The period of time between 1919 and 1939 was a time of prosperity at all levels, optimism was widespread and the economic boom helped in that sense, this stage of history was called The interwar period (1919-1939)Let’s see what happened since the end of the First World War (1919) or the Great War and what was conducive to the start of the Second World War (1939).
The Peace of Versailles
The First World War ended on November 11, 1918 on the battlefields, but it was not until the signing of the so-called Versailles Peace Treaty signed on June 28, 1919when cleared up responsibilities where the defeated powers Germany and its allies had to accept material and moral responsibility for the start of the war, their punishment was disarmament, pay economic compensation to the victors and make territorial concessions.
Although this treaty was signed, it soon showed its fragility. The frustration of the vanquished and the imbalances in the distribution of territorieswere decisive in sowing the seed of what would be the Second World War. Four empires had lost Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Turkey, and many countries that had been dominated by them clamored for their independence.
The European bourgeoisie was worried so there was occurred in Russia in 1917 (Russian Revolution), the bourgeoisie had disappeared and the State had distributed the large estates among the peasants while to the workers gave them control of the factories.
emergence of fascism
Fascism was born in Italy, who, despite being one of the victorious countries of the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles, did not distribute the territories equally, with the United Kingdom and France being the main beneficiaries. Italy that had seen its fields razedits industry destroyed, its population depleted, its economy in crisis and a lot of misery, she felt humiliated.
The first protests are born, workers and unions they organized massive strikes in the cities and in the countryside. These strikes provoked the fear of the employers, who feared that the same experience as the one lived in Russia would be repeated. Facing the fear of a revolution they decided support the Fascist Party Founded by Benedict Mussolini, who with an imperialist ideal, promised to recover the glory of the Roman Empire, while would finish with the communists and socialists.
With the support of the wealthy classes and therefore of the great Italian capital, Mussolini came to power proclaiming the Fascist State that it was nothing more than a harsh dictatorship in which there was only one party and there was only one leader, Mussolini.
The economic crisis
After the First World War, The United States experienced a boom period, this period began during the twenties, giving rise to “the roaring 20s.” The United States had been one of the great beneficiaries of the war and that was transmitted to the economy. Luxury was installed in the citizenry, production skyrocketed until in 1928 excess production had accumulated too many surpluses that were not being sold so the industry ceased to be big business which up to this date had been.
With the decline in investment in industryspeculative investment is born in the Wall Street Stock Exchange. The excess of money in the stock market compared to the little investment in production generated distrust among the large capitalist investors, so they began to Sell shares. When the small investors became aware of the sale of the shares of the large investors, they also began to sell their shares so everyone was selling and no one was buying. It was the year 1929 when this massive sale without buying generated the biggest crisis in history.
Repercussion of the Crisis of 29 in the United States
With the crisis, many businesses and companies were forced to closegenerating alarming levels of unemployment. Rooseveltthe president initiated an economic and social program called New Deal, a program for which allocated more money to public works so these multiplied generating in turn, employment. With increased employment, encouraged spending through domestic consumption granted loans to small and medium-sized enterprisesthese measures were well accepted and the United States quickly recovered.
Repercussion of the Crisis of 29 in Latin America
The crisis of 29 in the United States also had an enormous rimpact in all countries where the US economy had influence, so this crisis affected the whole world to a greater or lesser extent. South American countries They sold their products mainly to United States and United Kingdomwhen the crisis appeared, the buying countries lowered the prices of these products, so imports were no longer profitable, forcing them to develop increased industrial activity to supply the demand for products. The appearance of more industry has as consequence a massive migration of peasants to the cities that now offered employment in the new factories.
German Nazism
With the defeat of Germany and the harsh sanctions imposed in the Treaty of Versailles, the social and economic situation was devastating. This crisis was joined by the economic crisis of 1929, with catastrophic consequences. In Germany it grew exorbitantly inflationthe price of the products skyrocketed and as a consequence of this, the german workerswell organized made their complaints heard through big strikes and riots.
As was the case in Italy the german bourgeoisie feared a revolution like the one that happened in Russia and fearful sought refuge in the German National Socialist Partymore popularly known as Nazi Partywhose leader was Adolf Hitler.
The Nazi Party of fascist ideologycame to power in 1933. With Hitler in power economy, politics, society Y culture remained under the total control of the State that he directed and of his private police, called the Gestapo. created concentration camps where I know killed more than 10 million people, fundamentally Jews, since it was this group whom Hitler held responsible for the situation in the country. Hitler believed in the pure German race and in his empire or Third Reich there was no room for the different among which were other than the Jews, the gypsies, the Slavs, the disabled, homosexuals and dissidents.
Europe’s reaction to Nazism
Initially, Europe did not feel threatened by Hitler. In a way, the European bourgeoisie saw Hitler as a brake on the growing workers’ revolts and therefore on the expansion of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union did not see Hitler as a threat either until in 1939, six years after he came to power, Hitler invaded Poland. this invasion provoked the reaction of France and the United Kingdomwho declared war on him, while the Soviet Union and United States it would still take two more years to act against him.
Interwar period in Spain
In Spain in 1936, the newly elected government was center-left republican when in July of that same year, the military Francisco Franco staged a coup against the government of the republic. This fact causes the division of the country into two factionsthose who defended the republic and those who supported the Franco coup, among the latter was Germany and Italywhile the Republicans had the support of the Soviet Union and Mexico. The war broke out in a bloody civil war charging more than a million dead during the war and many others after it. the fascist forces better ordered and trained for war they were the winners defeating the republican side in 1939. From then until 1975, the date of his death, Spain lived under a harsh dictatorship.
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