Chapter 17 Section Three
Pages 455 to 458
Fascism in Italy
1. Post World War I conditions in Italy:
A) Economic Chaos
B) Political Corruption
C) Soldiers felt betrayed
D) Anger over false promises and land not received
E) High Unemployment
F) High Taxes
2. Benito Mussolini emerged in Italy as an outspoken critic of the Italian government and a fierce
nationalist who called for change.
3. Many Italians outraged at the Versailles Peace Treaty as they had expected to gain additional
territory, which instead went to Yugoslavia.
4. Italians expressed their discontent with the post World War I Italian government as:
A) Peasants seized land
B) Workers went on strike
C) Citizens seized factories
D) Many openly protested
5. Benito Mussolini’s Background:
A) Son of a socialist blacksmith and a teacher
B) As a youth, he was bully
C) Well-educated teacher and later a journalist
D) In 1919, he organized veterans and unhappy Italians into the Fascist Party
E) Fiery and powerful speaker
6. The Fascist Party’s name derives from the Latin word Fasces, a bundle of sticks wrapped
around an ax, a symbol of authority in Ancient Rome.
7. Mussolini promised to restore Roman/Italian greatness.
8. Mussolini’s loyal followers were the Black Shirts, who were combat squads that carried out
Mussolini’s wishes. They broke up communist rallies and attacked anyone who was against
Fascism. Through terror and intimidation, Black Shirts influenced public opinion and even
elections that increased Fascist support.
Mussolini Seizes Control of Italy
1. Mussolini and 1000s of his supporters marched on Rome in 1922, threatening Italian King
Victor Emmanuel III. Mussolini demanded, “Either you give me the government or I shall take
it by force.”
2. Fearing for his life, the King appointed Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy.
3. By 1925 Mussolini and Fascists had taken additional seats throughout the Italian government.
Mussolini took on the title of “Il Duce,” or The Leader.
4. After being declared “Il Duce,” Mussolini tightened control over Italy:
A) Suppressed rival political parties
B) Censorship of the press
C) Rigged Elections
D) Spread Propaganda
5. Critics of Mussolini were imprisoned, exiled, or murdered.
6. In an attempt to improve the struggling Italian economy, Mussolini brought the economy
under the control of the government, but preserved a modified form of capitalism.
7. Individuals were required to give up rights and freedoms for the betterment of the Fascist
state.
8. Mussolini came up with the slogan to unite Italians: Believe! Obey! Fight!
9. If families had more than 14 children they would receive a medal directly from Mussolini.
10. Children were educated to be good Fascists:
A) Education emphasized the merits of Fascism
B) Strict military like discipline was emphasized
C) Taught that Mussolini was all-knowing
11. Fascism is an authoritarian form of government led by a strong dictator. It was rooted in
extreme nationalism. Fascists glorified violence, discipline, and absolute loyalty to the state.
Emphasis was also placed on expansion.
12. Fascists were antidemocratic, rejecting the concepts of equality and liberty as signs of
weakness.
13. Comparisons between Communism and Fascism:
A) Fascists wanted to change the nation, while Communists wanted to change the world.
B) Both ideologies were emphasized during tough times
C) Both were totalitarian states led by dictators
14. Mussolini established the world’s first totalitarian state.
Characteristics of a Totalitarian State
A) Single party dictatorship
B) State controlled economy
C) Police spies and terror to enforce policies
D) Strict Censorship and government controlled media
E) Schools indoctrinate and mobilize citizens
F) Unquestioned obedience to a single leader
Italians were drawn to Fascism
A) Poor conditions and the need for dramatic change
B) Promise of a return to glory
C) Mussolini’s powerful and persuasive speeches
D) Optimism and hope of a united Italy
E) Mussolini got the trains to run on time
F) Established a cult of personality
Chapter 17 Section Four
Pages 459 to 463
Post World War I Germany
1. After World War I Germany was on the brink of complete chaos. Under the threat of a
socialist uprising, the Kaiser abdicated. Germans reluctantly and regretfully signed the
Versailles Peace Treaty.
2. In 1919 a new constitution was written that created the democratic Weimar Republic in
Germany. This government included a parliament led by a chancellor.
3. The Weimar Republic struggled. Germany was made up of many different political
parties/factions that attacked the leadership from both the right and left.
4. Many Germans longed for the days of Bismarck and his strong leadership.
5. Many Germans were outraged at the Versailles Treaty because of:
A)
B)
C)
D)
High reparations
Ban on offensive weapons
Loss of territory
Forced to accept blame for the war
6. Germans looked for scapegoats, blaming the Weimar Republic for the harsh treaty and
the Jews for the loss in the war.
7. German economy in 1923:
A) Germany fell behind in its reparation payments
B) Government printed huge quantities of paper money
C) Inflation devalued paper currency
8. The value of 100 marks changed dramatically from July 1922 to August 1923
An item that previously cost 100 marks in July 1922 would cost nearly one million
marks, 944,000 in August 1923.
9. With the German economy in disarray, the United States proposed the Dawes Plan, in
which the United States loaned money to Germany to allow them to pay the French and
British the reparations they were owed. In return this allowed these nations to purchase
American goods. As a result of this plan, all nations economies would in theory benefit.
10. The U. S. Stock Market crashed in 1929 leading to a worldwide Great Depression.
Adolf Hitler
1. Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889.
2. Hitler wanted to be an artist, but was rejected from a Vienna art school at age 18.
3. Hitler wandered the streets of Vienna, observing a very diverse population and developing
strong anti-Semitic feelings while in Vienna.
4. After moving to Germany Hitler fought for Germany during World War I. Despite suffering
an injury during the war, he loved warfare. After the war, like most veterans he developed an
intense hatred for the Weimar Republic.
5. Hitler joined the National Socialist German Worker’s Party or Nazi Party in 1919.
6. With his strong speaking skills, Hitler quickly assumed a leadership position in the Nazi Party.
7. Hitler organized his supporters into fighting gangs, called “Storm Troopers.”
8. Hitler climbed on a table in a beer hall in Munich, Germany and declared, “The National
Socialist Revolution has begun”
9. Hitler and his Brown-shirted thugs revolt in 1923, was quickly stopped. Hitler was arrested,
tried, and convicted of treason.
10. While in prison Hitler wrote Mein Kampf or “my struggle,” the book put forth Hitler’s Nazi
goals and ideologies.
11. Hitler put forth his vision and ideas for Germany in Mein Kampf:
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
F)
Extreme Nationalism
Racism
Anti-Semitism
Goal to unite all German-speaking people together
Took the name Der Fuhrer or “the leader”
German Master Race or Aryans or light-skinned Europeans
12. Hitler spent less than a year in prison for treason, which is unusual for treason.
13. After being released from prison Hitler immediately resumed his position as head of the Nazi
Party, rallying people against the German government, seeing Nazi membership quickly grow to
over a million
Hitler Takes Comes to Power in Germany
1. The following groups of people were most likely to support the Nazi Party:
A) Veterans
B) Small-town Germans,
C) Lower middle class Germans who were hardest hit by the Great Depression
2. Hitler promised the people:
A) End reparation payments
B) Create jobs
C) Rearm Germany and build up its Armed Forces
3. With support for Hitler growing, what position was he was elected chancellor in 1933 through
legal democratic means under the Weimar Constitution.
4. Once in the legitimate position of Chancellor, it took just one year for Hitler to become an
absolute dictator in Germany.
5. As dictator Hitler made several changes to establish a totalitarian state:
A) Eliminated all other political parties
B) Suspended civil rights
C) Censorship of the media
D) Purged his own Nazi Party
E) Hung Nazi Flags with swastikas
F) Religion was banned
6. Hitler used terror, repression, and absolute rule to ensure loyalty to the state.
7. Two groups carried out campaigns of violence and terror that helped maintain loyalty:
SS Troops: brown-uniformed elite troops
Gestapo: German secret police
8. Hitler attempted to promote past and future German greatness by reminding Germans of the
German Reichs or grand periods in German history:
A) First Reich: Medieval Holy Roman Empire
B) Second Reich: 1871 German Unification under Otto von Bismarck
C) Third Reich: 1000 year period of future dominance started under Hitler in 1933
9. Hitler mad positive changes that gained him widespread support:
A) Improved German Economy
B) Public Works Projects
C) Created Jobs
D) Brought Germany out of the Depression
10. The Hitler Youth in Germany was an organization designed to promote Nazism amongst
teenagers. They were trained like young soldiers through physical fitness and military drills.
They were issued uniforms and encouraged to terrorize less desirable youth.
11. Education changed under Hitler as textbooks were rewritten to glorify German achievements
and eliminate any negativity throughout German history. Nazism and Hitler were revered in the
books.
12. Books determined to be unsuitable for Germans to read were burned in huge bonfires
throughout Germany. This included books written by Jewish authors.
German Anti-Semitism
1. In order to promote extreme anti-Semitism, Hitler passed the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 that
stated:
A) Jews were required to wear the Star of David on their outer clothing.
B) Jews banned from marrying non-Jews
C) Jews banned from teaching in German schools
D) Jews banned from practicing law and medicine
E) Jews could shop only at Jewish stores and non-Jews could not shop at Jewish stores
F) Jews were beaten and terrorized
2. Because of the Nuremberg Laws many Jews fled Germany during the mid-1930s including
Albert Einstein.
3. On November 7, 1938 a young Jew, whose parents had been mistreated in Germany, shot and
wounded a German diplomat in Paris. Hitler used this as an excuse to organize a campaign of
violence against all German Jews.
4. During Kristallnacht or the “Night of Broken Glass” on November 8 and 9, Nazi led mobs
attacked Jewish communities all over Germany, shouting “revenge for Paris, down with the
Jews.” During the violence, they looted shops, broke windows, and burned down synagogues.
Many Jews were beaten and killed.
5. To take his anti-Semitism to the next level Hitler began rounding up millions of Jews, placing
them in concentration camps, where he systematically began exterminating Jews and millions of
other people deemed to be less desirable.