Chapter 35: An Age of Anxiety

Vocabulary

• Albert Einstein: Albert Einstein as at the forefront of the revolution in physics in the twentieth century. He lived from 1879 to 1955. His first theory, and perhaps most famous, was that of the theory of special relativity, which he procured in 1905. 

• Sigmund Freud: Sigmund Freud led the revolution in psychology. These new developments challenged the currently established concepts of morality and values. He searched for physiological explanations of mental disorders, and through this he found a conflict between the conscious and subconscious. One of his best tools for determining explanations were by exploring patient’s dreams. 

• Paul Gauguin: Paul Gauguin was a postimpressionist painter that lived from 1848 to 1903. In a personal revolt against ration society, he fled to central America and Tahiti. He was inspired by the “primitive” art he found there, because “civilized” peoples had lost that sort of wonder and awe.

• Bauhaus: An institution that was opened in 1925, designed by Walter Gropius. This institution brought together architects, designers, and painters from several countries. This building can be found in Dessau, Germany. The first director was Walter Gropius; the second was Ludwig Mies von der Rohe. 

• Crash of 1929: The crash of 1929 refers to the global economic depression that was long-lasting and severe. It was so severe that it became more commonly known as the Great Depression. The old capitalist system of trade and finance collapsed, and a return to worldwide prosperity could not occur until a new system took its place after 1945. 

• Keynesian economics: Economic theory following the principles of John Maynard Keynes, characterized by a belief in active government intervention in economic matters. Keynes argued that the solution to economic depression was to stimulate the economy through government expenditures as well as reduced interest rates. 

• Reds and Whites: This referred to the two sides in the Russian Revolution. The reds supported communism, and wanted to spread it to other countries. The whites were opposed to communism, and they were supported by the United States, Japan, France and Britain, who were looking to crush communism. 

• Collectivization: Collectivization is a process beginning in the late 1920s by which Stalin forced the Russian peasants off their own land and onto huge collective farms run by the state; millions died in the process. 

• The Great Purge: These were the results of Stalin’s First Five- Year Plan. Between 1935 and 1938, two- thirds of delegates on the Congress of Victors, and half of the army’s high-ranking officers were charged with treason and sentenced either to execution or long-term suffering in labor camps. All-in-all, by 1939, eight million soviet citizens were in labor camps and three million were dead. 

• Reich: Reich is the German word for empire. Hitler transformed the dying republic of Germany into a single-party (that of the Nazi party) dictatorship. He promised his followers in the Nazi Party a German Reich that would last for a thousand years. 

• Pronatalism: Describes laws and other public policies, and other features of society such as informal social pressures and cultural expectations, which directly or indirectly encourage people to have more children. 

• Eugenics: The science of improving stock, whether human or animal; A social philosophy which advocates the improvement of human hereditary qualities through selective breeding. This was used by Nazis when trying to improve the “purity of their race”. 

Focus Question #1

            Define fascism and compare its rise in Italy and Germany.

            Fascism was a political theory advocating an authoritarian hierarchical government, such as those found in Italy and Germany. in the 1900s. In both nations, fascism had a figurehead – Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy. However, in fascist (or better known as Nazi) Germany, race was more of a factor in society then compared to fascist Italy.

            Benito Mussolini was an editor for a socialist paper in Italy before the Great War. After, however, he was convinced that returning soldiers could be utilized to spearhead the transformation of Italy into a new kind of state. In 1914, he founded his own paper, Il Popolo d’Italia (“The People of Italy”), which encouraged a fascist state. In 1922, Mussolini overthrew Rome, and he became prime minister on the 29th of October in 1922. This was the beginning of fascist Italy. Racism and anti-Semitism, that is, extreme prejudice against Jewish people, came into play in fascist Italy after Mussolini befriended fellow dictator, Adolf Hitler in nearby Germany. In May of 1939, Mussolini, Hitler, and other political leaders from Italy and Germany got together and signed a ten-year Pact of Steel. This formalized their political, military, and ideological alliances and illustrated the strong links between the Italian and German variants of fascism.

            Adolf Hitler was in the German version of Mussolini. One major difference between the two however, was that while Hitler served in the Great War, Mussolini did not. In 1919, Hitler led a Nazi movement that attempted to overthrow the democratic system already in place. He was thrown into jail, and five years later he was released, determined to utilize new tactics. He used the democratic system to come into power and then discarded the very same system that allowed him to come into power. He then stressed racial doctrines, particularly anti-Semitism; this added a new frightening twist to Nazi Germany.

Focus Question #2

            Explore how the “Age of Anxiety” affected art, literature, and science.

            The “Age of Anxiety” affected so many aspects of culture, by diversifying and catalyzing progress in art, literature, and science, such as progress in psychology and physics.

            Painters such as the likes of Edgar Degas and Paul Gauguin were at the forefront of developing new types and styles of paintings. Edgar Degas’ paintings were well-known for their deep meanings, rather then just painting what was on the outside, and sometimes abstract styles. His paintings received some influence from other cultures, especially Japanese culture. Paul Gauguin was another painter pushing the limits. He could be classified as a postimpressionist painter in the United States, however, he fled to

Central America and Tahiti. He was inspired by the “primitive” art he found there, and painted art that was similar to that which he was inspired by.

            Advances in science were also made during the so-called “Age of Anxiety”. During this time period, Albert Einstein became famous for the formulation of the theory of special relativity, which occurred in 1905. Similarly, in psychology, Sigmund Freud led the way in a new train of thought. These new developments challenged the currently established concepts of morality and values. He searched for physiological explanations of mental disorders, and through this he found a conflict between the conscious and subconscious. One of his best tools for determining explanations were by exploring patient’s dreams.