Collapse of empires and new states
By the end of 1918 four empires had fallen: the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman. Using the idea of the self-determination of nations, many peoples formed or rebuilt their own states:
- Poland (the Second Polish Republic, 1918–1939): rebuilt after 123 years; a democratic constitution in 1921, then, after the 1926 coup, rule by Józef Piłsudski's camp (the Sanacja).
- Czechoslovakia: the region's most stable democracy, led by Tomáš Masaryk.
- Hungary: much smaller after the Treaty of Trianon; a conservative regency under Miklós Horthy.
- Romania: "Greater Romania" doubled in size in 1918; a constitutional monarchy that turned into King Carol II's personal rule in 1938.
- Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia from 1929): tension between nations; royal dictatorship from 1929.
- Bulgaria, the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Finland and Austria also faced new beginnings.
Almost every new state contained large national minorities (for example Ukrainians, Germans, Jews, Hungarians). Treaties promised to protect them, but quarrels over land, schools and language were common. Many minorities, such as the Ukrainians living in Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia, struggled for rights and autonomy.
The Versailles–Washington system and the League of Nations
The Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920) produced treaties with each defeated power: Versailles (Germany), Saint-Germain (Austria), Trianon (Hungary), Neuilly (Bulgaria) and Sèvres (Ottoman Empire, later replaced by Lausanne, 1923). Germany lost land and all colonies, limited its army to 100,000 men, demilitarised the Rhineland, accepted the war-guilt clause and owed reparations.
The Washington Conference (1921–1922) added rules for East Asia and the Pacific, including limits on battleships for Britain, the USA, Japan, France and Italy. Together these treaties are called the Versailles–Washington system.
The League of Nations (1920, Geneva) aimed at collective security: members would settle disputes by talks and act together against an aggressor. Weaknesses: the USA never joined, Germany and the USSR joined late, decisions needed agreement of all, and it had no army. It solved some small disputes but failed against Japan (Manchuria, 1931) and Italy (Ethiopia, 1935).
From stability to world crisis: the 1920s and the Great Depression
The early 1920s were hard: inflation (in Germany in 1923 money became almost worthless), strikes and border wars. From 1924 came calm: the Dawes Plan spread out German payments with US loans, the Locarno treaties (1925) settled Germany's western borders, and the Kellogg–Briand Pact (1928) rejected war. Factories, cars, radio and cinema grew.
In October 1929 share prices on the New York stock exchange collapsed. US banks called back loans, world trade shrank by about two-thirds by 1932, prices of farm goods fell and unemployment soared (about one worker in four in the USA and Germany). Countries raised tariffs to protect themselves, which made the slump worse.
State regulation of the economy
The old idea was that markets would fix themselves. The Depression changed this. Governments began to regulate the economy:
- USA: Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal (from 1933): public works to create jobs, bank and stock-market rules, support for farmers, unemployment insurance and pensions.
- Sweden and others: welfare spending and agreements between unions and employers.
- Dictatorships: state control of industry and rearmament (Germany's motorways and weapons), and in the USSR fully planned five-year plans.
The economist John Maynard Keynes argued that a government should spend more when private spending collapses.
Democracy vs authoritarianism; ideologies
Four main ideas competed:
- Liberal democracy: elections, parties, free press, rights (Britain, France, Czechoslovakia, Scandinavia, the USA).
- Communism: one-party rule and state ownership (the USSR under Stalin).
- Fascism / Nazism: extreme nationalism, a leader cult, violence against opponents, and in Nazism racism and antisemitism (Mussolini from 1922, Hitler from 1933).
- Conservative authoritarianism: a strong leader or king limits parliament but does not control all of life (Poland after 1926, Hungary, Romania from 1938, Yugoslavia, Portugal).
Totalitarian regimes aim to control every part of life; authoritarian ones limit politics but leave some private space. Of about 28 European states that were democracies around 1920, only around a dozen were still democracies in 1938.
Spanish Civil War and the road to war
In Spain an elected Popular Front government faced a military revolt led by General Franco in 1936. The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) became a rehearsal for a bigger war: Germany and Italy helped Franco, the USSR and international volunteers helped the Republic, while Britain and France stayed out (non-intervention). Franco won in 1939.
Meanwhile Germany rearmed, remilitarised the Rhineland (1936), joined Austria (1938) and, under the Munich Agreement (1938), took part of Czechoslovakia while Britain and France followed appeasement. After the German–Soviet pact (August 1939), Germany attacked Poland on 1 September 1939.
Try it: a cause-and-effect chain
On strips of paper write: "1929 crash", "US loans called back", "factories close", "mass unemployment", "people lose trust in parliaments", "extremist parties gain votes". Link them into a chain with arrows. Then add one strip that could have broken the chain (for example "government job schemes") and explain why.
Key formulas and definitions
- Interwar period: 11 Nov 1918 – 1 Sept 1939
- Four fallen empires: German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, Ottoman
- Versailles–Washington system = Paris peace treaties (1919–1920) + Washington Conference (1921–1922)
- League of Nations (1920): collective security, no army, USA absent
- Great Depression: began with the Wall Street crash, October 1929
- Totalitarian = control of all life; authoritarian = limits on politics only
Worked examples
1. Why did many new states appear in 1918?
The four empires that ruled Central and Eastern Europe collapsed at the end of the war, and peoples used the idea of national self-determination to form their own states.
2. Give two reasons the League of Nations was weak.
The USA never joined, and it had no army of its own; also decisions needed unanimity, so action was slow.
3. How did the 1929 crash in New York hurt Germany?
Germany depended on US loans. When US banks called the loans back, German firms closed, unemployment reached about 6 million by 1932, and voters turned to extreme parties.
4. What is the difference between Piłsudski's Poland after 1926 and Hitler's Germany?
Poland became authoritarian: parliament was limited but other parties and much private life remained. Nazi Germany was totalitarian: one party, terror, and control of youth, media and the economy.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the 1920s were calm from start to end. 1918–1923 had wars, inflation and revolts; calm came about 1924–1929.
- Mixing up authoritarian and totalitarian regimes.
- Saying the USA led the League of Nations. Its President proposed it, but the US Senate refused to join.
- Treating the Depression as only an American problem. It spread to Europe, Asia, Latin America and colonies such as India.