Transcript The American Vision

The Rise of Dictators
Dictators took control of the
governments of Italy, the Soviet Union,
Germany, and Japan.
The Rise of Dictators, 1922–1933
Italy
• In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded Italy’s
Fascist Party.
• Facismo:
• A single cord…
• binds the rods…
• to powerful ax
Italy
• In 1919, Benito Mussolini founded Italy’s
Fascist Party.
− Fascism was an aggressive nationalistic
movement that considered the nation
more important than the individual.
− Once in office, Mussolini worked quickly to
set up a dictatorship.
Italy Invades Ethiopia, 1935
USSR (Russia)
• After the Russian Revolution, the
Communist Party, led by Vladimir Lenin,
established communist governments
throughout the Russian Empire.
− In 1922 they renamed these territories the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR).
USSR (Russia)
• By 1926, Joseph Stalin had become the
new Soviet dictator.
− Family farms were combined and turned
into collectives.
− Government takes over all industrial
production in 5 year plans
− Between 8 and 10 million people died
during Stalin’s rule (1926-1953), either
through harsh working conditions, living
conditions or political purges
Imperial Japan
• In Japan, difficult economic times helped
undermine the political system.
• Japan’s high dependency on import of
natural resources from other countries is
exacerbated by the Great Depression.
• Military’s answer…… conquest!
• Emperor Hirohito as a demi-god …and tool
for the military leadership
Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931
Imperial Japan
• Japan’s civilian government supported the
nationalist policy of expanding the empire
and appointed a military officer to serve as
prime minister.
• Japanese military leaders and their civilian
supporters argued that seizing
Manchuria was the only way Japan
could get the resources it needed.
Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931
Nazi Germany
• One of the new political parties in Germany
was called the National Socialist German
Workers’ Party, or the Nazi Party.
− The party was fanatical nationalists
− calling for Germany not to abide by the
terms of the Treaty of Versailles:
1) Germany could not have offensive army
2) Germany pay war reparations
3) Germany surrender territory
Nazi Germany
• The Nazi were also anti-Semitic. Why did
Hilter and the Nazi’s blamed the Jews for
Germany’s plight….
− The Jews were an alien, minority people
− The Jews had been discriminated against
for centuries throughout Europe:
“the killers of Christ”
− There were a significant number of
Jewish bankers profited from Germany’s
failure in the WWI
−
Nazi Germany
• After Adolf Hitler’s first plan to seize power
in Germany failed, he focused on getting
Nazis elected to the Reichstag.
− By 1932, the Nazis were the largest party
in the Reichstag.
− The following year, the German president
appointed Hitler as chancellor.
− In 1934, Hitler became president, giving
himself the title of Der Führer.
The Holocaust
Big Idea: The Nazis believed Jews to be
subhuman. They steadily increased their
persecution of Jews and eventually set up
death camps and tried to kill all the Jews
in Europe.
Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)
• During the Holocaust, the Nazis killed nearly
6 million European Jews.
− The Hebrew term for the Holocaust is
Shoah, meaning “catastrophe.”
• Although the Nazis persecuted anyone who
dared oppose them, as well as the disabled,
Gypsies, homosexuals, and Slavic peoples, they
reserved their strongest hatred for the Jews.
Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)
• After the Nazis took power, they quickly
moved to deprive German Jews of many
established rights.
− In September 1935 the Nuremberg Laws
took citizenship away from Jewish
Germans and prohibited marriage
between Jews and other Germans.
− Soon, other rights, such as the ability to
work in certain professions, were taken
away as well.
Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)
• On November 7, 1938, a young Jewish
refugee named Herschel Grynszpan shot
and killed a German diplomat in Paris.
− In retaliation, Hitler ordered his minister of
propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, to stage
attacks against the Jews that would seem
like a spontaneous reaction to news of the
murder.
Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)
• The anti-Jewish violence that erupted
throughout Germany and Austria that night
came to be called Kristallnacht, or “night of
broken glass.”
− Following the night of violence, the
Gestapo arrested at least 20,000 wealthy
Jews, releasing them only if they agreed to
emigrate and surrender all their
possessions.
Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)
• Between 1933, when Hitler took power, and
the start of World War II in 1939, some
350,000 Jews escaped Germany.
− However, many Jews remained trapped in
Nazi-dominated Europe.
Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)
• Several factors limited Jewish immigration to
the United States:
− Jews could not take more than about four
dollars out of Germany, and American
immigration laws forbade granting a visa to
anyone “likely to become a public charge.”
− High unemployment rates in the 1930s made
immigration unpopular.
− Some Americans were anti-Semitic.
Nazi Persecution of the Jews (cont.)
− The existing immigration policy allowed
only 150,000 immigrants annually.
• At an international conference on refuges in
1938, several European countries, the United
States, and Latin America stated their regret
that they could not take in more of Germany’s
Jews.
• The SS St. Louis, with 930 Jewish refugees on
board, was denied permission to dock in Cuba
or the United States and turned back to
Europe.
Jews were deprived of the following
rights EXCEPT
A. holding public office.
B. voting.
C. keeping their
German-sounding names.
D. leaving the country.
0%
A
A.
B.
C.
0%
D.
B
A
B
C
0%
D
C
0%
D
World War II Begins
What steps led to war in
Europe in the late 1930s?
Path to War
European nations tried to prevent war
by giving in to Adolf Hitler’s demands.
Path to War (cont.)
• Europe’s leaders believed that a deal could
be reached with Hitler and war could be
avoided for three reasons:
− They wanted to avoid a repeat of the
bloodshed of World War I.
− Some thought most of Hitler’s demand
were reasonable.
− Many people assumed that the Nazis
would be more interested in peace once
they gained more territory.
Path to War (cont.)
• In late 1937 Hitler called for the unification of
all German-speaking people, including those
in Austria and Czechoslovakia.
− Hitler sent troops into Austria in March
1938 and announced the Anschluss of
Austria and Germany.
The Causes of World War II in Europe, 1935–1939
Path to War (cont.)
• Hitler next announced German claims to the
Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia
with a large German-speaking population.
− At the Munich Conference, on
September 29, 1938, Britain and France
agreed to Hitler’s demands, a policy that
came to be known as appeasement.
The Causes of World War II in Europe, 1935–1939
Path to War (cont.)
• However, in March 1939 Germany sent troops
into Czechoslovakia and divided the country.
− The Czech lands became a German
protectorate.
• A month after the Munich Conference, Hitler
demanded control of Danzig, a part of Poland.
− He also requested a highway and railroads
across the Polish Corridor.
The Causes of World War II in Europe, 1935–1939
Path to War (cont.)
• On March 31, 1939, Britain announced that if
Poland went to war to defend its territory,
Britain and France would come to its aid.
• Poland refused to give in to Germany’s
demands.
• Germany and the USSR signed a
nonaggression pact on August 23, 1939.