Democracy vs. Authoritarianism

Effects of the Depression: Millions lost their jobs, giving rise to increased government intervention in the economy and making many people willing to cede control to dictators with simple solutions.

Germany: The Great Depression paved the way for public fear and the rise of extremist political parties.

France: The French government reorganized repeatedly and offered workers new rights, such as a minimum wage.

Great Britain: Balanced budgets and protective tariffs were key government policies.

United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt developed wide-ranging social legislation. But it took World War II to bring the nation back to full employment.

Discussion  What were the interventions that

governments used to combat the Great Depression?

Interventions included protective tariffs, balanced budgets, public employment projects, social programs, decreased spending, and lowered wages.

Art and Science

Intellectual uncertainties: The horrific violence of World War I strengthened artists' interest in the absurd and in the workings of the unconscious mind.

Dadaism and surrealism: Abstract art became more popular in the 1920s. Dadaists expressed the idea that life had no purpose. Surrealists portrayed fantasies and nightmares, to go beyond the physical world.

Heroic age of physics: New discoveries challenged Newtonian physics, which had suggested that all phenomena could be defined and predicted. These discoveries included Werner Heisenberg's findings about the unpredictable behavior of subatomic particles.

Discussion  How did art and science reflect what

many people felt after World War I?

After World War I, many people felt that life had little purpose. Developments in art and science reflected people's feelings of unease.

Discussion  What were the significant effects of

World War I in Europe during the 1920s?

Conflicts over the peace treaty, hyperinflation, artistic responses to the horror of the war.

Learning Goal The students will understand the instability

in Europe after WWI

Annual Appropriate Depression Deficit Spending Surrealism Uncertainty Principle