Transcript Joseph Stalin – Communist – Soviet Union

The United States and
World War II
The Rise of Dictators and the Road to War
Main Ideas
* Dictators took control of the governments of Italy, the
Soviet Union, Germany and Japan after World War I during
the 1920s and 1930s * (Why do you think this was?)
* Most Americans did not want to get involved in another
American war * (Why not?)
* ITALY – Benito Mussolini (1922)
* USSR – Joseph Stalin (1926)
* GERMANY – Adolf Hitler (1933-1934)
* JAPAN – “Militarism” takes hold (1930s)
*Remember the
Treaty of
Versailles? (How
did it treat Germany?)
* By the 1930s,
the Great
Depression is
WORLD-WIDE…
especially in
Germany! (hyperinflation, debt,
unemployment)
The $.99 version
of Benito
Mussolini’s Rise
to Power!
Benito Mussolini – Fascist – Italy
* Since the 1870s, the Kingdom
of Italy had proved too weak to
deal with the country’s growing
problems…
* Italians felt slighted as a result
of the “peace without victory”
outcome…
* WWI debts, unemployment,
uncontrollable strikes,
communist, socialist and
anarchist threat…
* Italian government had to
make a choice – Fascism or
Communism?
Benito Mussolini – Fascist – Italy
* Benito Mussolini organizes the fascist movement in 1919 as a result
of the rising tensions in Italy (“Black Shirts”)
1.) Absolute Power of the State: strong centralized
gov’t (totalitarian control) – STATE > individual
2.) Rule by a Dictator: charismatic, all-powerful
dictators make decisions for the state!
3.) Corporatism: tamed down version of capitalism –
private property remains, but means of production are
controlled (kind of)
4.) Extreme Nationalism: national glory and fear of
outside threats
5.) Superiority of the Nation’s People
6.) Militarism and Imperialism: greatness is shown
by conquering and ruling weak nations
“Il Duce”
"Mussolini, the man
who made the Trains
Run on Time."
Benito Mussolini – Fascist – Italy
* 1921, Mussolini formed the National Fascist Party…
* October 1922, Mussolini declared, “Either the government will be given to
us, or we will seize it by marching on Rome.”
* A real “SMH” moment ensues in
the Italian government…
* King’s Cabinet resigns and King
Victor Emmanuel promptly names
Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy.
* By 1924, Fascists controlled Italian
Parliament and IL DUCE had
embarked on his totalitarian
control of politics, the economy and
the state!
Joseph Stalin – Communist – Soviet Union
Vladimir Lenin
* Lead the Bolsheviks
in their October
Revolution in 1917
* Father of the Soviet
Union! (USSR)
Leon Trotsky
* Lenin’s handpicked
successor…
* Lenin’s #2 man and
“heir-apparent”
Joseph Stalin
* Not on Stalin’s watch!
* Military leader in the
Red Army
* Eventually became
General Secretary of
the Central Committee
Joseph Stalin – Communist – Soviet Union
“From each according to his ability, to each
according to his need.” – Karl Marx
* What does the Marx quote mean? (Marxism)
* A TRUE Communist society is a form of UTOPIAN society where:
1.) Private property is unnecessary as all men only use that which he needs
2.) All men are sustained by, supported by, and occupied at the public expense
(communal living)
3.) Every citizen will make his contribution to the community according to his
capacity, his talent and his age
* Communism is a classless, moneyless and stateless social order structured upon
common ownership of the means of production of society.
* Marxists believed that to attain communism, violent revolution of the working
class (proletariat) was necessary to overthrow the capitalist class (bourgeoisie)…
Joseph Stalin – Communist – Soviet Union
* 1922 – Lenin suffers a stroke and retires (kind of)
* Argument ensues between Trotsky and Stalin – names called, lives
threatened – and then…
* 1923 – Trotsky has a heart attack.
* 1924 – Lenin dies and Stalin consolidates power throughout the
Soviet Union and by 1926 has killed those who were loyal to Trotsky
and any of his opposition within the Party!
Joseph Stalin – Communist – Soviet Union
* Stalin launched a massive program for industrialization (railroads, steel
mills, military hardware)… Five-Year Plan to “catch and overtake” the
leading capitalist countries in the world.
* EXAMPLE) From 1928 to 1937, steel production
increased from 4 million tons to 18 million tons…
* Stalin was a paranoid who oppressed and often killed
(purged) anyone who was perceived as a threat to his
power
* By the late 1930s, the USSR was weak from the removal of
its best and brightest – but at least Stalin was secure!
Joseph Stalin – Communist – Soviet Union
* He also started a revolution in Soviet agriculture forcing peasants
to participate in collectivization (this meant the pooling of farmlands, animals, and
equipment for the sake of more efficient, and state-run, large-scale production)
* Knowing that the well-to-do peasants (kulaks) would not accept this,
Stalin decided to “liquidate them as a class” (millions were killed outright or
sent to forced-labor camps – GULAGS – to suffer a slow death)
Collectivization of farms
* Individual farms (Kulaks)
* Each has own farmhouse,
Tractor, Equipment, etc.
* Farmers make $ based on how
productive they are…
* The more productive, the more $
they make!
Collectivization of farms
Workers live in a
communal village, in
gov’t housing projects
* Collective farm – state (government) owned, all equipment and
Housing, pooled together.
* Everyone gets paid the same wages.
* All profits go to government, which then pays the workers.
* No incentive, no ownership of land.
* By 1935, almost ALL agriculture in the Soviet Union has been
COLLECTIVIZED
Collectivization of farms
* Many of the peasants refused to cooperate with the
Collectivization efforts of Stalin, so, what did they do? (From 1932 to 1933,
10 millions peasants died due to FAMINE)
* To wipe out any remaining resistance, Stalin unleashed terror to
crush opposition through a series of purges (750,000 were executed between
1936 and 1938 and those who were not executed were sent to forced labor camps,
collectively known as the Gulag)
The $.99 version
of Adolf Hitler’s
Rise to Power!
Adolf Hitler – Nazi – Germany
* Adolf Hitler was a veteran of World War I – coming back from the
War, he joined the German Workers' Party in 1919, and became
leader of the NSDAP in 1921.
* 1923, Hitler attempted a coup d'état in Munich – the Beer Hall
Putsch (failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his
memoir, Mein Kampf – “My Struggle”)
* In Mein Kampf, Hitler outlines the Nazi philosophy:
1.) Anti-Communist
2.) Anti-Semitic
3.) Militaristic
4.) Acquisition of Lebensraum (“living space”)
5.) Pro-German (Hitler was Austrian)
* He blames Marxists, Jews and the Weimar Republic Parliament for problems…
* By 1930, after the economic meltdown worldwide, the Nazi party
had gained 18% of votes in Parliament… (from 2% in 1928)
Adolf Hitler – Nazi – Germany
* By 1933, Hitler had been a Presidential candidate, the Nazi’s had
gained 44% of votes in Parliament and President Paul von
Hindenburg had appointed Hitler Chancellor of the Weimar Republic!
(the Nazis were rollin’…)
* Hitler had petitioned the President to dissolve the Parliament (several
times, to no avail) – so what does he do?
* Well, allegedly, he did not burn down
the Reichstag in 1933 – Communists
did! (Hitler, being the opportunist he was,
encouraged Pres. Von Hindenburg to suspend basic
rights and allow detention without trial)
* Legislation was also passed in
parliament which passed legislative
authority to Hitler’s cabinet!
Adolf Hitler – Nazi – Germany
* By 1934, Hitler had gained full control of legislative and executive
branches of government! (Hitler became Germany's head of state with the title of
der Führer)
“At the risk of appearing to talk nonsense I tell you that the National
Socialist movement will go on for 1,000 years… Don't forget how
people laughed at me 15 years ago when I declared that one day I
would govern Germany. They laugh now, just as foolishly, when I
declare that I shall remain in power!” – Adolf Hitler
* As Head of State, Hitler:
1.) bullied opposing parties into disbanding
2.) killed his opponents within the Nazi party
3.) took supreme control over military forces
4.) consolidated his political power
* Vowed to reverse effects of Great Depression and
Treaty of Versailles!
Militarists in Japan
* Imperial rule had been restored to Japan in 1868 under Emperor
Meiji (almost all leaders in Japanese society during the Meiji period – whether in the
military, politics or business – were ex-samurai or descendants of samurai)
* Meiji government
viewed Japan as
threatened by
western imperialism
(policy was to strengthen
economic and industrial
foundations, so that a strong
military could be built to
defend Japan against outside
powers)
Militarists in Japan
* Into the 1920s, Japan’s economy began to struggle when it’s exports
failed to support it’s imports…
* Commence the 1930s Great Depression – U.S. raises tariffs and
Japan’s economy worsens…
* Remember those pesky
Japanese military leaders?
(their solution to these problems
was to acquire more territory!)
* 1931, Japan launched an
attack on resource-rich
Manchuria (within a few days
Japanese armed forces had
occupied the region of China)
Militarists in Japan
* 1933, Japan withdrew from the League of Nations (after criticism for
Manchurian Incident)
* 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out (and Japan essentially
controlled east coast of China until 1945)
* 1940, Japan occupied French Indochina – Vietnam (upon agreement with
the French Vichy government, and joined the Axis powers; Germany and Italy)
* ALL EXAMPLES OF JAPANESE AGGRESSION PRIOR TO
WORLD WAR II AND JAPAN’S ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR!
FDR and American Neutrality
The Neutrality Acts, 1935-1937
* Nye Senate Committee…
* Arms industry pushed U.S. into WWI
* Neutrality Act of 1935
1.) embargo on arms, ammunition or
implements of war to nations at war
2.) travel restrictions
3.) 6 month expiration date
* Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935) 1.) arms embargo on countries at war
2.) travel restrictions
* FDR’s “moral embargo” of Italy
3.) ban on loans to countries at war
* Neutrality Act of 1936
* Spanish Civil War (1936)
* Neutrality Act of 1937
1.) arms embargo on countries at war
2.) travel ban on warring nations’ ships
3.) trade with warring country on a cashand-carry basis