The Rise of Totalitarianism
Joseph Stalin
Benito
Mussolini
Adolf Hitler
Francisco
Franco
Hideki Tojo
Totalitarianism vs.
Authoritarianism
• 'Authoritarian' refers to the structure
of government rather than to
society.
• Totalitarian regimes seek to control
virtually all aspects of the social life.
– Including: economy, education, art,
science, private life and morals of
citizens.
Rise of
Totalitarianism
• Totalitarianism can be traced back to
the Great War.
– Attrition made required total effort
– War required all institutions & individuals
to subordinate their interests to victory
• Russia (1917), Italy (1922), Germany
(1933), Spain (1939), Japan (1926)
Russia
• Vladimir Lenin & emergence of USSR
– After the Revolution in 1917 the Bolsheviks
& Lenin had solidified control by 1923.
• Lenin died in 1924 Joseph Stalin rose
to power in Soviet Russia
• Stalin pursued the policy of
subordinating the individual to the
‘party’.
Stalinism
• “Stalinism”- Stalin’s style for the Soviet government
– Stalin
• Rejected dissent
• Stalin = sole interpreter
• World wide Communist revolution post-poned
– Economic Changes
• Rapid Industrialization (Five Year Plans)
• Collectivization of Agriculture
– Effective BUT…
– Purges
•Millions killed
•Guilty executed or sent to Gulag
Italy & WWI
• WWI leaves Italy
with many problems:
– Heavy debts
– Did not receive the
land promised by
France & G.B.
– Rising unemployment
led to unrest,
particularly in cities.
March on Rome
March on Rome: October, 1922
– Coup d'état  Mussolini's National Fascist Party rise to
power in Italy
– Ousted Prime Minister
– King Victor Emmanuel III handed power to Mussolini.
• Mussolini widely supported by military, business, & liberal
right-wing.
• Mussolini quickly moved to establish dictatorship
Fascism
• Fascism is a combination of many ideas
– Corporatism: Power exercised through
large organizations (businesses, trade
unions) working with each other, directed
by the state
– Syndicalism: bringing industry & gov’t
under control of labor unions
– Nationalism, Expansionism, Social Progress,
Anti-Communism in combination with
censorship & state propaganda
– Ideas of racial superiority
Nationalism, Race &Fascism
• Struggle of nation & race fundamental in
society
– Communists emphasized class struggle
• Nations bind people by their ancestry
• Nations are natural & good
• Fascism sought to solve economic, political,
and social problems via ‘national rebirth’
– Celebrates the nation & race above all else,
– Cults of unity, strength and purity.
Communism
1. History = class
struggle
2. Nations are arbitrary
 class should unite
the world
3. Global viewpoint
4. Gov’t runs industry
Fascism
1. Struggle between
nations & races
2. Nations are natural
thus national pride
is emphasized
3. National viewpoint
4. Gov’t has some
control over
industry
Germany: Weimar Republic
• A parliamentary republic established
in 1919.
• Faced numerous problems
– Hyperinflation
– Political extremists
– War Reparations
• Collapsed in the early 1930s
Adolf Hitler
• Austrian-born German
• Decorated WWI veteran
• Leader of the National Socilaist
German Workers Party (NSDAP)
better known as the Nazi Party
Hitler
• By 1921 Hitler & Oratory ability
• Nazi Party: Centered in Munich
– German nationalist movement
• S.A. (Sturmabteilung)
– Stormtroopers/”brown shirts”
– Paramilitary organization
• S.S. (Schutzstaffel)
– Stormtroopers loyal to Hitler
• Gestapo: official secret police of
Nazi Germany
Beer Hall Putsch
November, 1923
• Failed Coup attempt
• Hitler wanted to emulate the March on
Rome
• November 8th: Declares a new
government in a Beer Hall
• November 9th –The March Begins
– To Bavarian War Ministry
– Clash with police and march destroyed
Arrest, Trial, Prison
• Hitler arrested for High Treason
• Trial
• Uses trial as a platform
• Gains noteriety & popularity
• April 1924 – Sentenced to 5 years
– Served less than one year
• Mein Kampf: “My Struggle”
– Part Autobiography part political rant
– Helps spread his ideas.
Strategy of Legality
• Hitler changed his strategy to come to
power.
• The Strategy of Legality:
– adhere to the rules of Weimar
– Use the institutions of Weimar Republic to
destroy it/come to power
Depression, Election
• By 1930 the Depression strikes Germany
• President Paul von Hindenburg ran for
re-election in 1932
– The only one who could defeat Hitler
– Wins election
– Has difficulty fending off Nazis
• 1933 Hindenburg appointed Hitler
Chancellor of Germany
Reichstag Fire
• February 1933: Reichstag set on fire
• The fire began Hitler’s rise to total power
– Reichstag Fire Decree (February ‘33)
• Suspends civil liberties.
– Enabling Act (March ’33)
• Parliament gave Hitler's legislative
powers.
– Hindenburg dies (August ’34)
• Hitler declared the office of President
vacant
• Hitler makes himself head of state or
"Führer”
Francisco Franco
• Head of State of Spain from 1936-1975.
• Franco's governance went through
various phases
• All emphasized:
–
–
–
–
–
Spanish nationalism
Maintaining territorial integrity
Catholicism
Anti-Communism
Emphasis on traditional values
Spanish Civil War
• 1936 -1939: It began after a coup by
Spanish Army Generals
• The war ended with the victory of the
rebel forces
– Republican gov’t overthrown
– Dictatorship established with Franco at
it’s helm.
Guernica
• Pablo Picasso depicts the bombing of
Guernica by German & Italian war
planes.
The Empire of Japan
• Rapid industrialization and
Militarization emergence as
a world power
– Leads to membership in the Axis
Alliance of WWII
• Gained notoriety war crimes against
the people within their Empire.
Timeline
• 1931-32
• 1937
– Japan invades
– Japan – full scale invasion
Manchuria
of China (Rape of Nanking)
• 1935:
• 1938
– Italy invades Ethiopia
– Anschluss: Germany
invades/ annex Austria
– Germany reintroduces
Conscription (violation)
– Hitler claims Sudetenland
• 1936
– Germany seizes
Czechoslovakia
– Germany Remilitarized
Rhineland
• 1939
– Franco revolts against
– Italy invades/annexes
Spainish Gov’t.
Albania
– Tripartate Pact:
– Hitler demands Danzig
(Poland)
– First Concentration
Camps
– Sept. 1, 1939