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Allies
Axis
Churchill
Hitler
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What was life like in the 1930s:
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Goals if there’s a war:
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Personality:
Personality:
Roosevelt
Mussolini
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Stalin
Hirohito
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Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini was in control of Italy from 1922 to 1943. As a
dictator he held absolute power and led Italy into many wars, the last
of which led to his overthrow by his own people.
Benito’s Rise to Power
Benito Mussolini was born at Dovia di Predappio, Italy, on July 29,
1883. The Mussolini’s were a poor family who lived in a crowded
two-bedroom apartment. Benito, although intelligent, was violent
and had a large ego and thought very highly of himself. He was a
poor student at school and learned very little. As a student at a
boarding school in Faenza, Italy, Mussolini stabbed another student,
and as a result he was expelled. After receiving his diploma in 1901 he briefly taught
secondary school. He went to Switzerland in 1902 to avoid military service, where he
associated with other socialists. Mussolini returned to Italy in 1904, spent time in the
military, and decided to get involved in politics full time thereafter.
In March 1919, Mussolini founded the Fighting Fascists, a political group that won the favor
of the Italian youth. The elections in 1921 sent him to Parliament at the head of thirty-five
Fascist deputies. Later he founded the National Fascist Party, with more than 250 thousand
followers and Mussolini as its uncontested leader putting him in a position to easily gain
control of the Italian government.
Fascist state
Once in power, Mussolini took steps to make sure he would remain there and that the Italian
government remained Fascist. He held general elections, but they were fixed to provide him
with an absolute majority in Parliament assuring that he would win. He also made sure to
suspend many of the civil liberties of the Italian people, destroyed all of his opponents, and
imposed open dictatorship (absolute rule).
As the 1930s began, Mussolini was seated safely in power and enjoyed wide support but the
Italian people were suffering. In 1930, the Great depression (a decline in the production of
goods because of a decline in demand, accompanied by rising unemployment) arrived in
Italy. Mussolini reacted at first with a public works program but soon shifted Italy’s focus on
foreign wars. The 1935 Ethiopian War was planned to direct attention away from internal
problems. Italy then also got involved in the Spanish civil war, which
ended up providing no real benefit for Italy. Mussolini then joined
forces with German dictator Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) and in 1938
began to attack Jewish people within the country just as Germany was
doing. As the 1930s ended, Mussolini was losing all his support within
Italy.
Mussolini was always worried that Hitler would redraw the map of
Europe without him. He decided that if Germany were to go to war,
Italy would join them and "make war at any cost." He wanted to make
sure Italy would not be left behind as an emerging world power and
that he himself would be recognized as a powerful leader. The cost of
Italy going to war was clear: they would need modern industry,
modern armies, and popular support which Mussolini lacked.
Winston
Churchill
Winston Churchill was born in England to
an American mother and English father.
He was raised in an upper middle class
household and eventually joined the
British Navy. By 1900 he had made a
name for himself as a sailor and used
that reputation to launch a career in
politics. Churchill quickly rose through the
ranks of England’s Tory Party
(conservatives), and by World War I he
had been given a commission as Lord
Admiral of the Navy. However, Churchill
was not as good a strategist as he was a
politician, and after thousands of British
and Australian troops died under his
command, he resigned. Churchill would
spend the next decade of his life rebuilding his political reputation.
During the 1930s, Britain was not immune to the hard times of the Great
Depression. For many people in Britain the 1930s was a period of great hardship.
The Wall Street Crash in 1929 started a worldwide economic depression that
lasted for much of the decade. Old industries such as steel, ship-building and
coal mining suffered the most. For the people of Britain the specter of
unemployment was always present. During this time, Churchill and the other
Tories were out of power, giving Churchill time to observe what was going on
outside of Britain. As the decade continued, he began to be more and more
worried about the new leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler. Unlike Churchill, the
Prime Minister of Britain Neville Chamberlain felt that he could deal with Hitler.
When this policy failed, Chainberlain was kicked out of office. Churchill was then
recognized as the obvious person to lead Britain in what looked like an
unavoidable march to war.
Churchill found his country very poorly prepared for war. He desperately needed
to build up the army and air force. During the rough years of the 1930s, Britain
had not invested in new technology or planes. Germany looked to be at least 2 –
3 years ahead of them. If there was to be a war, his goals were clear. First, he
would need to get the British people ready for war. Second, he would need to
quickly mobilize every factory and worker in the country to get ready for a fight.
Third, he would need allies to fight this war, especially Britain’s old allies from
World War I.
You have enemies?
Good. That means
you’ve stood up
for something,
sometime in your
life.
- Churchill
Churchill would go on to be one of the war’s
great leaders. His feisty and cranky
personality became a soothing presence for
the British people. The war years were dark
ones, but the determination and bull
headedness of Winston Churchill were
examples for all the British people.
Hirohito
Hirohito (also known as Emporer
Showa) was born in 1901 in a palace in
Tokyo, Japan. He was the 124th
emporer of Japan, the oldest continuous
hereditary monarchy in the world still in
existence.
Hirohito’s father was a Prince and his
mother a princess. As a child, Hirohito
was known as Prince Michi. The young
prince attended a special school that
was set up exclusively for his benefit. At
the age of 16, he spent 6 months
traveling the Europe, becoming the first
Japanese Crown Prince to travel
abroad. Upon his return in November
1921 he became Regent of Japan, in
place of his ailing father who was
suffering from mental illness.
Life in the 1930’s
During the 1930’s, life in Japan was turbulent. War had already begun here.
Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931 and the rest of China in 1937. Hirohito
narrowly missed assassination by a hand grenade thrown by a Korean nationalist
in Tokyo in January, 1932. Another notable case was the assassination of
moderate Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi in 1932, which marked the end of
civilian control of the military. This was followed by an attempted military coup in
February 1936, mounted by junior Army officers of the Kōdōha faction who had
the sympathy of many high-ranking officers including Prince Chichibu, one of the
Emperor's brothers.
Goals in WWII
In September, 1941 the Japanese cabinet issued a statement declaring their
intentions for what would become World War II. Their demands included:
freedom to continue with the conquest of China and Southeast Asia, no increase
in US or British military forces in the region, and cooperation by the West "in the
acquisition of goods needed by our Empire." The official statement said, “In the
event that there is no prospect of our demands being met by the first ten days of
October through the diplomatic negotiations mentioned above, we will
immediately decide to commence hostilities against the United States, Britain
and the Netherlands.” the British people.
Personality
To many people, Hirohito was the 20th century's great survivor. History has not
given too many the chance to lead a nation into appalling disaster, only to
emerge with at least partial credit for its reform and rebirth. Critics and loyal
supporters alike have said Hirohito was a good decision maker and worked well
behind the scenes. However, Hirohito’s upbringing and his adult life were so
isolated that he had a very distorted view of the world.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was
born in Hyde Park, New York
on January 30, 1882, the
son of James Roosevelt and
Sara Delano Roosevelt. He
received a BA degree in
history from Harvard in only
three years (1900-03).
Roosevelt next studied law
at New York's Columbia
University. When he passed
the bar examination in 1907,
he left school without taking
a degree. He entered politics
in 1910 and was elected to the New York State Senate as a Democrat. In the
meantime, in 1905, he had married a distant cousin, Anna Eleanor Roosevelt,
who was the niece of President Theodore Roosevelt. The couple had six
children, five of whom survived infancy: Anna (1906), James (1907), Elliott
(1910), Franklin, Jr. (1914) and John (1916). Roosevelt was reelected to the
State Senate in 1912, and supported Woodrow Wilson's candidacy at the
Democratic National Convention. While vacationing at Campobello Island, New
Brunswick in the summer of 1921, Roosevelt contracted poliomyelitis (infantile
paralysis). Despite courageous efforts to overcome his crippling illness, he never
regained the use of his legs.
With the encouragement and help of his wife, Eleanor, and political confidant,
Louis Howe, Roosevelt resumed his political career. In 1924 he nominated
Governor Alfred E. Smith of New York for president at the Democratic National
Convention, but Smith lost the nomination to John W. Davis. In 1928 Roosevelt
was elected governor of New York. Following his reelection as governor in 1930,
Roosevelt began to campaign for the presidency. He campaigned energetically
calling for government intervention in the economy to provide relief, recovery,
and reform. His activist approach and personal charm helped to defeat Hoover in
November 1932 by seven million votes. The Depression worsened in the months
preceding Roosevelt's inauguration, March 4, 1933. Factory closings, farm
foreclosures, and bank failures increased, while unemployment soared.
Roosevelt undertook immediate actions to initiate his New Deal. To halt depositor
panics, he closed the banks temporarily. Then he worked with a special session
of Congress during the first "100 days" to pass recovery legislation. Agencies
assisted business and labor, insured bank deposits, regulated the stock market,
subsidized home and farm mortgage payments, and aided the unemployed.
These measures revived confidence in the economy. Banks reopened and direct
relief saved millions from starvation.
By 1939 Roosevelt was concentrating increasingly on foreign affairs with the
outbreak of war in Europe. When Hitler attacked Poland in September 1939,
Roosevelt stated that, although the nation was neutral, he did not expect America
to remain inactive in the face of Nazi aggression. Accordingly, he tried to make
American aid available to Britain, France, and China and to obtain an
amendment of the Neutrality Acts which rendered such assistance difficult. He
also took measures to build up the armed forces in the face of isolationist
opposition. With the fall of France in 1940, the American mood and Roosevelt's
policy changed dramatically.
Stalin
Country: USSR (Russia)
Government Type: Communist
Dictatorship (Keep Animal Farm
in mind)
Life in the 1930s:
Stalin established a
strong personal dictatorship in
the Soviet Union. He
established “Five Year Plans”
for the economy. These set
economic goals for every five
year period, transforming
Russia from an agricultural
country into a more
industrialized country. As
industry grew, the population of
workers did as well, making it
increasingly harder to live in the
city. Many workers lived through
cramped and polluted cities,
with little payment. Propaganda was used to convince everyone that there would
be a need for sacrifices while Russia industrialized. Stalin also collectivized the
farms, which means there were no private farms anymore. The government
owned them all and workers were required to work on the farms. Peasants
started taking food for themselves though, which caused famine in Russia. As
time went on, Stalin got rid of many of his advisors so that he could make all
decisions by himself. About 8 million Russian citizens were arrested during this
time and sent to labor camps.
Goals if there’s a war:
In 1939 Stalin signed the Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact with Hitler. This
stated that the two nations, Germany and Russia, promised not to attack each
other. That changed when Hitler decided to attack Russia anyway so that Britain
would not be able to have sufficient help from the Russian army. The Russian
winter weather stopped the German army and Russia was able to counterattack.
Personality:
He changed his last name to Stalin, which meant “man of steel”. He was
known for being a good organizer, but not for being a great speaker or writer.
One of the greatest mass murderers in human history…its estimated that his
policies and deliberate executions led to the death of as many as 25 million
people. Stalin used secret police to scare the people into following his orders.
ADOLF HITLER
Adolf Hitler was born on April 20,
1889 in Braunau, Austria. Throughout
his childhood and even through
adolescence he struggled in school.
Hitler dreamed of becoming an artist
and in 1907 he went to Vienna Austria
to try and achieve his dream. This
attempt ended when he failed the
entrance exam to the Academy of Fine
Arts. He decided to stay in Vienna
and worked various odd jobs. During his time in Vienna Hitler learned to
hate non-Germans. Hitler was a German-speaking Austrian and considered
himself German.In 1913, Hitler went to Munich, Germany and when World
War I began in 1914, he volunteered for service in the German army In
1920, Hitler joined the National Socialist German Workers Party known as
the Nazis. The Nazis called for all Germans, even those in other countries, to
unite into one nation; they called for a strong central government; and they
called for the cancellation of the Versailles Treaty. Hitler became leader of
the Nazi party and built up membership quickly, mostly because of his
powerful speaking ability.
On November 9, 1923, Hitler led more than 2,000 Storm Troopers on a
march to seize the Bavarian government. The attempt failed and Hitler was
arrested and sentenced to prison for five years for treason. While in prison,
Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In this book. he stated his beliefs
and plans for Germany's future. Hitler only served nine months in prison and
when he was released, he began to rebuild the party again. He set up a
private battle-ready elite guard known as the "Schutzstaffel" (SS). By 1929,
the Nazis had become an important minor political party.
In 1930, a worldwide depression hit Germany, yet Germany also had the
debt of paying for the damage it had caused in World War I. Hitler protested
against paying the debt and said that the Jews and Communists were the
cause for Germany's defeat in World War I. He promised to rid Germany of
Jews and Communists and to reunite the German speaking part of Europe.In
July, 1932, the Nazis received about 40% of the vote and became the
strongest party in Germany. On January 30,1933, President Paul von
Hindenburg appointed Hitler Chancellor of Germany. Once in this position,
Hitler moved quickly toward attaining a Fascist government in which he
would be the dictatorship. When von Hindenburg died in 1934, Hitler
already had control of Germany and he gave himself the title "Fuehrer"
(leader).