Chapter 20 Democracy and Dictatorship

1
Chapter 20Democracy and Dictatorship

• Section 20.102
• Trial and Adjustments of Democracy in Britain and
  France

2
British Politics The 1920s and the Depression

• GB (like the US) remained parliamentary and
  democratic (in spite of the Great Depression)
• GD exacerbated old problems
• GB was dependent on overseas markets and imports
  since 1846 (Corn Laws)
• Lost some markets after WWI
• Competing industrial nations, tariff barriers,
  native textile industries, new fuel sources
  (instead of British coal)

3
Unemployment Insurance

• GB was in depression/high unemployment between
  1919-1939
• gt 2 million got doles from unemployment insurance
  (adopted 1911)
• Other social welfare programs
• Old age pension, medical aid, subsidized housing
• Helped relief labor class
• Welfare state was firmly rooted before Labour
  party took power after WWII
• Conflict between labor and management continued
• 1926 coal strike turned into a general strike
• 3 million from other unions participated
• Government declared a state of emergency
• Used army and volunteers to take over service to
  crush strike
• Trades Disputes Act of 1927
• hurt trade unions (that had participated in the
  general strike)
• Declared all general or sympathy strikes illegal
  and forbade unions from raising for political
  purposes

4
The Labour Party

• 1922 election the Labour party surpassed the
  Liberal as chief adversary to Conservatives
• Lab
• More consistently and actively support labor and
  economic reform
• Committed to a socialist program after 1918
• Moderate version
• Run nation in 1924 and 29 under Ramsay MacDonald
  (as the prime minister)
• Showed its moderation
• In 1924 it only extended unemployment relief,
  instituted housing and public works projects
• Actually firmly put down strikes
• Lost steam when it recognized and loaned to
  Soviet Union
• Red letter (AKA Zinoviev)
• Secret instructions for British Labour groups
  from the Communist International
• Urged preparations for communist uprising in GB
• Authenticity remains in question but Conservative
  cashed in and won election of 1924

5
The Formation of the National Government

• Labour scored big in election of 29
• Doubled representation
• MacDonald became PM again
• Then came the Great Depression
• Unemployment went from 1 to 3 million
• Government tried to deal with the crisis
• Supplemented unemployment insurance
• Gold reserves dropped, tax base dropped, deficit
  grew
• When MacDonald proposed to reduce the dole Labour
  party refused to support him
• He formed an all-party coalition cabinet called
  the National government
• Won overwhelming victory in election of 1931
• Majority of NG was made up of conservatives

6
The Formation of the National Government Continued

• National Government followed budget balancing
  policy under
• MacDonald (1931-35, Stanley Baldwin 35-37, and
  Neville Chamberlain (1937-1940)
• Government encouraged industry to rationalize
• Gave low interest loans
• None of the steps brought a full recovery (like
  the US)
• Recovery didnt come until WWII

7
Britain and the Commonwealth Imperial Relations

• After WWI British ruled over 500 million people
  worldwide (25 of worlds population and land
  area)
• In Ireland, Egypt, India, and Palestine Brits
  faced complex problems
• Palestine
• Arabs v Jews
• Egypt (1922)
• Brits formally ended protectorate status
• But Sudans status remained unanswered
• India
• Nationalism continued to grow
• Ireland
• Independence created a new republic and new
  problems

8
The Irish Question

• Had been an issue for 40 years
• Home Rule
• Had been authorized in 1914 but delayed during
  WWI
• Irish nationalist had even accepted German
  support and rose in rebellion in 1916
• Sinn Fein party led savage war against Brits
• 1922 British recognized the Irish Free State
• Dominion status within British Commonwealth
• Protestant in Ulster (who were Presbyterians of
  Scottish origin) did not want to be part of this
  new state
• Remained part of United Kingdom of Great Britain
  and Northern Ireland
• Irish Free State
• Affirmed its sovereignty in 1937
• Called itself Eire
• 1949 it broke all ties with British Commonwealth
• Renamed itself Republic of Ireland
• Irish question remained
• Irish agitated for annexation of Ulster
• IRA

9
The Dominions

• Included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Union of
  South Africa
• Joined GB in WWI but nationalism stirred
• Imperial conference in 1926 dominion status was
  defined
• Legally equal with each other and with GB
• No act passed by British Parliament would apply
  to a dominion (except by its consent)
• Had own economic and foreign policies
• Yet bond remained strong
• Support Brits in WWII

10
France The 1920s and the Coming of the Depression

• WWI left France very unstable
• Physical destruction of war, public finance, fear
  of Germanys rise again
• Government was run by coalitions of parties of
  conservative Right in 1919-mid 20s
• Supported by business, army, church
• Radical Socialist gained control in 1924-26
• Was a party of the moderate Left
• Led by Edouard Herriot
• Supported by lower classes, small business,
  farmers
• Supported progressive legislation but not
  increased taxes
• Despite the name, it supported free enterprise,
  private property
• Staunchly for civil liberties, anti-clerical

11
Hostility to the Republic

• Radical Socialist and Socialists
• Had formed a coalition
• But differed greatly on economic policies
• Socialist had been weakened during the 1920s when
  orthodox Socialist left and formed the French
  Communist party
• Fringe on Left and Right became antidemocratic
  hostile to parliamentary republic
• Left included communist who sat in Par
• Right included royalist (Action Française)
• Noisy pressure group

12
Poincares Measures

• Raymond Poincare
• Major figure of moderate conservative right
• Sent troops into Ruhr in 1923 to collect unpaid
  German reparations
• saved the franc
• Depended on reparations being paid to finance
  reconstruction following WWI
• When Germans didnt pay, public debt increased
  and the francs value dropped
• Also suffered from war expenses, loss of foreign
  investment (Russia), tax evasion

13
Poincares Measures Continued

• National Union ministry
• Led by Poincare
• Issued new taxes, collected them, cut spending,
  balanced the budget
• This stabilized the Franc
• Repudiated prewar debt but hyperinflation was
  stopped
• 1926-29 was period of economic prosperity
• New factories, production increased, tourism
  increased
• Workers and unions did not share in the
  prosperity
• Their interests were largely ignored

14
Great Depression in France

• Arrived later less severe than US, Germany
• Trade declined
• unemployment reached 1 million
• Some were able to work part-time
• Government ministries were rapidly rotated
• 5 different ministries in 1933

15
Depression Ferment and the Popular Front

• Right winged (Fascist type) leagues appeared
• Aped German and Italian models
• Financed by wealthy industrialists
• Older Right wingers also appeared
• Colonel de le Rocques Croix de Feu and Action
  Francaise
• Antirepublican, antidemocratic, monarchist

16
Scandals

• Stavisky got officials of city of Bayonne to
  issue worthless bonds
• After exposed his apparent suicide was viewed as
  a silencing by corrupt officials
• Normally only corrupt officials would be recalled
• But Right wingers attempted to label entire
  republic as corrupt and called for its
  destruction
• 2/1934 fascist gathered at Place de la Concorde
  and tried to take over the Chamber
• Several killed and hundreds injured

17
The Emergence of the French Socialist

• Backlash came as unionists, liberals, democrats,
  socialists, and even communists were outraged
• Communist didnt like the republic but they hated
  fascism more
• Socialist groups joined together and formed the
  Popular Front (AKA. The French Socialists)
• Pledged to defend republic against fascism,
  called for labor reform, relief from Depression
• Became leading party
• Their leader, Leon Blum became premier of
  coalition cabinet of Socialists and Radical
  Socialists

18
The Popular Front and After

• Blums reforms (French New Deal)
• 40 hour workweek, paid vacations, collective
  bargaining
• Led to enormous growth in trade union membership
• 1-5 million in a year
• Armaments and aviation industry began to become
  nationalized
• Bank of France under government control
• Broke the power of the Two hundred families
• Labor dispute procedures created to arbitrate
• Farmers income subsidized
• Rightist hated him
• Said he would become a Lenin, pointed out that he
  was Jewish

19
The Overthrow of Blums Government

• As Frances production slows (with promise of 40
  hr wk) Germany is rearming at full production
• Which is it? Reform or Rearm?
• Employers
• shut down factory for 2 weeks (rather than have
  40 hr wk)
• Passed new costs on to consumers (their
  employees)
• Blum criticized for not aiding Spanish Popular
  Front Gov. (as Civil War broke out in 7/1936)
• Blums gov was overthrown by the Senate in 1937
• Edouard Daladier formed a conservative ministry
  and focused on the looming crisis with Hitler
• Popular Front dissolved and workers lost reforms

20
Western Europe and Depression

• GB, France, Western Euro never really recovered
  from the Great Depression
• Production decreased and Europes dependence on
  the US was exposed
• Birth rates fell (marriage was postponed)
• Western Europe was in a decline