Rise of Dictators`
WHII.11c
New
Governments
Economic disruptions following World War I
led
to unstable political conditions.
Worldwide depression in the 1930s provided
opportunities for the rise of dictators in the
Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
U.S.S.R.
During the
Interwar
Period
Entrenchment of Communism
A communist dictatorship was established by
Vladimir Lenin and continued by Joseph
Stalin
in the Soviet Union.
• Stalin became dictator after Lenin’s death
– Planned to create a PERFECT communist state
– Then…..transform it into a TOTALITARIAN
state
• Government takes total, centralized, state control
over every aspect of public and private life
Stalin’s Policies
Secret Police
• Stalin created a “police state” to maintain
power (secret police)
– Stalin’s secret police (KGB) monitored
telephone lines, read mail, and planted
informers
– Even children told authorities disloyal remarks
they heard at home
– Families lived in FEAR
Stalin’s Policies
The Great Purge
• Launched 1937
• A campaign of terror directed at eliminating
anyone who threatened Stalin’s power
• Stalin was responsible for 8 to 13 million
deaths and won TOTAL control of the Soviet
state
Stalin’s Policies
Five-Year Plan
• Stalin’s plan to:
– Stimulate and develop the economy into an
Industrial Revolution (state industrialization)
– Set high quotas to increase the output of steel,
coal, oil, and electricity
• Meanwhile lowering the production of consumer
goods
– severe shortages of housing, food, clothing
– Didn’t reach his goals, but the USSR made
substantial gains
Stalin’s Policies
Collectivization of Farms
• 1928 Government began to seize over 25
million privately owned farms
• Created COLLECTIVE FARMS from seized
property
– Large government owned farms
– Produced food for the state
– Operated like factories
– Eliminated any protestors
Joseph Stalin (Recap)
•
•
•
•
•
•
How Stalin came to Power
Entrenchment of Communism
Five-Year Plan
Collectivization of Farms
State Industrialization
Secret Police
Great Purge
Joseph Stalin
• By the 1930s, Stalin had forcibly
transformed the Soviet Union into a
totalitarian regime and an industrial power
– He stood unopposed as dictator
– He didn’t tolerate creativity and saw it as a
threat to conformity and obedience that he
required
– He ushered a period of total social control and
rule by terror
A communist dictatorship was
established by Vladimir Lenin
and continued by Joseph
Stalin in the Soviet Union.
Italy
During the
Interwar
Period
Rise of Fascism
• People lost faith in democracies after the
Great Depression
• Began to turn to an extreme system of
government—Fascism
– EXTREME form of Nationalism
– Fascists promised to revive the economy,
punish those responsible for hard times, and
restore order and national pride
– Fascism was a militant political movement that
emphasized loyalty to the state and obedience
to its rulers
Benito Mussolini
• Founded Fascist Party in 1919
• Promised to rescue Italy by reviving
economy and rebuilding armed forces
• His followers wore BLACK SHIRTS
• On October 22, 1922, Mussolini and his
supporters forced King Victory Emmanuel
III to put Mussolini in charge
• King granted Mussolini’s demand without
any fuss!!!
Benito Mussolini
• Known as Il Duce (leader)
• Abolished democracy and outlawed all
other political parties
• Used secret police to eliminate opponents
• ***Mussolini planned to recreate the glory
of the old Roman Empire***
– Ambition: Restore glory of Rome!!!
• First BIG act – Invasion of Ethiopia
Benito Mussolini
(Recap)
How Mussolini came to Power
• Rise of Fascism
• Ambition to restore the glory of
Rome
• Invasion of Ethiopia
Japan
During the
Interwar
Period
Japan
• 1920s: Japan= “democratic” nations
– Signed a treaty respecting Chinas borders
– 1928: signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact
• Renounced war
– As long as everything stayed peaceful and
prosperous, the civilian government kept
power
Rise of Militarism
• Great Depression= civilians blaming
democratic government for problems!!!
– Allowed military leaders to gain control of the
government
– Emperor became SYMBOL of state power
• Where have we seen this before?
– Emperor= Hirohito
– Military Leader= Hideki Tojo
Hirohito
Tojo
Japan
• Industrial Revolution
– During this time Japan was experiencing
industrialization
– Led to need for more raw materials
– How did they plan to get them???
• EXPAND and INVADE
• BUT, what would this go against?
• Does it matter?
Japan Expands
• Military leaders focused on NATIONALISM
– Promised to help the economy by expanding
borders
– So….Japan invaded:
• Manchuria
– Attacked, won, set up a puppet government
– First direct challenge to the League of Nations
• China
– A border dispute in 1937 started a war with China
– Northern China fell to the Japanese
• Korea
Hirohito and Tojo
(Recap)
How Tojo came to Power
• Japan’s government was ruled by its
military
– Glorified military and its power
– AKA – Militarism
• In order to restore the economy, Japan
will try to industrialize
– Led to need for raw materials so….
• Invasion of Korea, Manchuria, and the rest
of China
Japan emerged as a world
power after World War I and
conducted aggressive
imperialistic policies in Asia.
Germany
During
the
Interwar
Period
Inflation and Depression
in Germany
• To pay for wartime debt (reparations), Germany
printed more money!!
– Effect: Inflation
• Money lost its value
• Germany printed even more money to finance their
reparations
• Ex: In Berlin, a loaf of bread cost less than a mark in 1918,
more than 160 marks in 1922, and 200 billion marks by 1923
• Caused Germans to really question the Weimer Republic
• Hitler uses these problems to manipulate and
infuriate the German people & take control!!!
Attempt to Change
• Germany was somewhat able to recover
due to the efforts of Charles Dawes, an
American Banker
– Dawes Plan
• $200 million dollar loan from American banks to
stabilize German currency and strengthen its
economy
• Set a more realistic schedule for Germany’s
reparation payments
• Loan helped to attract more loans and investments
as well as slow inflation
Rise of Nazism
• Simultaneously, Adolf Hitler and Benito
Mussolini were taking control in different
parts of Europe
• 1919: Munich, Germany—Hitler joined a
small, right-wing political group
– National Socialist German Workers’ Party
• NAZI
Rise of Nazism
• Believed:
– Treaty of Versailles should be overturned
– Needed to stop communism
– Set up a private militia called the storm
troopers or brown shirts
• Nazi’s named Hitler LEADER
– Inspired by Mussolini’s march on Rome
– Wanted to do same in Munich
– Arrested for treason and sentenced 5 years in
prison (served 9 months!)
Adolf
Hitler
• During his stay in prison, Hitler wrote
Mein Kampf
– Means: My Struggle
– Set forth beliefs and goals for Germany
– Believed “Aryans” were a “master race”
• Other races were inferior
– Also believed Germans needed more
lebensraum
• More living space
• Promised to get that space by conquering Eastern
Europe and Russia
Rise of Hitler
• 1932: Nazi’s= Largest political power
• After being named Chancellor:
– Hitler made Germany a totalitarian state
• Controlled every aspect of public and private life
• Used the press, literature, propaganda, etc. to
glorify himself and the Nazis
– Burned books that did not conform to Nazi beliefs
– Warned the church officials to not criticize Nazis
• The Gestapo (secret police) will also help and shock
German citizens into total submission
• Nazis took COMPLETE control over the economy
(Hitler put millions of people to work—highways,
weapons, military)
War on the Jews
• Anti-Semitism
• Hatred of Jews was a key part of Hitler’s
ideology
– Nazis used them as scapegoats for all
Germany’s troubles since WWI
– Hitler blamed them for the Great Depression
– 1933: Nazis began passing laws depriving Jews
of most of their rights
German Occupation
• Hitler is ready to get his lebensraum (living
space) and take back German territory
– 1st disregard for the treaty – Germany
mobilized and built up its army
• League only issues a mild condemnation
– 2nd On March 7, 1936, Germany invaded the
Rhineland that served as a buffer between
them and France
• Still France and Britain thought if they gave Hitler
his way with this land, he would stop and be
content
German Occupation
• The German reoccupation of the
Rhineland marked a turning point in the
march toward war
– Hitler gained confidence that conquering stuff
would be so easy
– He gained more support by his people in
Germany
– Balance of power shifted – France and Belgium
were now open to attack
German Occupation
• November 5, 1937: Hitler created Third
Reich (German Empire)
– He would absorb Austria and Czechoslovakia
• Annexed Austria
• Now looked to Czech. Where millions of Germans
lived in the Sudetenland
• Czech. asked for France’s help!
– Violated Treaty of Versailles
Adolf Hitler (Recap)
How Hitler came to Power
•
•
•
•
•
•
Inflation and Depression
Democratic government weakened
Anti-Semitism
Extreme Nationalism
National Socialism (Nazism)
German occupation of nearby countries
The Treaty of Versailles
worsened economic and
political conditions in Europe
and led to the rise of
totalitarian regimes in Italy
and Germany.