Most people believed in progress, reason, individual rights – rational human mind & science – 1880s-1920s

Most people believed in progress, reason, individual rights – rational human mind & science – 1880s-1920s

• Most people believed in progress, reason, individual rights – rational human mind & science – 1880s-1920s

• 1880s thru 1920s some serious thinkers and artists. optimist thinking of times

Freidrich Nietzsche = rejected Christianity – argued West overemphasized rationality & stifled passion/animal instinct that drive creativity; Most famous line = God is dead, murdered by Christians who no longer believe in him

• Freidrich Nietzsche = rejected Christianity – argued West overemphasized rationality & stifled passion/animal instinct that drive creativity; Most famous line = God is dead, murdered by Christians who no longer believe in him

• Henri Bergson = believed immediate experience/intuition as important as rational/scientific thinking for understanding reality

• Georges Sorel = rejected democracy & said socialism would come to power through a huge general strike of all working people – this would shatter capitalism

Logical empiricism rejected most traditional philosophy – from existence of God to meaning of happiness.

• Logical empiricism rejected most traditional philosophy – from existence of God to meaning of happiness.

• Ludwig Wittgenstein argued in his Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus in 1922 that philosophy = logical clarification of thoughts; so it is study of language (which expresses thoughts)

Existentialism = analysis of existence; meaning of life is through free will, choice & personal responsibility

• Existentialism = analysis of existence; meaning of life is through free will, choice & personal responsibility

• Most existentialists were atheists; Influenced by shattering of beliefs in God, reason, & progress (WWI)

• Jean Paul Sartre –Being and Nothingness (1943), Existentialism is a Humanism (1945) believed individuals must give meaning to life through actions

Post WWI thinkers/theologians tried to revitalize fundamentals of Christianity

• Post WWI thinkers/theologians tried to revitalize fundamentals of Christianity

• Believed humans = sinful, imperfect & need God’s forgiveness

• Leading Christian existentialists = Soren Kierkegaard (19th cent) who rejected formalistic religion & committed to remote/majestic God

Progressive minds accepted Darwinian concept of evolution and believed science based on hard facts & controlled experiments

• Progressive minds accepted Darwinian concept of evolution and believed science based on hard facts & controlled experiments

• New physics believed atoms = fast moving particles (electrons & protons)

• Marie Curie – radium emits sub-atomic particles & does not have constant atomic weight

Sigmund Freud – human behavior = irrational.

• Sigmund Freud – human behavior = irrational.

• Key to understanding mind is primitive irrational unconscious called the id – which is driven by pleasure seeking desires

• The id is constantly at battle with other parts of mind. The rationalizing conscious part is ego.

• The ego mediates what a person can do, while the superego, is driven by what a person should do (deeply ingrained moral values)

Intellectual climate of pessimism, relativism, & alienation also expressed in literature

• Intellectual climate of pessimism, relativism, & alienation also expressed in literature

• Novelists used stream of consciousness technique to explore psyche (Virginia Wolf, James Joyce)

• Writers such as Marcel Proust, James Joyce, & William Faulkner wrote about complexity & irrationality of human mind

Cubism concentrated on a complex geometry of zigzagging lines and sharply angled, overlapping planes

• Cubism concentrated on a complex geometry of zigzagging lines and sharply angled, overlapping planes

Dadaism: "Dada" was a nonsensical word that mirrored a post-WWI world that no longer made sense.

• Dadaism: "Dada" was a nonsensical word that mirrored a post-WWI world that no longer made sense.

• Attacked all accepted standards of art and behavior, delighting in outrageous conduct

influenced by Freud's emphasis on dreams

• influenced by Freud's emphasis on dreams

Moving pictures were first shown as a popular novelty in peepshows and penny arcades in the 1890s, especially in Paris.

• Moving pictures were first shown as a popular novelty in peepshows and penny arcades in the 1890s, especially in Paris.

• Motion pictures became the main entertainment of the masses until after WWII.

The Social Democratic Party (S.P.D.) took control of the government on November 9, 1918

• The Social Democratic Party (S.P.D.) took control of the government on November 9, 1918

Germany’s lack of experience with democratic traditions made the Weimar’s hold on power tenuous

• Germany’s lack of experience with democratic traditions made the Weimar’s hold on power tenuous

• The Weimar Republic had to rely on conservative military groups to save it from communist outbreaks throughout the country

To Germans of all political parties, the Versailles Treaty represented a harsh, dictated peace, to be revised or repudiated as soon as possible.

• To Germans of all political parties, the Versailles Treaty represented a harsh, dictated peace, to be revised or repudiated as soon as possible.

• France was eager to punish Germany (but even more eager to ensure its future security against German aggression)

Reichsrat: upper chamber represented the Federal states.

• Reichsrat: upper chamber represented the Federal states.

• Reichstag: lower house elected by universal suffrage; supplied the Chancellor and Cabinet.

• President elected for a 7-year term.

• Female suffrage granted

Locarno Pact, 1925: Germany and other European nations agreed to settle all disagreements peacefully.

• Locarno Pact, 1925: Germany and other European nations agreed to settle all disagreements peacefully.

• Germany allowed to join League of Nations in 1926

Challenges were similar to those in Germany

• Challenges were similar to those in Germany

• Death, devastation, and debt of WWI created economic chaos and political unrest

Wartime trend toward greater social equality continued, helping maintain social harmony.

• Wartime trend toward greater social equality continued, helping maintain social harmony.

• Representation of the Peoples Act (1928): women over 21 gained the right to vote.

Labour party rose as a champion of the working classes and of greater social equality

• Labour party rose as a champion of the working classes and of greater social equality

• Conservatives regained power by framing the Labour party as pro-communist when it officially recognized the Soviet Union

After Easter Rebellion (1916) the extremist Sinn Fein faction gained prominence in Ireland.

• After Easter Rebellion (1916) the extremist Sinn Fein faction gained prominence in Ireland.

• Prompted a civil war between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Black and Tan, England’s special occupation forces there.

Long-term problems within the U.S. economy

• Long-term problems within the U.S. economy

• Overproduction of agriculture in Europe

• Stock Market Crash

• Hawley-Smoot Tariff

• bankers began recalling loans made to Germany and other European countries

New Deal- “Keynesian approach”

• New Deal- “Keynesian approach”

• Scandinavia's response to depression was most successful under its socialist gov't

Impact of the depression didn’t occur immediately as France wasn't as highly industrialized as Britain, Germany & the US

• Impact of the depression didn’t occur immediately as France wasn't as highly industrialized as Britain, Germany & the US

• The depression increased class tensions and gave birth to a radical right that supported gov’t reorganization along fascist lines.