Transcript A World In Flames

A World In Flames
World War II
The Rise of Dictators
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After World War I it seemed as if
Democracy was on the rise and that the
peace would be long lasting
However the Treaty of Versailles that
ended World War I had created many new
problems-In nations like Germany the
treaties terms had created terrible
conditions and allowed idealistic leaders to
gain control
The economic crisis of The Great
Depression made the situation much
worse
Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
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In Italy a former school
teacher and journalist
named Benito Mussolini
returned from World War I
convinced Italy needed a
strong leader
In 1919 he founded the
Fascist Party
Fascism is a very
aggressive form of
Nationalism
Fascists believe that the
country is more important
than the individual
They believed
individualism made
countries weak and that a
strong military along with
territory expansion were
essential
Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
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Fascists were also strongly AntiCommunists-they insisted that
Communists were trying to bring down
European governments
He promised to protect private property
and the middle class, he also granted the
working class full employment and social
security
He stressed national prestige and pledged
to return to the glory days of The Roman
Empire
Mussolini and Fascism in Italy
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Mussolini backed a Fascist militia known as the
Blackshirts-this group used violence to intimidate
the public and silence opposition
In 1922 he threatened to march on Rome to
protect the city from Communism-Liberals
wanted the king to declare martial law-when he
refused the cabinet resigned-conservatives
persuaded the king to make Mussolini the
premier
Once in power he virtually destroyed Democracy
and made himself dictator-with the support of
industrialists, landowners, and The Roman
Catholic Empire-Mussolini declared himself Il
Duce or “The Leader” and began to establish his
form of order in the country
Stalin Takes Over the USSR
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The Communist were a major
force in Russia-in 1917 the
Bolsheviks took control of
Russia and renamed the various
countries combined-the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) they proceeded to
establish control over these
territories
They instituted a one-party
government, suppressed civil
liberties, and punished
opponents
When Lenin died in 1924 a
power struggle began-through
murder and deception Joseph
Stalin became leader
He began a massive
industrialization movement that
would lead to the death of 8 to
10 million Soviet peasants that
resisted his policies
Hitler and Nazi Germany
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Adolph Hitler a strong AntiCommunist and an admirer of
Mussolini
He had fought in World War I and
was angered over the terms of
the Treaty of Versailles-he hated
the German government for
agreeing to its terms
In the chaotic climate of post
World War I Germany many new
political parties were formed
including the National Socialist
German Workers Party or the
Nazi Party –the party did support
the workers as the name
suggested but was nationalist and
anti-communists-Hitler was one
of the first recruits
Hitler and Nazi Germany
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In 1923 the Nazis planned to march on
Munich and take control of the local
government and then Berlin, the capitalbut the plan failed and Hitler was arrested
While in prison he wrote Mein Kampf-My
Struggle-in this book he called for the
unification of Germany and argued that
blonde-haired-blue-eyed Germans
belonged to a Master Race-Aryans
He said Germans needed more
lebensraum of living space and that
should expand into Poland and Russia
Mein Kampf
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Sooner will a camel pass through a needle’s eye than a
great man be ‘discovered’ by an election.
The broad masses of a population are more amenable to
the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force.
Never forget that the most sacred right on this earth is
man’s right to have the earth to till with his own hands, the
most sacred sacrifice the blood that a man sheds for this
earth.
Those who want to live, let them fight, and those who do
not want to fight in this world of eternal struggle do not
deserve to live.
Any alliance whose purpose is not the intention to wage war
is senseless and useless.
The Jew’s life as a parasite in the body of other nations and
states explains a characteristic which once caused
Schopenhauer, as has already been mentioned, to call him
the 'great master in lying.
Hitler and Nazi Germany
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Hitler thought that
Slavic Eastern
Europeans belonged to
an inferior race and that
German’s should
enslave them
However his greatest
racist hatred was for the
Jews
He blamed the Jews for
Germany’s economic
problems and for their
loss in World War I
His hatred for Jewish
people would play a
major role in his future
military and political
actions
Hitler and Nazi Germany
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After his release from prison Hitler changed his
tactics and decided to take control of the country
by political means
He focused on having Nazis elected to the
Reichstag-the lower house of the German
government
After the Great Depression hit Germany many
desperate people started to vote for radical
parties by 1932 the Nazis were the largest party
in the Reichstag
Many traditional German leaders supported
Hitler’s nationalism and pushed to have him put
into power-in 1933 he was appointed the
chancellor
Hitler and Nazi Germany
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After taking office Hitler began to crackdown on
Socialist and Communist Parties
His paramilitary forces called Storm Troopers
intimidated voters
After the next election the right wing parties
decided to give Hitler dictatorial powers-in 1934
he became president and took control of the
military
He declared himself the Fuhrer or leader and the
next year began to rebuild the German military
violating the Treaty of Versailles
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Challenges to the Treaty of Versailles
Hitler and Nazi Germany
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Life Under Adolf Hitler video
Militarists take control of Japan
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Difficult economic times in
Japan helped to undermine
the government
In the 1920’s Japan did not
make enough money on
exports to pay for its importswhen the depression hit other
countries raised their tariffsthis made the situation worse
Many blamed the problems on
a corrupt government and
began to think that
democracy was –un-Japanese
Japanese military leaders and
those that supported them
thought the only way to get
needed resources was to
seize territory
Militarists take control of Japan
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In 1931 the Japanese invaded the
resource rich Chinese province of
Manchuria
Without government permission the
Japanese military started a war
The Japanese government tried to
negotiate peace-the prime minister was
assassinated
From this point on the military was
effectively in control-the civilian
government began to support the
nationalist expansion minded policies
America Turns to Neutrality
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Many Americans did not see the benefits of the
sacrifices that were made in World War I
Once again America turned to isolationism
During the depression many European nations
decided they would no longer pay their war
debts-at the same time many individuals printed
books and articles stating that the United States
had been tricked into joining World War I by
arms companies
A Senator from named Gerald P. Nye held
hearings to investigate the nations involvement
in the war
His committee found that arms companies had
made huge profits during the war-these findings
only increased feelings of isolationism
America Turns to Neutrality
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Afraid of arms sells dragging America into
war again-The Neutrality Act of 1935
made it illegal to sell arms to foreign
nations at war
In 1936 a rebellion began in Spain after
many socialists and communists were
elected-it was lead by Francisco Franco
and other Fascists
The rebellion turned into a full scale civil
war Hitler and Mussolini began to support
Franco-the United States remained neutral
America Turns to Neutrality
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Shortly after the beginning of the Spanish Civil WarGermany and Italy formed an alliance known as the RomeBerlin Axis.
The following month Japan aligned itself with Germany and
Italy when it signed the Anti-Comitern Pact with Germany
Together the three countries became known as the AxisPowers –although they were not formally allies until 1940
With the situation getting worse in Europe-the United
States passed another neutrality act in 1937-it included
selling non military supplies on a cash and carry basisforeign nations would have to pay for the item immediately
and transport them on their own ships-Why would the
united States include this concept in this act?
America Turns to Neutrality
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In 1933 Roosevelt understood the importance of
international relationships but thought that establishing a
stable American society was more important
He did believe in internationalism- this was the idea that
trade between nations helped to prevent war
He feared neutrality acts might actually bring about war but
continued to support bills that defended isolationism
After the Japanese invaded China in 1937-Roosevelt went
against the neutrality acts and began to sell weapons to
China stating that the United States could not allow
lawlessness to infect the world-despite this Americans were
still not willing to risk war to stop overseas aggression