Summary
After the First World War, the Treaty of Versailles (1919) blamed Germany, took away territory and imposed huge reparations. The 1920s were prosperous in the United States, but that rested on credit and speculation: in October 1929 the New York Stock Exchange crashed and the Great Depression began, with failed banks and millions unemployed around the world. Roosevelt responded with the New Deal, which set the state to creating jobs.
The crisis and fear of revolution helped democracy fall in several countries. Mussolini set up fascism in Italy (1922), Hitler came to power in Germany (1933) and in the USSR Stalin imposed his dictatorship. These totalitarian regimes had a single party, a cult of the leader, propaganda and repression. Hitler broke Versailles step by step — the Rhineland, Austria, the Sudetenland — while Britain and France stood by, and the invasion of Poland in September 1939 started the Second World War.
Key points
- 1919: the Treaty of Versailles punishes Germany harshly.
- 1920s: US prosperity built on credit and speculation.
- 1929: the Wall Street Crash opens the Great Depression.
- Roosevelt's New Deal sets the state to creating jobs.
- 1922: Mussolini brings fascism to power in Italy.
- 1933: Hitler becomes Chancellor; a Nazi dictatorship soon follows.
- Totalitarianism: one party, a cult of the leader, propaganda and repression.
- 1939: the invasion of Poland starts the Second World War.