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Introduction: The Price of Inclusion: Austria’s First Republic and the Jews

Lisa Silverman

in Becoming Austrians: Jews and Culture between the World Wars

This chapter introduces the overlapping, imagined notions of Jews, Vienna, and the Austrian provinces between the World Wars by examining how the national and urban representations functioned in ... More

This chapter introduces the overlapping, imagined notions of Jews, Vienna, and the Austrian provinces between the World Wars by examining how the national and urban representations functioned in shaping the culture of the First Republic, and explores the various reactions of Austria’s Jews to the collapse of the Dual Monarchy. This chapter also introduces “Jewishness” as a category of critical analysis. It outlines how perceived differences between the “Jewish” and the “non-Jewish” formed a broad, binary system for ordering the world, much like gender’s universal (and hierarchical) codings of the “feminine” and “masculine.” The results of this analysis indicate that a deeply engrained, hierarchical framework of “Jewishness” was played an important role in how Jews and non-Jews alike made sense of a new and often chaotic world in the interwar period.Less

The Interwar Crisis and the Postwar Constitutional Settlement of Administrative Governance

Peter L. Lindseth

in Power and Legitimacy: Reconciling Europe and the Nation-State

This chapter explores the national antecedents to European integration by looking at the postwar constitutional settlement of administrative governance on the national level in more detail. It begins ... More

This chapter explores the national antecedents to European integration by looking at the postwar constitutional settlement of administrative governance on the national level in more detail. It begins by describing the constitutional crises of the interwar period. The first section surveys the strains placed on traditional conceptions of separation of powers during the interwar period (the so-called ‘crisis of parliamentary democracy’) and the role of functionalism as an idée-force in both domestic public-law debates and international-relations theory. This discussion focuses particularly on the views of Carl Schmitt and David Mitrany. The chapter then turns to the elements of the postwar constitutional settlement: the phenomenon of delegation and the redefinition of the role of constitutional legislatures (parliaments); the role of the chief executive in providing ‘plebiscitary leadership’ for the growing technocratic-administrative sphere; and finally the emergence of courts as mechanisms to ensure constitutional commitments to individual rights and collective democratic structures. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the system of ‘mediated legitimacy’ as essential to the constitutional stabilization of administrative governance in the postwar decades, on which European integration would also subsequently build.Less

Constructing and Consolidating the Standard Employment Relationship in International Labour Regulation

Leah F. Vosko

in Managing the Margins: Gender, Citizenship, and the International Regulation of Precarious Employment

This chapter traces the evolution of the SER as the baseline of international labour regulation in the interwar and post‐World War II periods. It reviews the SER's central pillars—the bilateral ... More

This chapter traces the evolution of the SER as the baseline of international labour regulation in the interwar and post‐World War II periods. It reviews the SER's central pillars—the bilateral employment relationship, standardized working time, and continuous employment—and analyses their construction in ILO regulations. This discussion highlights the significance of exclusions in the creation of this employment norm. It also shows how even as the SER materialized for many working‐class men, the gender contract with which it was intertwined began to deteriorate. Regulations adopted in response to this crumbling gender contract starting in the 1950s sought to strip the SER of its formal exclusions. With the notable exception of those based on nationality, formal equality was the objective of interventions, but, by neglecting processes of social reproduction, ILO regulations retained an employment norm geared to male citizens as a baseline.Less

‘Malaise Alsacien’—Malaise féminin? Alsatian Women's Identity in Question, 1918–39

Elizabeth Vlossak

in Marianne or Germania?: Nationalizing Women in Alsace, 1870-1946

The administrative, legal, civil, constitutional and political transitions that took place in Alsace and Lorraine after 1918 caused the ‘Malaise alsacien’. This chapter explores the extent to which ... More

The administrative, legal, civil, constitutional and political transitions that took place in Alsace and Lorraine after 1918 caused the ‘Malaise alsacien’. This chapter explores the extent to which this malaise was gendered, and whether it led Alsatian women to question their national loyalties and identity. The controversial identity card system illuminates how French nationality laws discriminated against married women, an issue that became a cause célèbre of the French feminist movement throughout the 1920s. The newly-adopted French Civil Code curtailed the rights of Alsatian women who also remained entirely excluded from formal politics, unlike German women who won the right to vote in 1918. However, while Alsatian women actively opposed French attempts to secularize the region after 1924, they did not join French feminist organizations in great numbers, nor did they participate in the regionalist and autonomist movements, or receive support from German nationalist women's associations.Less

Introduction

Barry Eichengreen

in Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939

The gold standard is conventionally portrayed as synonymous with financial stability, and its downfall, starting in 1929, is implicated in the global financial crisis and the worldwide depression. A ... More

The gold standard is conventionally portrayed as synonymous with financial stability, and its downfall, starting in 1929, is implicated in the global financial crisis and the worldwide depression. A central message of this book is that precisely the opposite was true: far from being synonymous with stability, the gold standard itself was the principal threat to financial stability and economic prosperity between the World Wars I and II. To understand why, it is necessary first to appreciate why the interwar gold standard worked so poorly when its prewar predecessor had worked so well, next, to identify the connections between the gold standard and the Great Depression, and finally, to show that the removal of the gold standard in the 1930s established the preconditions for recovery from the Depression. These are the three tasks undertaken in the book (which is arranged chronologically), and they are summarized in the sections of this introductory chapter.Less

The Interwar Gold Standard in Operation

Barry Eichengreen

in Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939

This is the first of three chapters that consider the operation of the reconstructed gold standard system following World War I; it documents the decline in its credibility and in international ... More

This is the first of three chapters that consider the operation of the reconstructed gold standard system following World War I; it documents the decline in its credibility and in international cooperation over it, in comparison with the prewar era. Britain joined the USA on the gold standard in April 1925, and by the end of that year, nearly three dozen countries had effectively restored convertibility; the French franc was stabilized de facto in 1926, the Italian lira in 1927, and by the beginning of 1928, the reconstruction of the gold standard system was essentially complete. However, from the outset, it was apparent that the new gold standard was not having the beneficial effects so widely envisaged; the most glaring problem was its failure to maintain price stability, and the adjustment mechanism did not succeed in swiftly eliminating balance‐of‐payments surpluses and deficits. The obvious solution was international cooperation, but the requisite level was not forthcoming. The different sections of the chapter look at the form of the reconstructed system, problems of its operation – liquidity and adjustment, the role of international cooperation, monetary policy in 1927, 1928–1929, and impediments to cooperation.Less

Introduction

Christopher T. Keaveney

in Beyond Brushtalk: Sino-Japanese Literary Exchange in the Interwar Period

The golden age of Sino-Japanese literary exchange is first described. The writers examined in this book include a number of the most celebrated authors of the era from both China and Japan. ... More

The golden age of Sino-Japanese literary exchange is first described. The writers examined in this book include a number of the most celebrated authors of the era from both China and Japan. Ultimately, although this study explores the relations involving famous writers such as Lu Xun and Tanizaki Jun'ichirō, the figure who emerges as the unsung hero of Sino-Japanese literary relations was a little-known bookstore owner named Uchiyama Kanzō, whose bookstore in Shanghai became the hub of relations between writers in the two communities during the interwar period. Brushtalk refers specifically to the practice of communication in East Asia among literate individuals, incapable of speaking one another's language, by means of written classical Chinese. The factors contributing to the ease of interaction between Chinese and Japanese writers in the interwar period are described. In addition, the sordid realities of Sino-Japanese political relations in the interwar period are discussed. The chapter then investigates Chinese and Japanese literary relations during the interwar period from a variety of perspectives. An overview of the chapters included in this book is given as well.Less

The National Physical Laboratory

Eileen Magnello

in Alan Turing's Automatic Computing Engine: The Master Codebreaker's Struggle to build the Modern Computer

This chapter details the establishment of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The NPL is one of the world's great national standards laboratories. In his presidential address to the British ... More

This chapter details the establishment of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). The NPL is one of the world's great national standards laboratories. In his presidential address to the British Association in 1895, Sir Douglas Galton called for the creation of a NPL supported by government funding. It was decided that a public institution should be established to determine and verify instruments, test materials, determine physical constants, and undertake investigations into the strength and durability of materials. The work of the NPL up to World War II is discussed.Less

The Interwar Years 1919–39

in Offshore Island Politics: The Constitutional and Political Development of the Isle of Man in the Twentieth Century

This chapter concentrates on the interwar period. This chapter discusses the government and elections of Major General Sir William Fry, Sir Claude Hill, Sir Montagu Butler and William Leveson-Gower ... More

This chapter concentrates on the interwar period. This chapter discusses the government and elections of Major General Sir William Fry, Sir Claude Hill, Sir Montagu Butler and William Leveson-Gower as Lieutenant-Governors. The direct and indirect role of government is also assessed. The chapter describes the Island's social policy up to the outbreak of war in 1939. The interwar years show the Island's interwar employment problem, changes on health treatment and public service. The financial connection between the Isle of Man and the UK during the interwar period is elaborated.Less

From the Waste Land to the Dark Tower: Revitalizing the Rural Gothic in the Interwar Period

Sam Wiseman

in Locating the Gothic in British Modernity

This chapter explores the evolution of the rural Gothic following the First World War, noting how the legacy of the conflict is evident in an emphasis, for example, upon violence and trauma within ... More

This chapter explores the evolution of the rural Gothic following the First World War, noting how the legacy of the conflict is evident in an emphasis, for example, upon violence and trauma within domestic space (E.F. Benson). For some authors of the period, there is a sense of rebirth following the war, linked to a re-enchantment of the British landscape that contains Gothic elements in its focus upon narratives of pagan sacrifice (Mary Butts, Algernon Blackwood) or witchcraft (Sylvia Townsend Warner). Many of these developments come together in depictions of Cornwall, particularly in the novels of Daphne du Maurier or in D.H. Lawrence’s Kangaroo, as a space that is simultaneously English and non-English, liminal, and connected to ancient civilizations and mythologies.Less

Postwar Instability

Barry Eichengreen

in Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939

The chapter covers the postwar boom and slump, which provided a first indication of how radically the environment had changed since before World War I, although contemporaries did not appreciate its ... More

The chapter covers the postwar boom and slump, which provided a first indication of how radically the environment had changed since before World War I, although contemporaries did not appreciate its lessons adequately. The different sections of the chapter look at the transition to generalized floating of exchange rates, the postwar boom and the postwar slump (1919–1921), and the aftermath of these.Less

Current Account Reversals: Always a Problem?

Muge Adalet and Barry Eichengreen

in G7 Current Account Imbalances: Sustainability and Adjustment

This chapter evaluates the frequency, magnitude, and effects of current account reversals in the gold standard era (1880–1914), the interwar period (1919–1939), Bretton Woods (1945–1970), and the ... More

This chapter evaluates the frequency, magnitude, and effects of current account reversals in the gold standard era (1880–1914), the interwar period (1919–1939), Bretton Woods (1945–1970), and the post-Bretton Woods float (1972–1997). The results confirm that the gold standard era and the years since 1970 differed strikingly from one another: reversals were smaller, less frequent, and less disruptive in the gold standard period. It also shows that the reversals were relatively costly when a large current account deficit had been allowed to emerge and the real exchange rate was allowed to become significantly overvalued in the preceding period. The growth of the current account deficit in the 1880s led from a combination of domestic economic and political factors. Reversals were both less common and smaller in the Bretton Woods and pre-World War I gold standard eras.Less

The Archaeology of Machinic Mass Consumerism and the Logistics of the Factory Floor in Everyday Life

Michael P. Roller

in An Archaeology of Structural Violence: Life in a Twentieth-Century Coal Town

Chapter 5 examines the rise of what I describe as machinic mass consumerism on a national context as well as its materialization in the local community. The chapter outlines a context for its rise in ... More

Chapter 5 examines the rise of what I describe as machinic mass consumerism on a national context as well as its materialization in the local community. The chapter outlines a context for its rise in the latter half of the twentieth century, beginning with structural changes in political economy and national infrastructure during the Interwar Period. Specifically, the chapter connects the efforts of industrialists and social scientists concerned with the suppression of radical behavior and the profiteering of surplus production by the development of a consumer democracy. The archaeological evidence used in the chapter, from a shanty in Lattimer No. 2, contributes to a multiscalar analysis examining the implications of mass consumerism for the class positions of these most prototypical of producers, immigrant laborers and their families.Less

The Resurgence of Interwar Germany

David M. Edelstein

in Over the Horizon: Time, Uncertainty, and the Rise of Great Powers

While Hitler’s Germany in the 1930’s has received abundant attention, this chapter begins earlier in the interwar period. Throughout the 1920’s, Europe’s great powers debated how to manage a defeated ... More

While Hitler’s Germany in the 1930’s has received abundant attention, this chapter begins earlier in the interwar period. Throughout the 1920’s, Europe’s great powers debated how to manage a defeated Germany that had the latent power potential to again become a great power. This chapter traces how Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union addressed this challenge. It argues that all three of these European powers preferred to cooperate with Germany in the short-term rather than paying the high cost of competing with Germany when it had uncertain long-term intentions. This explanation based on time horizons is superior to alternative explanations based on either buckpassing or engagement.Less

Reconstructing the Facade

Barry Eichengreen

in Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939

This chapter (like the previous one) looks at the fiscal war of attrition that fueled inflation in the 1920s; here, inflationary chaos elsewhere in Europe is contrasted with the experience of ... More

This chapter (like the previous one) looks at the fiscal war of attrition that fueled inflation in the 1920s; here, inflationary chaos elsewhere in Europe is contrasted with the experience of countries that repelled the inflationary threat. The different sections of the chapter discuss the first (failed) attempts to restore the gold standard after World War I and the failure to provide a framework for international cooperation, deflationary paths (in Britain, Sweden and the Netherlands), inflation (in Belgium), the inflationary crisis in France, and the enduring effects of these. Recovery was more rapid in countries that experienced inflation and depreciation (notably France, Belgium, and Italy) than in those that had pursued deflation in order to stabilize their currencies and restore the prewar gold price. In countries where the fiscal war of attrition had been most destructive, political leaders and their constituencies insisted on going to exceptional lengths to prevent the ceasefire from breaking down. The gold standard was the white flag emblematic of the truce, and policy makers continued to wave it even after political economic circumstances had changed fundamentally and an entirely different policy response was required.Less

Musings of a Literary Pilgrim: Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's Discoveries in China and Their Records

Christopher T. Keaveney

in Beyond Brushtalk: Sino-Japanese Literary Exchange in the Interwar Period

This chapter explores the impact of travel to China of Tanizaki Jun'ichirō. Tanizaki visited China on two occasions (1918 and 1926). The pieces resulting from the first visit fall neatly into the ... More

This chapter explores the impact of travel to China of Tanizaki Jun'ichirō. Tanizaki visited China on two occasions (1918 and 1926). The pieces resulting from the first visit fall neatly into the kikōbun (travel diary) and nikki (literary diary) varieties and are representative examples of a body of such work penned by Japanese writers in the modern period based on their travels. On the other hand, the most significant work produced following Tanizaki's second visit constitutes a valuable record of cultural exchange between the Chinese and Japanese literary communities during the twenties. Moreover, the chapter investigates Tanizaki's perspective on the significance of his encounters with those Chinese writers from the vantage point of the War period. In general, the writings Tanizaki produced in conjunction with his travels in China show his versatility, the works produced from each journey being suited to the particular circumstances he encountered. Although the works resulting from his two journeys to China must be considered minor accomplishments in relation to his more celebrated works of fiction, they do offer insights into Tanizaki's abiding fascination with China and provide an intriguing glimpse into Sino-Japanese cultural relations in the interwar period.Less

Toward the Tripartite Agreement

Barry Eichengreen

in Golden Fetters: The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939

By 1934, it was impossible to ignore the contrast between the persistence of depression in gold standard countries and the acceleration of recovery in the rest of the world; the continued allegiance ... More

By 1934, it was impossible to ignore the contrast between the persistence of depression in gold standard countries and the acceleration of recovery in the rest of the world; the continued allegiance to gold by several European countries, led by France, has consequently been regarded as an enigma. This chapter shows how domestic politics combined with collective memory of inflationary chaos in the 1920s to sustain resistance to currency depreciation. Indeed, inflation anxiety in the gold bloc was not entirely unfounded, and sometimes it proved self‐fulfilling. When currency depreciation finally came to France in 1936, it was accompanied by inflation and social turmoil, but not by the beneficial effects evident in other countries. Here, as in the rest of the book, historical and political factors, not just economics, bear the burden of explanation.Less