuals are forced to create their own meaning and define themselves through their actions.
Henri Bergson
French philosopher that argued that immediate experience and intuition were as important as rational and scientific thinking for understanding reality. A religious experience or mystical poem was often more accessible to human comprehension than a scientific law or a mathematical equation.
George Clemenceau
French prime minister in last years of WWI and during Versailles Conference of 1919. Pushed for heavy reparations from Germans. Wanted to make Germans suffer and help break Germany up.
Big Three WWI
George Clemenceau (F), David Lloyd George (E), Woodrow Wilson
Max Planck (1858-1947)
German physicist who discovered that subatomic energy is emitted in uneven little spurts, which he coined "quanta." Which he then developed into the quantum theory and was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1918.
Triple Alliance
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy
Friedrich Nietzsche
He was a German, systematic philosopher that wrote as a prophet in a provocative and poetic style. In Untimely Meditations (1837) he wrote that the West has overemphasized rationality and stifled the authentic passions and animal instincts that drive human activity and true creativity since classical Athens. He challenged the traditional values by saying that reason, progress, and respectability were outworn social and psychological constructs that suffocated self-realization and excellence. He rejected religion. In On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) he wrote that Christianity had a slave morality that glorified weakness, envy, and mediocrity. He was 100% against liberalism, democracy, and socialism because they promoted the weak at the expense of the strong. The only hope for the individual was to accept the meaningless of human existence and then make that very meaningless a source of self-defined personal integrity. Contributed to the rise of existentialism and totalitarianism.
Mein Kampf (My Struggle)
Hitler's book which laid out his basic ideas on "racial purification" and territorial expansion that would define National Socialism. He claimed that Germans were a "master race: that needed to defend its "pure blood" from groups labeled as "racial degenerates," including Jews, Slavs and other ethnic minorities. The german race was destined to triumph and grow and it needed Lebensraum.
Beer Hall Putsch (1923)
Hitler's failed attempt/coup—in the wake of the inflation crisis—to topple the pro-Weimar government in Munich; sent to prison for five years where he wrote his incendiary autobiography Mein Kampf; importantly, Hitler realized that the Nazis could not overthrow the Weimar Republic by force, but would have to use constitutional means to gain power
Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937)
In 1919 he showed that the atom could be split which then led to the identification of 7 subatomic particles in 1944 - included the neutron. Physicists realized that the neutron's capacity to shatter the nucleus of another atom could lead to chain reaction of shattered atoms that would release unbelievable force -> nuclear bomb.
What was the Cheka and what actions did it take?
It was a fearsome secret police that was dedicated to suppressing counter-revolutionaries. They were imprisoned and executed without trial, tens of thousands of supposed "class enemies." Victims included clergymen, aristocrats, the wealthy Russian bourgeoisie, deserters from the Red Army, and political opponents of all kinds. Even Nicholas, Alexandra, and their children were secretly executed, their bodies disfigured and hidden in a forest to avoid public outrage. The "Red Terror" of 1918 to 1920 helped establish the secret police as a central tool of emerging Communist government.
New Economic Policy (NEP)
Lenin's 1921 policy to re-establish limited economic freedom in an attempt to rebuild agriculture and industry in the face of economic disintegration
Marie and Pierre Curie
Marie (1867-1934) a polish born physicist, and her husband Pierre (French) discovered that radium constantly emits subatomic particles, which means it doesn't have a constant weight.
"everything in the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state"
Mussolini's famous slogan which was accomplished by the end of 1926 under his one-party dictatorship
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (March 1918)
Peace treaty signed between Russia and the Central Powers which ended Russian participation in WWI and caused Russia to rescind their claim to several states including the Balkan states to Germany. The states included 1/3 of old Russia's population. Lenin recognized that Russia had lost the war and called for peace at any price. The price of peace was high, even for Lenin, but he supported signing the treaty.
Leon Trotsky
Russian revolutionary intellectual and close adviser to Lenin. A leader of the Bolshevik Revolution (1917), he was later expelled from the Communist Party (1927) and banished (1929) for his opposition to the authoritarianism of Stalin
First Balkan War (1912)
Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria attack the Ottoman Empire and then quarreled with Bulgaria over the spoils of victory
Locarno Agreements of 1925
Seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland from October 5 to October 16, 1925 and formally signed in London on December 1, 1925. World War I Western European Allied powers and the new states of central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial settlement, in return normalizing relations with the defeated Germany. Germany and France agreed to accept their common border.
impact of WWI on Labor Unions
Since there was a growing need for workers there power and prestige grew. They were able to cooperate w/ governments. This allowed socialist leaders into the war govt.
"modern girl"
Somewhat stereotypical image of the modern and independent working woman popular in the 1920s.
Karl Barth (1886-1968)
Swiss Protestant theologian that believed religious truth is made known to humans through God's grace and not through reason. People have to accept God's word and the supernatural revelation of Jesus Christ with awe, trust, and obedience.
Socialist concerns about consumerism
The appeal undermined working-class radicalism, because mass culture created passive consumers rather than active, class-conscious revolutionaries
kulaks
The better-off peasants who were stripped of land and livestock under Stalin and were generally not permitted to join collective farms; many of them starved or were deported to forced-labor camps for "re-education." They were wealthy rural peasants, and the first five-year plan rejected capitalist wealth. The five-year plans were Stalin's answer to implementing a socialist economy for the Soviet Union, and the kulaks were identified as capitalist for the wealth they accumulated under the New Economic Policy.
the duma
The elected parliament. Though through establishing this is seemed like the Czar was giving his people power, in reality he could easily get rid of this if they made any laws or such that he didn't like.
collectivization of agriculture
The forcible consolidation of individual peasant farms into large state-controlled enterprises in the Soviet Union under Stalin.
Benito Mussolini (1883-1945)
The founder and leader of the Italian Fascist Party.
conservative concerns about consumerism
The money spent on frivolous consumer goods sapped the livelihood of industrious artisans and undermined proud national traditions.
stalinism
The name given to the Communist system under Josef Stalin
German Workers' Party
The party that Hitler joined in 1919, which then changed it's name to the Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party. They denounced Jews, Marxists, democrats and promised to abolish the injustices of capitalism and create a mighty "people's community."
Mensheviks
The party which opposed to the Bolsheviks. Started in 1903 by Martov, after dispute with Lenin. The Mensheviks wanted a democratic party with mass membership.
"Peace, Land, and Bread"
The slogan used by Lenin to win the support of the people; Peace appealed to the soldiers; Land appealed to the peasants; and Bread appealed to the workers.
Fourteen Points
The war aims outlined by President Wilson in 1918, which he believed would promote lasting peace; called for self-determination, freedom of the seas, free trade, end to secret agreements, reduction of arms and a league of nations.
Dadaism
This movement attacked all the familiar standards of art and showed outrageous behavior. Their art was focused to be meaningless like the war which showed life in such a manner.
surrealism
This was a movement that was influenced by Freudian ideas of the unconscious mind. They painted worlds of wild dreams and uncomfortable symbols.
Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
This was the spark that started World War I. Archduke Ferdinand, the Austrian crown prince, was murdered on June 28, 1914, by a Serbian nationalist while visiting Sarajevo, Bosnia. Germany urged Austria-Hungary to fight and they went to war against Serbia; all of this due to Serbia wanting to expand
Lebensraum (living space)
To accomplish a living space for Germans to triumph and grow, Hitler outlined a vision of war and conquest in which the German master race would colonize east and central Europe and ultimately replace the "subhuman" Jews and Slavs living out there.
Constituent Assembly of Russia
a freely elected assembly promised by the Bolsheviks, but permanently disbanded after one day(January 18,1918) under Lenin's orders after the Bolsheviks won less than one fourth of the elected delegates.
stream of consciousness
a literary technique that uses interior monologue - a character's thoughts and feelings as they occur - to explore the human psyche
Eugenics
a pseudoscience that maintains that the selective breeding of human beings could improve the general characteristics of a national population. Nazis wanted Germany to be "purified" from groups that did not align with their regime. They controlled, segregated and eliminated those of "lesser value" which includes Jews, Sinti, Roma (also called Gypsies), homosexuals, ethnic minorities, and people with chronic mental/physical disabilities.
asocials
common criminals, alcoholics, prostitutes, the "work shy" (or chronically unemployed), beggars and vagrants
religious concerns about consumerism
encouraged rampant individualism and that greedy materialism was replacing spirituality
Freud's three structures of personality
id, ego, superego (parental/social control)
War Guilt Clause
in treaty of Versailles; declared germany and austria responsible for WWI; ordered Germany to pay reparation to Allied powers
commercialized fashion and personal care
modern appliances (electric ovens, washing machines, refrigerators, telephones, radios), shampoo, perfume, makeup, brand-name attraction, automobiles -> travel industry
commercialized mass entertainment
movies, radio, professional sporting events, print media (newspapers, books, illustrated magazines), flashy restaurants, theatres, & nightclubs
national self-determination
people should be able to choose their own national governments through democratic majority-rule elections and live free from outside interference in territories with clearly defined, permanent borders.
hereditary ill
people with chronic mental or physical disabilities, such as schizophrenics, manic depressives, epileptics, and people suffering from what Nazi physicians called "congenital feeble mindedness"
WWI Opera
reflected the irrationality and violence of the war. Harmony, tone and rhythm were unrecognizable.
Armenian Genocide
the Turkish government organized the department of the armenians in the Ottoman Empire and over a million were murdered or starved - one of the first genocides of the 20th centuries
Weimar Government
the government put in place in germany after WWI. it was weak because of germany's lack of democratic traditions, too many political parties, and the fact that may blamed the weimar government for germany's humiliation
nihilism
the grim idea that human life is entirely without meaning, truth, or purpose.
functionalism
the principle that buildings, like industrial products, should serve as well as possible the purpose for which they were made, without excessive ornamentation.
February Revolution March 1917
the revolution against the Czarist government which led to the abdication of Nicholas II and the creation of a provisional government in March 1917. it was caused by food shortages, soldier desertion, fuel shortage and the breaking down of the economy.
Treaty of Versailles
the treaty imposed on Germany by the Allied powers in 1920 after the end of World War I which demanded exorbitant reparations from the Germans
impact of WWI on women
they moved into skilled industrial jobs "men's work." They also served as nurses, auxiliaries, munition workers, bank tellers, mail carriers and even police officers. Sexual morality was loosened , defying typical physical looks. Women gained experience in new jobs, but after the war was over the men demanded their jobs back. Their employment gains were only temporary. Right to vote in 20s and 30s
Janus faced
two-faced; hypocritical. Single head with two opposing sides