Chapter+26+(The+Futile+Search+For+a+New+Stability+Europe+Bewteen+The+Wars+1919+through+1939)

//Note: This is taken straight from the Study Guide//

Perceptive observers knew by 1919 that the peace treaty that ended World War I was flawed and insecure. The French, who felt vulnerable to another invasion and abandonded by their former allies, sought to weaken Germany and punish her for past offences, leading to further hostilities on both sides. There were a few hopeful years, during the late 1920's, with the return of material prosperity; but then the Great Depression of 1929 brought Europe back to the brink of ruin: economic, social, and political.

The democracies, Britain, France, the Scandinavian countries, and the United States, spent most of the 1930's trying to recover form the crash of 1929, while Eastern and Southern European nations turned even more to authoritarian and totalitarian governments. Following the lead of Facist Italy, Germany surrendered to Nazi rule. Communism in Russia to a turn to the right under Stalin's iron fist. While Fascism and Communism espoused widely varied philosophies of economics and government, they showed strinking similarities in their attitudes towards Democracy. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people appeared to be passing away.

Popular culture reflected the deepening pessimism of the 1930's. Entertainment was more accessible than ever before, though rapid increases in the numbers of movie theaters and radios; and there was more time and opportunity for leisure activities than ever; but people seemed drivan to pleasure as if it might soon end. Totalitarian regimes used film, radio, and leisure programs to increase their power. The arts, literature, and music reflected the pessimismand irrationality of the day; and physics continued to develop methods that might just as well destroy as save the world. Thunderclouds were gathering.