1. A History of Western Society Eleventh Edition
John P. McKay • Clare Haru Crowston •
Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks • Joe Perry
A History of Western Society Eleventh Edition
CHAPTER 26
The Age of Anxiety
1880–1940
Copyright © 2014 by Bedford/St. Martin’s

2. Discuss this Dadaist painting by George Grosz entitled Inside and Outside.
1. Describe this scene.
(Answers: Wealthy elites enjoy an evening of excess and luxury inside, while a disabled veteran from WWI must beg for money outside.)
2. How does this image illustrate the class conflict wrought by the economic crises of the 1920s?
(Answers: It shows the large disparity of wealth between the classes even during a decade plagued by economic crises. The rich enjoy champagne, cigars, and the benefits of electricity, whereas the poor are left to fend for themselves in the cold outdoors.)
3. How does the artist portray the wealthy?
(Answers: Some are overweight, their laughter is proof of their carefree lives and makes it look like they’re mocking those less fortunate. The character in the foreground looks with disdain on the veteran sitting outside.)

3. I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
A. Modern Philosophy
1. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
2. Henri Bergson (1859–1941)
3. Logical Positivism and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–
1951)
4. Existentialism
5. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)
I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
A. Modern Philosophy
1. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)—German philosopher who launched attacks on the Enlightenment philosophies of progress, reason, democracy, rationality, and religion. He claimed that the West was in decline, that “God is dead,” and that only a few superior individuals could liberate themselves from the humdrum thinking of the masses. His ideas became very influential in the 1920s.
2. Henri Bergson (1859–1941)—Bergson was a French philosophy professor who argued that immediate experience and intuition were just as important as rational and scientific thinking for understanding reality.
3. Logical Positivism and Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951)—Logical positivism was a philosophy that sees meaning in only those beliefs that can be empirically proven. This rejects most of the concerns of traditional philosophy, from the existence of God to the meaning of happiness, as nonsense. Theology was deemed useless since religious claims were impossible to prove through logic. Wittgenstein was an Austrian philosopher who in his Essay on Logical Philosophy (1922) argued that philosophy should concentrate on the study of language, which expresses thoughts.
4. Existentialism—A new philosophy, embraced by atheists, that stresses the meaninglessness of existence and the importance of the individual in searching for moral values in an uncertain world. It gained widespread acceptance in Germany among postwar university students.
5. Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)—French existentialist who argued that “existence precedes essence,” meaning that there were no God-given timeless truths outside of individual existence. However, existentialists recognized that individuals are forced to create their own meaning and define themselves through their actions. This gave existentialism an ethical component and stressed individual responsibility and choice. Existentialism gained popularity during and after World War II.

4. I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
B. The Revival of Christianity
1. Christian Thought
2. Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)
3. Karl Barth (1886–1968)
4. Gabriel Marcel (1887–1973)
5. Other Leading Christian Intellectuals
I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
B. The Revival of Christianity
1. Christian Thought—The decades after WWI witnessed a revival of Christianity and religion in general. Prior to the war, Protestant theologians felt the need to interpret Christian doctrine so as not to contradict evolution, science, and common sense. Some even rejected the miraculous aspects of Christianity. After the war, some theologians began revitalizing Christian beliefs by emphasizing human beings’ sinful nature, their need for faith, and the mystery of God’s forgiveness.
2. Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855)—Danish Christian theologian and author of Sickness unto Death (1849) who argued that individuals must take a “leap of faith” and accept the existence of an unknowable but majestic God, since it was impossible for ordinary individuals to prove the existence of God.
3. Karl Barth (1886–1968)—Swiss Protestant theologian who argued that human beings were imperfect, sinful creatures, whose reason and will are hopelessly flawed. Religious truth is made known only through God’s grace, not through reason.
4. Gabriel Marcel (1887–1973)—French existential Christian who found in the Catholic Church an answer to the postwar “broken world.” Catholicism provided hope, humanity, honesty, and piety. Along with Jacques Maritain (1882–1973), Marcel supported closer ties with non-Catholics and spoke out against anti-Semitism.
5. Other Leading Christian Intellectuals—Between 1920 and 1950, T. S. Eliot, W. H. Auden, Evelyn Waugh, Aldous Huxley, C. S. Lewis, Max Planck, and Arnold Toynbee were either converted to a faith or attracted to religion.

5. I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
C. The New Physics
1. Science
2. Marie Curie (1867–1934) and Pierre Curie (1859–1906)
3. Max Planck (1858–1947)
4. Albert Einstein (1879–1955)
5. Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937)
6. Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976)
I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
C. The New Physics
1. Science—By the late nineteenth century, science had become a pillar of Western society’s optimistic and rationalistic worldview. Unlike religion or philosophy, science was based on hard facts and controlled experiments that provided solutions to problems. This was comforting to people who no longer committed to religious beliefs.
2. Marie Curie (1867–1934) and Pierre Curie (1859–1906)—Physicists who discovered that radium emits subatomic particles and does not have a constant atomic weight.
3. Max Planck (1858–1947)—German physicist who showed that subatomic energy is emitted in uneven spurts (“quanta”) and not in a steady stream. His discoveries called into question the old distinction between matter and energy.
4. Albert Einstein (1879–1955)—German-Jewish genius who postulated the theory of special relativity which argued that time and space are relative to the viewpoint of the observer and that only the speed of light is constant.
5. Ernest Rutherford (1871–1937)—Physicist who, in 1919, showed that the atom could be split. By 1944, seven subatomic particles had been identified, the most important being the neutron. This led to the development of the nuclear bomb in which a chain reaction of shattered atoms releases enormous amounts of energy.
6. Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976)—German physicist who, in his “uncertainty principle,” argued that nature is unknowable and unpredictable, and that everything was “relative” (dependent on the observer’s frame of reference). Ordinary people were drawn to this idea of a relativistic, unstable world.

6. I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
D. Freudian Psychology
1. Freud’s Ideas
a. Id
b. Superego
c. Ego
2. Freudian Therapy
3. Civilization and Its Discontents
I. Uncertainty in Modern Thought
D. Freudian Psychology
1. Freud’s Ideas—Freud was convinced that human behavior is essentially irrational and governed by the unconscious.
a. Id—The primitive, irrational, unconscious source of sexual, aggressive, pleasure-seeking instincts that was completely amoral.
b. Superego—The overly strict and irrational conscience or internalized voice of social or parental control that kept the id in check.
c. Ego—The rational self that was mostly conscious that worked to negotiate between the demands of the id and the superego.
2. Freudian Therapy—Freud’s “talking cure” often entailed sitting on a couch and sharing the innermost thoughts with the psychoanalyst. This was an attempt to resolve tensions between the id and the superego and restore the ego to its predominant role.
3. Civilization and Its Discontents—Freud’s book written in 1930 in which he argued that civilization was possible only when individuals renounced their irrational instincts to live peacefully in groups. This made communal life possible but left basic instincts unfulfilled. Thus, Western civilization was inescapably neurotic. For some, such ideas undermined the old optimism about the progressive and rational nature of the human mind. For others, it encouraged the growth of sexual experimentation.

7. II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
A. Architecture and Design
1. Modernism
2. Functionalism
3. Le Corbusier (1887–1965)
4. Walter Gropius (1883–1969) and the Bauhaus
5. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969)
II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
A. Architecture and Design
1. Modernism—A label given to the artistic and cultural movements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries typified by radical experimentation that challenged traditional forms of artistic expression. In architecture, Louis H. Sullivan (1856–1924) used steel, concrete, and electric elevators to build skyscrapers in Chicago that lacked exterior ornamentations. Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) built modern houses featuring open interiors, low lines, and mass-produced materials.
2. Functionalism—The belief in modern architecture that buildings and living spaces should be useful and “functional” and should serve the purpose for which they were made.
3. Le Corbusier (1887–1965)—Franco-Swiss architect and champion of modernism who argued that architects should no longer use fancy ornamentation but rather use the clean straight lines of practical construction and efficient machinery. His buildings were usually symmetrical rectangles made of concrete, glass, and steel.
4. Walter Gropius (1883–1969) and the Bauhaus—German architect who established an interdisciplinary school of fine and applied arts, the Bauhaus, to pioneer new trends in modern architecture. It stressed functionalism and good design. The Bauhaus brought together many leading modern architects, designers, and theatrical innovators.
5. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969)—Bauhaus director who fled Nazi Germany and designed the Lake Shore apartments in Chicago in the modernist international style between 1948 and 1951.

8. II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
B. New Artistic Movements
1. Visual Art in the WWI Era
2. Impressionism
3. Postimpressionism and Expressionism
4. Cubism
5. Dadaism
6. Surrealism
7. Art and Politics
II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
B. New Artistic Movements
1. Visual Art in the WWI Era—Modern painting and sculpture became abstract as artists turned their backs on figurative representation and began to break down form into its constituent parts: lines, shapes, and colors.
2. Impressionism—An early modernist movement based in Paris that tried to portray sensory “impressions” and capture fleeting moments of color and light in often blurry images. The focus was on the surrounding world rather than battles, religious scenes, or wealthy elites. Famous impressionists included Claude Monet (1840–1926), Edgar Degas (1834–1917), and Mary Cassatt (1844–1926), an American who settled in Paris.
3. Postimpressionism and Expressionism—Added a deep psychological element to impressionist motifs of color and light. The most famous of these artists was Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890).
4. Cubism—A type of art in the early twentieth century that concentrated on a geometry of zigzagging lines and sharply angled overlapping planes. Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was a cubist pioneer. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876–1944) founded futurism, a new art form that would express the modern condition.
5. Dadaism—An artistic movement of the 1920s and 1930s that attacked all accepted standards of art and delighted in outrageous behavior. They created “anti-art,” works that were deliberately nonsensical and often shocking. Richard Huelsenbeck (1892–1974) was one of the movement’s founders. Its authors also wrote radical and nonsensical manifestos to spread their ideas and challenge conventional assumptions of all kinds.
6. Surrealism—An artistic movement influenced by Freudian psychology that portrayed images of the unconscious, such as wild dreams and uncomfortable symbols. Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) was a famous surrealist.
7. Art and Politics—Art and culture had become politicized by the 1920s, and some artists became Communists and sided with the far left. Under the Nazi regime, hundreds of artists fled to the United States, turning New York into the global capital of modern art after WWII.

9. Have students explore the story and meaning(s) behind this surrealist painting by Salvador Dalí entitled Metamorphosis of Narcissus (1937).
1. What is the Greek myth of Narcissus?
(Answers: Narcissus was a character in Greek mythology known for his beauty. He saw his reflection in a pool, became enamored with it and, unable to pull himself away, he died. Narcissus is the origin of the word narcissism.)
2. Describe the symbolism within the painting.
(Answers: Narcissus is staring at his own reflection in the pool, while a similarly shaped stone hand holds an egg with a flower growing out of it. The egg symbolizes sexuality, while the flower represents Narcissus immortalized by the gods. The swift passage of time is also reflected in the stone hand and the flower. )
3. What message was the artist trying to convey?
(Answers: He may have been trying to convey the ephemeral nature of beauty or the futility of vanity and self-love.)

10. II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
C. Twentieth-Century Literature
1. New Techniques
2. Marcel Proust (1871–1922)
3. Stream of Consciousness Technique
4. James Joyce (1882–1941)
5. T. S. Eliot (1888–1965)
6. Franz Kafka (1883–1924)
II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
C. Twentieth-Century Literature
1. New Techniques—Novelists used new techniques such as the limited and often confused voice of a single individual to express new realities. They focused on the complexity and irrationality of the human mind.
2. Marcel Proust (1871–1922)—French novelist and author of Remembrance of Things Past who tried to discover the meaning of bittersweet memories of childhood and youthful love.
3. Stream of Consciousness Technique—Relied on internal monologues (a character’s thoughts and feelings as they occur) to explore the psyche. It was used by Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) in her novel Jacob’s Room and by William Faulkner (1897–1962) in his novel The Sound and the Fury.
4. James Joyce (1882–1941)—Author of Ulysses, the account of a single day in the life of an ordinary man. This novel abandoned any sense of a conventional plot, broke grammatical rules, and included frank descriptions of the main character’s sexual thoughts. The language was intended to mirror modern life: a gigantic riddle impossible to unravel.
5. T. S. Eliot (1888–1965)—Published The Waste Land, a poem depicting a world of growing desolation, reflecting a rejection of the idea of progress prevalent during the period.
6. Franz Kafka (1883–1924)—German-Jewish author of The Trial, The Castle, and The Metamorphosis, that portrayed helpless individuals crushed by inexplicably hostile forces.

11. II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
D. Modern Music
1. Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)
2. Alban Berg (1885–1935)
3. Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951)
II. Modernism in Architecture, Art, Literature, and Music
D. Modern Music
1. Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)—Russian composer whose ballet the Rite of Spring caused a near riot at its premiere in 1913 in Paris because it shocked audiences familiar with traditional ballet.
2. Alban Berg (1885–1935)—Composer of the opera, Wozzeck, which blended a half-sung, half-spoken dialogue with harsh, atonal music and depicted a soldier driven by inner terrors to murder his mistress.
3. Arnold Schönberg (1874–1951)—A Viennese composer who broke with tonality and traditional harmony and later created twelve-tone music, in which all twelve tones of the scale were arranged in an abstract mathematical pattern (“tone row”). Atonal music began to gain acceptance only after WWII.

12. III. An Emerging Consumer Society
A. Mass Culture
1. A New Consumer Culture
2. Social Impact
3. The “Modern Girl”
4. Criticisms
III. An Emerging Consumer Society
A. Mass Culture
1. A New Consumer Culture—Goods could be produced inexpensively and in large quantities, easily transported to national markets, and marketed through professional advertising. This led to commercialized consumption and mass entertainment (movies, radio, professional sporting events, newspapers, cheap books, glossy magazines, revues and nightclubs, department stores).
2. Social Impact—Consumption helped democratize Western society and break down social barriers between region, class, and religion. But it also helped reinforce social differences since only the very wealthy could afford certain manufactured marketed goods (automobiles, vacuum cleaners).
3. The “Modern Girl”—The stereotype of a modern and independent female who could vote, hold a job, keep up with the latest fashions, use makeup, smoke cigarettes, and use her sex appeal to charm young men. It was inspired by the fact that consumer culture was transforming the lives of many young women. This was more of an ideal because few women could afford to live up to this image.
4. Criticisms—Socialist writers complained that consumer culture was undermining working-class radicalism, while conservatives complained that it destroyed the livelihood of traditional artisans and undermined proud national traditions. Religious leaders insisted that it encouraged individualism and materialism, which destroyed morals and undermined spirituality. The period after WWII took the idea of a consumer culture to new heights.

13. Have students discuss this photo and what it shows about changing social expectations for women after World War I.
1. How is this image of a woman different from images of women in previous chapters?
(Answers: She is wearing less restrictive clothing, she is in the café alone in public, and she wears her hair short.)
2. How did World War I change the lives of women like this one in the café?
(Answers: She has a job, has acquired more independence, has the right to vote, and is an active participant in mass culture.)
3. Based on this image, do you think social expectations for women have changed from previous chapters?
(Answers: Yes, it is acceptable to be alone in public and to pay for one’s own meal.)

14. III. An Emerging Consumer Society
B. The Appeal of Cinema
1. Development
2. The Golden Age of Silent Film
3. Growing Appeal
4. Propaganda
III. An Emerging Consumer Society
B. The Appeal of Cinema
1. Development—Cinema emerged around 1880 and spread in the 1910s when American directors set up movie factories in New York and Los Angeles and when European nations established their own production companies. Movies offered distraction to troops and served as propaganda to gain support for the war.
2. The Golden Age of Silent Film—Cinema became a mass medium in the 1920s when European nations and the United States established important studios. Movies made use of cutting edge techniques that thrilled audiences. The business of film became international. America led the charge, and German directors and stars flocked to Hollywood. This reinforced America’s international domination of silent cinema until the appearance of talking films in the 1930s.
3. Growing Appeal—By the late 1930s, 1/4 of adults in Britain went to the movies twice a week, while 2/5 went at least once a week.
4. Propaganda—Because of their appeal, motion pictures were used as indoctrination tools by both the Soviets and the Nazis. Sergei Eisenstein (1898–1948) produced epic propaganda films for the Russians, and Leni Riefenstahl (1902–2003) directed the masterpiece documentary Triumph of the Will depicting the 1934 Nazi Party rally at Nuremberg.

15. III. An Emerging Consumer Society
C. The Arrival of Radio
1. The Spread of Radio
2. National Broadcasting Networks
3. Propaganda
III. An Emerging Consumer Society
C. The Arrival of Radio
1. The Spread of Radio—Radio sets were first made available in the 1880s. The work of Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874–1937) and the development of the vacuum tube in 1904 made transmission of speech and music possible, but the first major public broadcasts in the United States and Britain took place only in 1920.
2. National Broadcasting Networks—In Europe, direct control of the networks by the government was the norm (BBC), while the U.S. networks were privately owned and funded by advertising.
3. Propaganda—Mussolini and Hitler controlled the airwaves and broadcasted their speeches to reach huge national audiences. Roosevelt and British prime minister Stanley Baldwin used informal “fireside chats” to bolster their support.

16. IV. The Search for Peace and Political Stability
A. Germany and the Western Powers
1. Reparations Payments
2. French Alliances
3. Reparations and the Great Inflation
B. Hope in Foreign Affairs
1. The Dawes Plan (1924)
2. Political Settlements
3. Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
IV. The Search for Peace and Political Stability
A. Germany and the Western Powers
1. Reparations Payments—France believed that reparations payments would tie down Germany indefinitely and that France would realize its goal of security. John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946), author of The Economic Consequences of the Peace, argued that reparations would impoverish Germany, encourage Bolshevism, and increase economic hardship in all countries. The British agreed that a prosperous Germany was essential to the British economy.
2. French Alliances—With Russia hostile and Communist and the United States and Britain unwilling to make firm commitments, the French signed mutual defense agreements with the countries in central Europe (Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Poland).
3. Reparations and the Great Inflation—Facing reparations payments of $33 billion, Germany wrecked its currency by allowing runaway inflation and proposed a moratorium on further payments. In 1923, the French occupied the Ruhr, the heartland of industrial Germany. Germany responded with passive resistance and hyperinflation, which wiped out the savings of many middle-class Germans. The newly established Nazi Party capitalized on the widespread discontent. Gustav Stresemann (1878–1929) assumed leadership of the German government and attempted to compromise with the French. The British and the Americans were willing to help in order to resolve the issue of reparations payments.
B. Hope in Foreign Affairs
1. The Dawes Plan (1924)—A plan proposed by the American banker Charles G. Dawes that was accepted by France, Germany, and Britain. It reduced Germany’s yearly reparations payments, made payment dependent on economic prosperity, and granted large U.S. loans to promote recovery. Germany used these loans to pay reparations to France and Britain, who used these payments to pay back war debts they owed to the United States.
2. Political Settlements—Agreements on borders and defense were signed at Locarno, Switzerland, in Germany and France pledged to accept their common border, but Germany refused to settle its eastern borders which angered Poland and increased political tensions in central Europe.
3. Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)—Fifteen nations signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact agreeing to “renounce [war] as an instrument of international policy” and settle international disputes peacefully, but it lacked any enforcement measures and could not prevent WWII in 1939.

18. IV. The Search for Peace and Political Stability
C. Hope in Democratic Government
1. German Stabilization
2. French Stabilization
3. Social Harmony in Britain
IV. The Search for Peace and Political Stability
C. Hope in Democratic Government
1. German Stabilization—Liberal democracy seemed to take root in Germany, and the economy stabilized after Adolf Hitler’s plot to seize control was crushed in Many ultranationalists, monarchists, and Communists continued to oppose the regime, however.
2. French Stabilization—France succeeded in rebuilding its war-torn northeastern regions by running a large deficit and risking inflation. To solve these problems, the Poincaré government had to slash spending, raise taxes, and stabilize the franc at 1/5 of its prewar value. The economy remained stable until 1930.
3. Social Harmony in Britain—Though unemployment hovered around 12 percent through the 1920s, the state provided unemployment benefits, subsidized housing, and medical aid and increased old-age pensions. The Labour Party replaced the Liberal Party as the main opposition to the Conservatives, but it moved toward socialism gradually and democratically without alienating the middle classes. Britain also granted southern Catholic Ireland full autonomy in 1922.

19. V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
A. The Economic Crisis
1. The Great Depression
2. Economic Weaknesses Before 1929
3. Impact of the Financial Panic
4. Crisis of Production
5. Reasons for the Depression
V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
A. The Economic Crisis
1. The Great Depression—A worldwide economic depression from 1929 to 1939, unique in its severity and duration and with slow and uneven recovery.
2. Economic Weaknesses Before 1929—In the United States, net investment in factories, farms, and equipment actually fell between 1925 and 1929, even as stock prices rose. The stock market boom was built on money bought “on margin.” Thousands started selling all at once to pay off their brokers, resulting in a financial panic and wiping out investors and speculators.
3. Impact of the Financial Panic—Once the market crashed in 1929, U.S. bankers recalled loans made to many European countries. European businesses had difficulty borrowing money, and Europeans began withdrawing their savings from banks. In turn, this led to bank crashes and general financial chaos throughout Europe.
4. Crisis of Production—Between 1929 and 1933, the world output of goods fell by 38 percent. Each country tried to manage the crisis alone, going off the gold standard and raising protective tariffs. This limited international trade, and recovery did not begin until 1933.
5. Reasons for the Depression—Poor leadership in the international economy and poor national economic policies (governments cut their budgets when they should have raised them and accepted large deficits).

20. V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
B. Mass Unemployment
1. Unemployment Rates
2. Social Problems
V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
B. Mass Unemployment
1. Unemployment Rates—In Britain, unemployment averaged 18 percent between 1930 and 1935, while in Germany 1/3 of workers were unemployed in 1932, and in the United States 13 million people were jobless by 1933.
2. Social Problems—Poverty, hopelessness, delayed marriages, suicide, and mental illness were rampant. In most countries, unemployment benefits or public aid provided temporary relief to prevent starvation.

25. V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
C. The New Deal in the United States
1. Roosevelt’s Goals
a. Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933)
b. The National Recovery Administration (NRA)
c. The Works Progress Administration (1935)
d. National Labor Relations Act (1935)
2. Legacy
D. The Scandinavian Response to the Depression
1. Scandinavian Socialism
2. The Socialist Response
V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
C. The New Deal in the United States
1. Roosevelt’s Goals—President Roosevelt sought to reform capitalism in order to preserve it. Though he rejected socialism, he advocated government intervention in the economy through many social programs:
a. Agricultural Adjustment Act (1933)—Attempted to raise prices and farm income by limiting agricultural production.
b. The National Recovery Administration (NRA)—Attempted to fix prices and wages but was declared unconstitutional in 1935.
c. The Works Progress Administration (1935)—Built public works projects such as buildings, bridges, and highways and employed up to one-fifth of the entire U.S. labor force at some point in the 1930s.
d. National Labor Relations Act (1935)—Helped unions by declaring collective bargaining to be the law of the land. Union membership went from 4 million in 1935 to 9 million in 1940.
2. Legacy—Although it achieved a level of social reform, the New Deal failed to pull the United States out of the Depression. The Second World War would accomplish that.
D. The Scandinavian Response to the Depression
1. Scandinavian Socialism—Passed social reform legislation in Sweden and Norway that benefited peasants and workers. Labor leaders and capitalists were inclined to work together.
2. The Socialist Response—Sweden used large-scale deficits to finance public works and maintain production and employment. Governments also increased pensions, unemployment insurance, subsidized housing, and maternity allowanced by raising taxes first on the rich, and then on everyone else.

26. V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
E. Recovery and Reform in Britain and France
1. Orthodox Economic Theory in Britain
2. Explaining British Improvement
3. The French Malaise
4. The Popular Front (1936)
V. The Great Depression, 1929–1939
E. Recovery and Reform in Britain and France
1. Orthodox Economic Theory in Britain—MacDonald’s Labour government and then the Conservative coalition government followed orthodox economic thinking by balancing the budget and controlling spending. The economy actually recovered and total production was about 20 percent higher in 1937 than in 1929.
2. Explaining British Improvement—Britain concentrated on the national market, and some new industries (automobiles, electrical appliances) grew in response to greater demand. Low interest rates encouraged a housing boom.
3. The French Malaise—The French economy declined steadily until 1935, and the government remained unstable. In 1933, five coalition cabinets formed and fell.
4. The Popular Front (1936)—An alliance of Communists, socialists, and radicals that formed in response to the growing strength of Fascists at home and abroad. Led by Léon Blum who was inspired by the New Deal, it launched a program of social reform which included support for unions, paid vacations, and a 40-hour workweek. As political extremism grew in the wake of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the coalition collapsed in 1937.