Transcript File - Mrs. Ward World History

RISE OF THE
TOTALITARIAN
DICTATORSHIPS
Essential Questions:
–Who were the major totalitarian
leaders in the 1920s and 1930s?
–What were the basic ideologies of
Fascists, Nazis, and Communists?
After WWI, many nations were
struggling to rebuild
A global depression in the
The Treaty of
1930s led to high
Versailles created
unemployment and a sense bitterness among
of desperation in Europe
many nations
In this climate of post-war uncertainty,
nationalism increased; more and more,
citizens turned to strong totalitarian
dictators to rule their nations
Totalitarian leaders are dictators who control all
aspects of government and the lives of the citizens
Totalitarian
leaders gained
support by
promising jobs,
promoting
nationalism, and
using propaganda
Dictators held on
to their power by
using censorship,
secret police,
denying liberties,
and eliminating
opposing rivals or
political parties
Among the first totalitarian dictators was
Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union
Stalin was Communist and
seized all property, farms,
and factories in order to
control the economy and
create equality
He used a
secret police and
the Great Purge
to eliminate rivals
Stalin’s Five Year Plans and collective farms
improved the Soviet Union’s industrial and
agricultural output, but at great cost in Russian lives
Not all totalitarian
In Italy, Germany, and Spain,
dictators were
people turned to an extremely
Communists
nationalist type of government
called fascism
Fascist governments
were controlled by
dictators who
demanded loyalty
from citizens
Fascists did not offer
democracy and used
one political party to
rule the nation
But unlike
Communists, fascists
believed people
could keep their
property
Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler believed in
fascism: the idea that nations need strong dictators,
total authority by one party, but that people can
keep private property (as long as they remain loyal)
Joseph Stalin was a Communist who believed that the
government should control all property and business
In Italy, Benito
Mussolini formed the
Fascist Party
Mussolini gained popularity by promising to
revive the economy, rebuild the military, and
expand Italy to create a new Roman Empire
Mussolini
named his
Fascist Party
after the fasces,
a Roman symbol
of authority and
power
Mussolini created the Blackshirts
(his own private army) to enforce
the goals of his Fascist Party
By 1922, Mussolini was popular and powerful
enough to lead a “March on Rome”, forcing the
Italian king to name him prime minister of Italy
As prime minister, Benito Mussolini
was known as “IL DUCE” (the chief)
Mussolini ended
democracy and all
opposition parties
Mussolini built up
the military to
create new jobs
He planned to conquer new
territories in North Africa for Italy,
creating a new Roman Empire
The Nazis were a fascist
group in Germany that
wanted to overthrow the
weak Weimar Republic
Adolf Hitler was
an early Nazi
recruit and quickly
rose to power in
the party
Hitler was
impressed by
Mussolini and
used many of his
ideas to make the
Nazi Party strong
in Germany
For example,
the Nazis
created their
own militia
called the
Brownshirts
The Nazis attempted a violent takeover of
the local government in Munich, but Hitler
was arrested and jailed for 9 months
While in jail, Hitler
wrote Mein Kampf
(My Struggle)
which outlined his
plans for Germany
Hitler wrote that
Germans were
members of a
master race called
Aryans and all
non-Aryans were
inferior
subhumans
Hitler also declared that
He called the
Germans needed
Versailles Treaty an
lebensraum (living
outrage and vowed to
space) and should get it
regain land taken
by conquering Eastern from Germany after
Europe and Russia
World War I
When Hitler was released from jail in 1924, he
spent years organizing the Nazis into Germany’s
most powerful political party
In 1933, Hitler was
named chancellor
(prime minister)
of Germany
As chancellor,
Hitler used his
power to name
himself dictator
He called his
government the
Third Reich (3rd
German empire)
to promote
pride and
nationalism
Hitler put Germans to work by building
factories, highways, weapons, and
increasing the military
He created a new private army called the SS
(Schutzstaffel, or “protective squad”) and a
secret police called the Gestapo to eliminate
rivals and control all aspects of Germany
In 1935, Hitler began a series of anti-Semitic (antiJewish) laws called the Nuremburg Laws that
deprived Jews in Germany of the rights of citizens,
forbade mixed German-Jewish marriages, and
required Jews to always wear a yellow star
In 1938, Hitler ordered Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken
Glass”), an organized series of attacks on Jewish
people, their synagogues, and their businesses
After WWI, Japan was the strongest nation in Asia
and was ready to conquer new lands in Asia and the
Pacific to provide resources for Japanese industry
Emperor Hirohito gave
full control of the Japanese
military to Hideki Tojo, who
served as a military dictator
In the 1930s, Japan, Italy, and Germany began
aggressively expanding into new territories;
these actions led to World War II in 1939
Japan invaded Manchuria
and northern China, then
Italy invaded
invaded Indochina and
Ethiopia and Albania
the East Indies
In the 1930s, Japan, Italy, and Germany began
aggressively expanding into new territories;
these actions led to World War II in 1939
Germany
annexed
Austria and
Czechoslovakia

Revamped and redone by
Christopher Jaskowiak
Originally created by
Brooks Baggett