Key Takeaways
1. The Illusion of Pre-War Globalism's Golden Age
Both men were myopic about the extent to which the freedoms they associated with globalization were the privileges of a narrow elite.
Privilege, not universal freedom. Before 1914, figures like Stefan Zweig and John Maynard Keynes fondly recalled a world of effortless travel and trade, where goods and people moved freely across borders. However, this "golden era" of globalization was largely a privilege enjoyed by wealthy, educated, white European men, masking a stark reality for millions. For instance, Zweig himself admitted, "It may be I was too greatly pampered."
Hidden costs of integration. Beneath the veneer of seamless global integration lay deep inequalities and existing restrictions. While international trade benefited some, it exacerbated disparities between rich and poor nations, and within industrialized countries, creating clear winners and losers. Migrants in steerage, non-white individuals, and those deemed "likely to become a public charge" already faced intrusive inspections and categorical exclusions, highlighting that the earth did not belong to everyone.
Seeds of discontent. This uneven distribution of globalization's benefits fostered early anti-globalist sentiments, particularly among those on the margins. Migrant women, garment workers, and colonial subjects experienced the harsh realities of global labor markets and imperial exploitation, laying the groundwork for future mass political movements that would challenge the very foundations of this seemingly idyllic global order.
2. World War I: The Catalyst for Anti-Global Backlash
The war shattered those illusions.
Illusions shattered. The First World War brutally exposed the fragility of pre-war globalism, transforming a period of perceived international cooperation into one of unprecedented conflict and deglobalization. The immense sacrifices demanded by the war, coupled with widespread suffering, ignited popular demands for immediate justice and equality, fundamentally altering the political landscape.
Barriers erected. States, once facilitators of global flows, now actively sought to disrupt them, introducing measures that would have lasting anti-global consequences. Naval blockades, tariffs, exchange controls, and the new requirement for passports effectively choked international trade and mobility. These wartime interventions, initially temporary, became blueprints for a more protectionist and controlled post-war world.
Nationalism Triumphant. The war also saw a dramatic resurgence of nationalism, eclipsing the internationalist ideals that had flourished before 1914. Even prominent pacifists and feminists, like Rosika Schwimmer, found their calls for peace ridiculed, as patriotic fervor swept across nations, demonstrating how quickly the spirit of internationalism could be replaced by "race hatred and national jealousy."
3. Disease and Borders: The Pandemic's Role in Deglobalization
Disease binds the human race together as with an unbreakable chain.
Global spread, local fear. The 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, rapidly traversing continents via soldiers, ships, and trains, starkly illustrated the interconnectedness of the world through disease. While public health experts recognized the need for international cooperation, the pandemic simultaneously fueled xenophobia and provided a powerful pretext for states to reinforce borders and restrict mobility.
Immigrants as scapegoats. The long-standing association between immigrants and disease intensified, particularly targeting Eastern European Jews and Chinese migrants. Public health measures, often discriminatory, justified new restrictions:
- San Francisco's Chinatown quarantined during plague outbreaks.
- Typhus linked to "Slavic and Jewish lice" on the Eastern Front.
- Immigrants blamed for the flu's spread in American cities due to "insanitary ways of living."
The "quarantine era." The pandemic helped usher in an era of "quarantine" from which the world would only emerge decades later, where anti-globalists sought to isolate nations from perceived infectious agents. This period, from 1918 to 1939, saw the hardening of borders and the rise of the "illegal alien," transforming Ellis Island from a gateway to a detention center.
4. The "Mutilated Peace" and the Quest for Self-Sufficiency
The victors have kept none of the promises which they made in their hour of danger, but have on the other hand, belied the principles of freedom, democracy, and self-determination of peoples which they pretended to guard.
Betrayal at Versailles. The Paris Peace Treaties, intended to end the war, instead ignited widespread disillusionment, particularly in Central Europe. Nations like Germany, Austria, and Hungary felt unjustly punished, stripped of territory, resources, and colonies, and condemned to "perpetual hunger" and "debt slavery." This perceived betrayal fueled a profound distrust in liberal internationalism.
Forced deglobalization. Deprived of traditional avenues for food and resources—trade and empire—the vanquished nations saw no alternative but to pursue self-sufficiency as a matter of survival. German foreign minister Ulrich Brockdorff-Rantzau argued that Germany's exclusion from the global economy would lead to millions of deaths by starvation, framing autarky as a defensive necessity.
Hypocrisy of the victors. The selective application of "self-determination" and the imposition of external financial controls on states like Austria, reminiscent of colonial practices, further alienated Central Europeans. This "in-between" status, neither fully sovereign nor truly equal, hardened animosity towards internationalism and globalism, setting the stage for future radical movements.
5. Revolution, Counter-Revolution, and the Scapegoat of Globalism
Being of Jewish origin, I can no longer call myself a Hungarian according to today’s terminology.
Post-war chaos. The aftermath of World War I saw Europe engulfed in a wave of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary violence, often fueled by anxieties about globalism and its perceived agents. In Hungary, the short-lived liberal republic and subsequent Bolshevik takeover were met with a brutal "White Terror" that specifically targeted Jews, blaming them for the Communist revolution and associating them with international finance and disloyalty.
Jews as symbols of threat. Across Central Europe, anti-Semitic violence surged, with Jews scapegoated as "foreigners," "parasites," and agents of globalism, Bolshevism, and cosmopolitanism. This rhetoric justified widespread pogroms, property confiscations, and forced expulsions, leading to an epidemic of statelessness.
- In Munich, anti-Bolshevik violence was explicitly anti-Semitic.
- In Czechoslovakia, Jews were seen as unreliable allies of Germans or Hungarians.
- In Poland, boycotts and violence aimed to transfer Jewish-dominated economic sectors to Poles.
Internationalism's demise. Figures like Rosika Schwimmer, once a "citizen of the world," found themselves stateless and trapped, denied passports by both Bolsheviks and counter-revolutionaries. The League of Nations' efforts to manage the refugee crisis were often hampered by nationalistic policies, demonstrating how the breakdown of global order created millions of unwanted, mobile individuals.
6. "Back to the Land": A Universal Dream of Autarky
The less food Austria has to get from abroad, the better it is for its national economy.
Escape from global precarity. Across Europe and the United States, the "back-to-the-land" movement emerged as a powerful, politically promiscuous response to the economic crises and perceived instability of globalization. From Austrian "Colonies in the Homeland" to Henry Ford's "village industries" and New Deal homesteads, the dream was to achieve individual and national self-sufficiency, insulating families and nations from the volatile global economy.
Diverse motivations. This movement attracted a wide array of supporters, from desperate, unemployed workers seeking food security to idealists, life-reformers, and political radicals. While some aimed to escape urban blight and reconnect with nature, others, particularly on the right, saw it as a means to restore "traditional" gender roles, combat working-class agitation, and purify the national "blood."
Austerity and sacrifice. The reality of these settlements often involved austerity and sacrifice, with calls for reduced consumption of "luxury" foreign goods and reliance on local, homegrown products. Architects like Adolf Loos designed Spartan homes for Austrian settlers, emphasizing self-provisioning. This ethos of self-reliance, however, often depended heavily on the unpaid labor of women and children, highlighting the hidden costs of autarkic ideals.
7. Economic Nationalism: Tariffs, Boycotts, and Imperial Preference
The entire elimination of Germany from the world’s trade may, to be sure, oust an obnoxious competitor, however, as a result of the economic breakdown of Germany, the world as a whole must become infinitely poorer.
Protectionist surge. In the interwar period, economic nationalism became a dominant force, with states aggressively implementing tariffs, quotas, and boycotts to protect domestic industries and achieve greater self-sufficiency. Germany, stripped of its global economic standing by the Treaty of Versailles, warned that its exclusion would impoverish the world, yet many nations pursued similar protectionist policies.
Imperial self-sufficiency. Even empires, traditionally proponents of free trade, shifted towards protectionist blocs. Britain's "Empire Free Trade" policy, formalized by the 1932 Ottawa Agreement, aimed to encourage trade within the empire while erecting barriers against outside products. This was a direct response to the perceived vulnerabilities of global trade and a bid to make the empire as a whole more self-sufficient.
Anti-colonial counter-movements. Conversely, anti-colonial movements, like Gandhi's swadeshi in India, used boycotts of foreign goods (especially British textiles) as a tool for national liberation and economic independence. While seemingly anti-global, Gandhi argued that Indian self-sufficiency was a step towards a more authentic, equitable form of globalism rooted in mutual respect, not colonial exploitation.
8. Fascist Autarky: From Swamps to Synthetic Rubber
A people cannot be strong and dominate when it is dependent on others for food: hence the importance of alimentary autarky, which is the foundation of economic wealth in times of peace, and an essential basis of military power, of resistance, and victory in a time of war.
Autarky as national strength. Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany aggressively pursued autarky, viewing economic independence as a prerequisite for political power and military strength. Mussolini's "Battle for Grain" and ambitious land reclamation projects like the Pontine Marshes aimed to feed the nation from its own soil, while Nazi Germany's Four-Year Plan sought to eliminate reliance on foreign imports for food and raw materials.
Totalitarian control. This quest for self-sufficiency extended beyond food to manufactured goods and energy, driving scientific campaigns to produce synthetic substitutes for cotton, wool, and rubber (e.g., Buna). These efforts were accompanied by pervasive propaganda, instructing citizens on "autarkic cooking" and "Empire shopping," and demanding sacrifices in consumption.
- Italy: Laws requiring bread and pasta from 95% Italian wheat.
- Germany: Calls to reduce fat consumption by 25% and eat more potatoes.
- Both: Campaigns for women to engage in home production (spinning, weaving).
Conquest as the ultimate solution. When domestic autarky proved insufficient, both regimes turned to imperial conquest as a means to secure "living space" (Lebensraum) and resources. Germany's Grossraumwirtschaft in Eastern Europe and Italy's colonization of Libya and Ethiopia were framed as extensions of their self-sufficiency drives, revealing the violent endpoint of extreme anti-globalism.
9. Globalization's Adaptation: Firms Go Local to Go Global
In the face of rising economic nationalism and tariffs in the 1930s, Bat’a began to produce his shoes abroad rather than exporting them from Czechoslovakia.
Navigating protectionism. While states pursued deglobalization, multinational firms like Bat'a and Ford adapted by "globalizing differently." Instead of exporting finished goods, they established factories abroad, producing locally to circumvent tariffs and nationalistic sentiment. This strategy allowed them to expand their empires even as global trade in finished products declined.
"Local" branding. These companies cleverly marketed themselves as "local" in each market, employing local labor, sourcing local materials, and even adapting to local customs. Bat'a, for instance, labeled its shoes "Made in India" and invited local priests to bless new stores in Poland to counter accusations of being a "Jewish firm." This demonstrated a pragmatic response to the anti-global backlash.
Exporting technology, not just goods. Ford, in particular, embraced an "open-source" policy, sharing its production methods and technical know-how with foreign industrialists, including those in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The goal was to enable these nations to develop their own industries, with the long-term aim of fostering self-sufficiency, even if it meant short-term technology transfer.
10. The Great Depression: A Global Reckoning for Liberalism
The global economy is broken and will never again exist in its past form.
Crisis of confidence. The Great Depression delivered a devastating blow to liberal internationalism, convincing many that the age of global capitalism was definitively over. With unemployment soaring and international trade collapsing, the World Economic Conference in London (1933) failed spectacularly, highlighting the deep-seated economic nationalisms and the inability of traditional solutions to stem the crisis.
Rise of state planning. The perceived bankruptcy of global capitalism fueled a global "romance with planning," as states, both democratic and authoritarian, sought to control their economies, infrastructure, and populations. Inspired by the Soviet Union's Five-Year Plan, governments believed they could achieve stability and prosperity through deliberate state intervention, often with autarky as a key objective.
Questioning the old order. The crisis prompted a fundamental reevaluation of the relationship between globalization, peace, and prosperity. Experts and leaders, including John Maynard Keynes, began to question the inherent benevolence of free trade and the global division of labor, recognizing the need for new approaches to economic stability and social welfare.
11. Reimagining Globalism: From "Appeasement" to "Freedom from Want"
The best hope of finding a way out of the present troubles is to raise the standards of the millions who are now underfed, underclothed and under-equipped.
A new approach to globalism. The failures of the 1930s, culminating in World War II, forced internationalists to rethink their strategies, moving beyond traditional free-trade advocacy. Figures like Frank McDougall championed "economic appeasement," arguing that global economic stability required a direct attack on low living standards and poverty, both domestically and internationally.
Development as a precondition. This new vision, later enshrined as "Freedom from Want" in the Atlantic Charter, posited that widespread prosperity and increased consumption were not just consequences of globalization, but preconditions for its revitalization. It called for:
- Improved nutrition, housing, and access to basic services.
- Investments in social services and income redistribution.
- International agreements to improve labor conditions and wages.
The Bretton Woods framework. Post-war planners, influenced by these ideas, designed institutions like the IMF and World Bank to create a "Third Way" between hyper-globalization and protectionism. The Bretton Woods system aimed to make globalization compatible with expanding welfare states and development goals, though tensions between national sovereignty and international oversight persisted.
12. The Enduring Legacy of Deglobalization and Contested Globalism
As long as people did not have a true voice in shaping globalization, they used mass politics to mobilize against it.
Unresolved tensions. The interwar period's anti-global turn profoundly shaped the post-1945 world, leaving a complex legacy of both progress and persistent challenges. While extreme autarky was discredited, the desire for greater economic stability and equity remained, leading to the creation of welfare states and development initiatives, yet often reinforcing existing hierarchies.
Controlled mobility. One significant legacy was the permanent shift away from free mobility. Despite millions displaced by war and decolonization, post-war international institutions and states prioritized managed migration, often based on economic needs and Cold War politics, rather than universal rights. The gates of Ellis Island remained closed, and new forms of "organized transfer" replaced the "disorderly" migrations of the past.
A continuous struggle. The tensions between globalization, equality, and democracy continue to resurface in contemporary political movements. From anti-globalization protests in Seattle to calls for "buy local" campaigns and demands for racial and economic justice, the fundamental questions of who benefits from globalization and how its terms are set remain fiercely contested, echoing the struggles of the interwar years.
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