Age of Total War

Topic: The Situation Before the Crash

Handout Five 

OUTLINE: 

V. The Political Situation Before the Crash

1. Introduction
2. From Lenin to Stalin
3. Japan Before and After the Quake
4. Harding, Coolidge, and the Jazz Age
5. The Welsh Wizard and the General Strike

QUESTIONS: 

1. What were the reasons for the Kronstadt mutiny? What impact did it have on the development of the Soviet Union? What fate befell the mutineers?
2. How did Lenin hope to handle Stalin? How did Stalin manipulate his position to ensure his standing in the Party and his place in succeeding Lenin?
3. Why did Japan make the move from peaceful internationalism following World War I toward the extreme right? Did the Japanese have legitimate complaints with the United States and Britain?
4. While Europe sought to rebuild from the carnage of the World War, what was the United States experiencing? How would you assess the presidencies of Harding and Coolidge?
5. What was the Zinoviev Letter and what impact did it have on Anglo-Soviet relations?
6. What were the causes of the General Strike in Great Britain in 1926? What role did Stanley Baldwin play in the crisis?

TERMS: 

Kronstadt                              General Strike of 1926              Stanley Baldwin

Last Testament                      J. V. Stalin                                Krupskaya

Mikhail Tukhachevsky          Zinoviev Letter                          NEP

NEPMEN                            Trotsky                                     Winston Churchill

Stanley Baldwin                    Ramsey MacDonald                  Teapot Dome

Harding                                 Coolidge                                   Kitta Ikki