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Baton down the hatches, it's time to look at the political turmoil and economic wasteland that was the 1930s. There's a huge focus on Fascism and Communism under the cut as I find the politics at the time interesting, though other aspects of life during the decade are also explored later on.

Basics

The modern eye often glosses over the 1930s as it rests between the incredibly famous decades of jazz and war, though it would be wrong to suggest that the 30s was uninteresting. After the Wall Street crash of 1929, America was hurled into the word economic depression in its history. Due to America's circle of influence, this also negatively impacted many foreign countries. For example, unemployment levels in some parts of the United Kingdom reached as high as 70% during this period.

In response to their own depressions, many countries underwent drastic political changes and turned toward either Fascism of Socialism for the most part. This create animosity between some countries due to the vastly conflicting ideologies. It could be said that Fascism was the most problematic of the two, however, as it encouraged the idea of Expansionism, leading countries to invade one another in the hope of extending their countries boundaries and influence. The most famous example of this was Germany's Third Reich and their invasion of Poland, which sparked the Second World War in 1939.

Wars and Politics

Though obviously the most famous, the Second World War was far from the only conflict at the time. The rise of Fascism created a sense of political and military tension among the major European powers that could be likened in some ways to the Cold War. Personally, I'm always interested in the groups with negative connotations, so I'm going to talk a lot about Fascism in relation to various continents and countries here. Afterwards, I'll also speak about Socialism to show the contrast. I would recommend scouting through to find relevant information.

Fascism

This atmosphere was undoubtedly well founded, as the Fascist ideologies spread throughout the world to varying degrees, with Fascist unions being set up in the majority of major countries.

Here's a couple of wikipedia articles with some details on Fascist unions where people like to pretend Fascism was completely opposed;

Silver Legion of America

Black Legion - Essentially the Klu Klux Klan, but in black, with a larger field of victims, and apparently with pirate hats

National Synarchist Union of Mexico

Canadian Union of Fascists - Apparently not racist enough for most Canadian fascists

National Unity Party - Definitely racist enough for most Canadian fascists

British Union of Fascists

As Africa was still subjected to colonialism during this period, most 'Afro-Fascism' was developed due to ties with some European countries. Fascism reached perhaps it's largest audience in South Africa due to the ingrained racism of apartheid and the cultural domination the white minority had erected. Fascism was not limited to the white majority as the idea of African nationalism appealed to many oppressed societies within the area, though the actions of the South African Greyshirts, which emphasised the ideals of Aryanism and 'racial hygiene', are much better documented. North Africa, during this period, was largely occupied by the French, and therefore saw a great deal of travel between France and French North Africa, with travellers bringing their ideologies with them from Europe. In Egypt, the Young Egypt Party appeared, praising the movements of Fascist Italy and Nazism. Libya was a prime target for Fascism as at this time it was controlled by Italy, then a Fascist nation. However, in other countries, such as Ethiopia, the movement was fiercely opposed and unable to take roots. Several members of the British Union of Fascists resettled in Kenya during the 1930s, but kept ties with British organisations rather that creating their own in Kenya. Some organisations in East Africa would later be related to Fascism, but at the time it gained only limited interest.

In Israel, the complicated Revisionist Maximalism movement was run by a elf-proclaimed Fascist and for a time supported Nazi Germany, though quickly reversed these views after facing controversy. The group were against the Nazi's anti-Semitism, as many of the group's members and associates were Jewish themselves. Due to the yo-yoing ideas of the group it dissolved after only a few years. Two Syrian organisations appeared during this period, though both focused primarily on the idea of Nationalism rather than totalitarianism. These groups were the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which had its own youth team reminiscent of the Hitler Youth, and later the Kaateb Party. Japan also had two groups active at the time; the semi-Fascist Taisei Yokusankai, which promoted uniting the country under one political party and agenda to support the Japanese total-war efforts prior to World War Two; and the Tohokai, which focused on socialism rather than nationalism, and worked through the parliamentary system rather than through the military, however later divisions during the war changed this. In China, several members of the Kuomintang, a Chinese political party, expressed sympathies with Fascism and the way it improved workers conditions and lives and generated a huge amount of support.

Fascism was also present in South American countries, though the precise politics surrounding the various groups are exceptionally complicated and difficult for an outsider such as myself to get my head around, as this is the first I have heard of much of this information. As several of the events will be covered a little later on, I'll leave you with the wikipedia article, which undoubtedly knows what it's talking about to a greater extent than I do.

Fascism was born in Europe, where it found the largest audience. Fascist Italy was the first state government of its kind, and focused on creating a nationalist identity free from "the delirium of race." Italian Fascism also looked to create a New Roman Empire, and was therefore expansionist in its ideals, promoting colonialism and militarism. Nazism in Germany was similar in many respects, though created its own twist on Fascism by introducing racial and ant-Semitic ideologies into their governments. However, not all Fascist countries and parties were advocates of expansionism, and instead promoted isolationism in order to preserve their nationalism. Such countries, such as Spain and Portugal, subsequently remained largely neutral in World War Two. The British Union of Fascists never gained large amounts of power, though it promoted the idea of returning to the days of the British Empire and maintaining contact with only such countries, therefore establishing a kind of pseudo-isolationism. Other countries in Europe also organised Fascist political parties, such as the Austrofascists of Austria, the August Regime in Greece, the Sanation in Poland, the Estado Novo in Portugal, the Falange in Spain, and the Utase in Croatia. These organisations had varying levels of success and some are arguably more important than others. The Austrofascists installed an authoritarian rule of Austria until it was enveloped by Nazi Germany after the assassination of its leader, the August Regime was the result of a coup that led to the brief reinstallation of the monarchy, the Sanation of Poland went against the idea of democracy in the parliament and supported the idea of a national government and a 'moral healing' of Poland, the Croation Utase were terrorists responsible for the murder of hundreds of thousands of 'undesirables' during the Second World War and also supported expansion into a Greater Croatia, the Estado Novo focused on Portuguese nationalism and heralded great improvements in terms of economy and stability after the Portuguese First Republic.

Communism

Communism was far more popular in the 1920s than in the 1930s, though Communist organisations continued to exist in most countries, and often directly opposed Fascist parties in their countries.

In many African countries, the most prominent and documented Communist organisations supported liberation from colonialism, and were therefore often banned or disreputed by the European governments that laid claim to the countries. Examples of this are the Algerian Communist Party. Similarly, the South African Communist Party strove for a majority rule of the nation and was responsible for elevating some of the black mineworkers to minor positions of power, encouraging a movement away from the 'colour bar' that prevented the native races of the country from achieving power.

Communist parties in South America were largely prevented from gaining much power and influence due to the number of splits and schisms in the groups, preventing large numbers of activists from coming together and achieving much. The PCdoB was an active communist group in Brazil during the 1920s and 30s, and generated a number of prominent groups later that are spoken about here. The Communist Party of Chile organised the union of labourers and workers in the country and received government support and became popular among the public towards the end of the 1930s, and also had its own youth movement. The Paraguayan Communist Party is an example of an organisation that struggled against strong opposition during the past military regimes of the country under Alfredo Stroessener.

The Communist Party of Australia grew in popularity during the 30s as it became part of the country's "united front against Fascism." The Communist Party of New Zealand was considerably less successful, and was subject to in-fighting and a political rivalry with the more popular Labour Party which limited its growth and membership.

In the Americas, Communist organisations frequently saw the Great Depression as a failure of Capitalist society. Many ordinary people were like minded, leading to a larger membership in American and Canadian parties than in many other places around the world. The Communist party of Canada organised workers unions and relief activities such as sports clubs as relief during the stressful period. North America was home to a wide number of Communist parties, though the most popular were the Communist Party USA, which had some anarchistic members thrown into the mix, and the more moderate Socialist Party of America which was far less popular. During the first half of the century, the CP USA encouraged racial diversity and fought for integration in the work place. Like in Canada, it strove to provide relief activities, though also tailored them to specific ethnic communities cultures and languages. The CPUSA relied in part on allies in European countries, and suffered losses in support and funding after losing the support of Stalin's Russia in 1928. The Socialist Party was subjected to in-fighting during the 1930s between the older rational members and the younger Marxist supporters that had joined in recent years. The Party's pacifistic approach to the First and Second World War also lost it support.

The Communist Party of China grew rapidly throughout the 1930s, with Mao Zedong becoming head of the party in 1935. We'll talk more on this shortly. Stay tuned. The Malayan Communist Party covered fronts not only in Malaysia, but also in Singapore, Thailand, and the Dutch East Indies, as the countries did not have their own Communist parties. Under British colonial rule, the party was unregistered and illegal due to their desire for independence. In 1931, the party was separated after many of the leaders were arrested, and was therefore unable to effectively operate for some time. Despite this, the remaining leaders organised a number of strikes and committees across their territories. After the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, the large Chinese population within Malaysia developed an anti-Japanese sentiment, allowing the Malayan Community Party to garner additional funds and support under the guise of supporting China.

Though present, the Communist Party of Austria was banned from 1933-1945 by the Austrofascist regime that governed the country at the time. In 1934 it attempted to incite a rebellion against Fascism in the workers, but was unsuccessful. In Russia, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the governing body, and had been since 1917. During the 1930s, the country was led by Josef Stalin. In the early 1930s, Stalin ordered the collectivisation of agriculture (grain, food produce, etc) in order for it to be sold by the government. This led to immense food shortages, famine, and wide scale starvation as the collected food was ineffectively redistributed. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was banned in 1938, though had prior achieved moderate political success, coming fourth in the 1929 and 1935 parliamentary elections. The Communist Party of Estonia was initially successful, though during the 1930s had less than 200 members. The Communist Party of Germany was, unsurprisingly, banned the day after Adolf Hitler was elected in 1933. Following this, one member of the Communist Party may have set fire to the Reichstag, though the arson was blamed on the entire party and lost any remaining support the group had. As a result, Hitler imposed a number of laws designed to prevent further 'Communist atrocities' that in truth only limited the civil liberties and freedom of the German population. Later, many Communist leaders in Germany were arrested and incarcerated in concentration camps. The Communist Party of Greece also faced prosecution from Fascist leadership at the time, though continued to oppose the onset of war.

I never want anything to do with politics ever again.

Wars + Assorted Politics

The Chinese Civil War took place throughout the 1930s, though paused in 1937 as the two factions created a United Front against Japanese invasion (second Sino-Japanese war). The war was waged between the Communist Party of China and the nationalist Kuomintang, the government at the time. Support was largely on the side of the Communist Party as many believed that the Kuomintang had been unsuccessful in re-establishing China after the dissolution of the monarchy, as the Kuomingtang relied too heavily on foreign powers.

The Colombia-Peru war took place between 1932 and 1933. The Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay also began in 1932, though did not end until 1935 with Paraguay's victory. Apparently there was a big dispute (named the Castellammarese War) in the Mafia going on between 1929 and 1931.

Between 1935 and 1936, the Ethiopian Empire is invaded by Italy and merged with other countries under Italian occupation to create Italian East Africa.

In 1931, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Newfoundland signed the Statue of Westminster with Britain, and established a much higher degree of independence as members of the British Commonwealth.

A coup-d'état in 1930 led to the dissolving of the Brazillian 'Old Republic' and established Getúlio Vargas as the President of the Provisional Government.

In 1930, Mohandas Ghandi leads the peaceful Satyagraha movement in a fight to free India from British colonialism. This movement lead a number of peaceful protests that exposed the flaws and violence inherent in the British government of India. 9 years later, similar civil disobedience is incited among Muslim communities that oppose British colonialism. This eventually leads to the creation of Pakistan.

The Spanish Civil War was fought between 1936 and 1939, with various countries backing either the Communist or anti-Communist forces. The anti-Communist forces, the Falange, emerge victorious and demolish the Spanish Republic of previous years, making way for a far-right authoritarian government.

In 1937, the Republic of Ireland becomes completely independent of Great Britain, having before remained a member of the British Commonwealth.

Adolf Hitler is elected chancellor of Germany in 1933, ending the Weimar Republic, and pulled out of the League of Nations, essentially an early, inter-continental version of the EU. In 1936 the Olympics are hosted in Berlin. In 1938 Kristallnacht led to the burning and looting of many synagogues, and the homes and businesses of Jewish Germans and Austrians. Following this, tens of thousands of Jewish people were arrested and sent to labour and concentration camps. In 1936, Germany and Italy sign a treaty promising to combat Communism and become allies. In 1939, Germany occupies Czechoslovakia and invades Poland, leading to the outbreak of World War Two.

Also in 1939, the St. Louis sailed from Hamburg with nearly 1000 Jewish refugees on board. The ship sailed to Cuba, Florida, and Canada, but those on board are denied asylum in each. Eventually, the ship and it's passengers are forced to return to Europe, where many of the passengers are accepted as refugees in Belgium, Britain, France, and the Netherlands.

In 1932, Democratic president, Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected and begins combating the effects of the Great Depression in America.

Lastly, there was all sorts of crazy shit going on in Argentina during an event called 'The Infamous Decade.' You'll have already spotted this if you bothered to read the section on Fascism up there, but for those that didn't (and I can't blame you) here's a wiki article that know what it's talking about.

Some events I don't know where to put

Million of Soviet citizens relocate from the country to the city to avoid starvation.

1933 - Prohibition is ended in the United States

1934 - Austrian Nazis assassinate the Austrian leader of Austrofascism.

1936 - 1938 - The Great Purge in Russia leads to the extermination of hundreds of thousands of political opponents and 'Old Bolsheviks', original members of the Bolshevik party before 1917. On the bright side, it made feeding people slightly easier.

1937 - German hydrogen airship the Hindenburg explodes over New Jersey, killing 36 people and the idea of Zeppelins.

1938 - New England hurricane kills around 700 people and destroys several thousand homes.

1938 - Yellow River flood in China is instigated by the government to prevent the advancement of Japanese troops in the Sino-Japanese war. The flood succeeds in delaying Japanese advancement, but kills around 500,000 Chinese people and turns many more into homeless refugees.

Women

Unmarried women were permitted to sue or be sued, own property, and form contracts, while married women forfeited many of her rights to her husband. In addition, women were viewed as 'the fairer sex' and not expected to match men in terms of intellect of strength. For this reason, many professions remained closed to female workers. In several countries, however, women were given the vote.

The flappers of the 1920s began to fade out of existence as the girls of the time 'matured' and/or were more or less forced into conformity. Similar counter-cultures continued, though extravagance was limited by the economic depression.

Racial Minorities

African-American entertainers became slightly more mainstream with the popularisation of Jazz and Blues, though they were rarely permitted outside of this area.

Racial minorities often struggled more than their white counterparts during the Great Depression, as they were deemed less employable. In addition, Roosevelt's campaign to increase the amount of jobs through labour corps largely excluded minorities. Conditions did not seem likely to improve as the Great Depression created a focus on economic restoration rather than political reform.

Racism continued to be present in the courtroom with all-white juries and many African-Americans condemned with very limited or dubious evidence. The Klu Klux Klan was also active during this period, and many lynchings occurred, with at least one recorded death by race crime each year.

Mexican Americans began to organise workers unions to generate power and a group identity, and raised funds for Spanish-speaking communities that were largely ignored by the government. Many racial minority groups began a boycott of a number of services under the slogan "Don't shop where you can't work." The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NCAAP) was also active throughout this period, and fought legal battles on behalf of those that could not afford adequate legal coverage themselves. The group was also known for calling out racial discrimination in government policies and rallied for decades for improvements to voting laws.

Etiquette

Manners remained a complicated debacle through the thirties, though things were more relaxed in companionable and youthful circles.

Calling cards were a necessary part of social interaction, particularly when visiting the house of an acquaintance or new friend.

Interestingly, before the 1940s it was unusual to propose with an already purchased engagement ring, and was in fact considered presumptuous. Instead, rings would be bought and worn before the engagement was announced to friend and family. In addition, the 30s welcomed the 'modern' tradition of assuring the woman's permission to propose before approaching her parents.

Chivalry was encouraged in the 30s, with men being expected to leave vehicles and houses first in order to "offer assistance to his companion in alighting."

Women were expected to speak first when meeting a man, allowing them to dispel any unwanted interactions off the bat. However, when ordering at restaurants it was expected that a man would order for both himself and his date.

Technology

After the burst in popularity of movies in the 1920s, the 30s saw several advancements to film technology. In 1930, the first sound and colour feature length movie and cartoon were made, 'Song of the Flame' and 'Fiddlestick', respectively. Improvements to video quality also allowed broadcasting in 'high-definition', though it was obviously a long shot from the HD of today.

Radio became the most popular form of mass media in the 1930s as the technology was improved. Similarly, recording phonographs were developed and able to record sound for much longer.

Air travel was also improved and made far safer, allowing for the first commercial air flights and air mail services. Until the Hindenburg Disaster, Zeppelins and planes occupied similar markets, though Zeppelins offered more of an 'air cruise.'

Other technologies of the period include; nuclear fission, the chocolate chip cookie, bass guitars and scotch tape.

Culture

Culture in the 1930s differed drastically for those with money and those most affected by the Great Depression. Those affected were forced to make do with what they had, while for those more financially secure, culture was largely similar to that of the 1920s, with a few developments on the themes.

Toward the middle of the decade, Swing music became popular and came to replace more 'refined' Jazz music. Blues music also became more mainstream, bringing more African-American performers into the spotlight.

The Golden Age of Hollywood continued into the talkie era with Universal Studios at the forefront in terms of production and popularity. The 30s produced dozens of films now considered classics, such as the Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and the Universal Monsters series that saw actors Belá Lugosi and Boris Karloff achieve fame as foreign actors. In terms of comedy, the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy were extremely successful, showing that physical humour was still the main form of entertainment, though talkies allowed for a wider range of jokes. Talkie cinema also allowed the recordings of songs and music, allowing for the production of a great deal of musicals and song-and-dance films alá Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Also, Germany and America had a huge boner over Marlene Dietrich - and who can blame them?

Alfred Hitchcock made several films during the 1930s, though he would not become majorly successful until later decades.

In 1930, the first FIFA World Cup was held. It was hosted and run by Uruguay. The following two cups were run by Italy. Nothing changes.

The 30s saw two of the world's most famous constructions, the Empire State Building in 1931 - then the tallest building in the world - and the Golden Gate bridge. Art Deco architecture also continued to be popular.

Art Deco was also seen in much Western art from this period, though began to be replaced by the Social Realism movement that largely documented rural America through both paintings and photography. Similarly, Mexican art became unusually popular for the Marxist undertones it contained. Europe, ever eager to be artsy and ridiculous, developed Surrealism, Cubism, German Expressionism, Bauhaus, and Dadaism. The latter of which also gained popularity in Asian countries, particularly in Tokyo, Japan. Surrealism threw Salvador Dalí into the spotlight, who painted several famous artworks, created a handful of Surrealist short films, and was damn attractive in the 30s, before he got a little too enthusiastic in his moustache.

Popular authors of the time included; F. Scott Fitzgerald (again), Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, J.R.R Tolkein, William Faulkner, and John O'Hara. There was a stark contrast between the escapist fantasy of Tolkein's 'The Hobbit' and Steinbeck's harshly realistic novellas. DC Comics became active towards the end of the decade, with Superman first introduced in 1938, and Batman the following year.

Fashion

In terms of style, there's nothing I can say that won't be repeating this website, so I'll just go ahead and link you to these pages.

Boys

Girls

As you can see, a little bit of androgyny was more or less accepted for women, as shown by icon Marlene Dietrich. Men, however, were made to be square and broad, but damn did they look good.

Some Helpful Links

A Load of In-Depth Pages about 1930s Fashion

An Essay on Racial Minorities during the Great Depression - Stunningly, it doesn't focus solely on African-Americans

1930s Slang

Popular Names of the 1930s

There's this funny little book called 'Modern Manners' from 1936, written by a Frederic J Haskin. I'd suggest running a few googles for that as there are a number of modern articles going through it that will give you extra information on high society in the 30s.

Bateman's Personal Interest

tw: mentions of violence, murder, rape.

Crime

The 30s is somewhat famous for its gang crime, and this reputation is not unfounded. In Italy, a number of conflicts among the Mafia came to be known as the Castellammarese War, and resulted in a great deal of changes for the Italian Mafia. Several of the victors were murdered months or years later, which goes to show what the atmosphere was like in these places. It appears that a similar set-up existed in Chicago, as the prefix Chicago was often used to mean something violent or dead in slang at the time. For instance, a Chicago Overcoat was a coffin.

Serial Killers

Anna Marie Hahn took to befriending and murdering elderly men and women in order to receive money from them in their wills. An autopsy of one of her victims revealed a large amount of arsenic, and after exhuming and inspecting bodies of her earlier clients, it was believed that they had been poisoned also. She was executed by electric chair in 1937 after a well-publicised, month-long murder trial.

Robert Nixon was responsible for the sexual-assault and murder of several women and their children in 1937. His decision to beat his victim to death with bricks led to the portrayal of him as the 'Brick Moron', a 'dim-witted' and frankly racist mockery, in the newspapers. His crimes led to increased racial tensions in Chicago, causing some white people to move away from areas with a large black population. Nixon was executed in Chicago in 1939.

Harry Powers used 'Lonely Hearts' columns to find his victims, coming up with various aliases and identities in order to receive the most responses from women. At one point he told his neighbours that he was taking one of his girlfriends and her children on a trip to Europe, though the family later disappeared. Powers convinced his second victim to withdraw $4000 from the bank before killing her. On Powers property, the bodies of his five victims - two women and three children - were found strangled to death. Powers was in possession of many love letters, showing his intentions or pursuing more women for this purpose.

The Cleveland Torso Murderer was the name given to an unidentified serial killer active between 1935 and 1938. The name was generated by the press as the bodies found were always decapitated, and frequently further mutilated and dismembered. The estimated number of victims is put to around 12, though there are several 'non-canonical' murders that may also be attributed to the killer. In many instances the bodies were difficult to identify, as they were not found until weeks or months after their death. The victims were both male and female, and though the majority were white, one woman was black. Each of the victims is believed to have been part of the 'working poor,' the lower class forced to live in the shanty towns around Cleveland, though this is the only thing that seems to link the victims together.

Arnold Sodeman strangled four young girls in Melbourne, Australia between 1930 and 1935. He was executed by hanging in 1936.

Peter Kurten was one fucked up guy. His crimes included arson, theft, attempted murder, sexual assault (including against his sisters), animal cruelty, rape and child molestation. He gained the nickname 'The Vampire of Dusseldorf' after it was discovered that he had drank the blood of at least one of his victims. Kurten admitted that his crimes were sexual in their nature, though also reasoned that his motive was 'to strike back at an oppressive society.'

Ali Asghar Borujerdi was convicted for the rape and murder of 33 adolescent boys. He was executed in Baghdad, Iran in 1934.

Albert Fish was a kidnapper, cannibal, and child rapist active until his execution in 1936. He was officially convicted of three murders, though the precise number of his victims is undetermined.

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