WORLD WAR II:
AXIS POWERS
5-4.5: ANALYZE THE ROLE OF KEY FIGURES DURING WORLD WAR II, INCLUDING
WINSTON CHURCHILL, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT, JOSEPH STALIN, BENITO
MUSSOLINI, AND ADOLPH HITLER
• THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930S HAD
CAUSED HARD TIMES EVERYWHERE
• PEOPLE IN SOME COUNTRIES BLAMED THEIR
GOVERNMENTS
• THEY BEGAN LOOKING FOR STRONG LEADERS TO
TAKE CONTROL AND FIX THE PROBLEMS
• SOME PEOPLE EVEN TURNED TO DICTATORS
DICTATORS
• DICTATOR: A RULER WHO HAS TOTAL POWER OVER
A COUNTRY
BENITO MUSSOLINI—ITALY
BENITO MUSSOLINI—ITALY
• MUSSOLINI CAME TO POWER IN 1922
• HIS PARTY WAS CALLED THE FASCISTS, WHICH GAVE US THE
WORD FASCISM
• FASCISM: A MOVEMENT THAT GIVES ALL POWER TO THE
GOVERNMENT AND DOES AWAY WITH INDIVIDUAL
FREEDOMS. IT USES MILITARY TO ENFORCE LAWS
• MUSSOLINI TOOK CONTROL—HE BANNED ELECTIONS AND
ENDED FREE SPEECH
ADOLF HITLER—GERMANY
ADOLF HITLER—GERMANY
• HE AND HIS POLITICAL PARTY, THE NAZIS, GAINED
CONTROL OF GERMANY IN 1933
• THE NAZIS TURNED THE COUNTRY INTO A FASCIST
STATE
• HITLER WAS A SUPREME LEADER
• MUSSOLINI SET OUT TO EXPAND ITALY’S TERRITORY
• IN 1935, HE TOOK OVER THE AFRICAN COUNTRY
OF ETHIOPIA, THEN MADE AN AGREEMENT WITH
HITLER
• THE TWO FASCIST COUNTRIES PLANNED TO
CONQUER OTHER COUNTRIES
• THEY CALLED THEIR NEW ALLIANCE THE AXIS
HIDEKI TOJO—JAPAN
HIDEKI TOJO--JAPAN
• JAPAN WOULD LATER JOIN THE AXIS
• BY 1937, JAPAN HAD INVADED CHINA AND
CONTROLLED MUCH TERRITORY IN THE PACIFIC
AXIS POWERS
• BENITO MUSSOLINI—ITALY
• ADOLF HITLER—GERMANY
• HIDEKI TOJO—JAPAN