Download Chapter 7, Section 1

America & the World
The Rise of Dictators
One of Europe’s first
dictatorships arose in Italy after
WWI.
 In 1919 Benito Mussolini founded
Italy’s Fascist Party.
 Fascism is an aggressive
nationalistic movement that
considered the nation to be more
important than any individual
person, and that a dictatorship
was the best form of
government.
The Rise of Dictators
 Backed by the Fascist Militia known as the
Blackshirts, Mussolini threatened to march
on Rome.
 After a brief power struggle, the King
appointed Mussolini as the Premier of
Italy.
 He quickly established himself as
dictator.
 Fascists were anti-communist and
Mussolini exploited Italian fears that labor
groups would turn the nation towards
communism.
 Mussolini’s leadership was, at first,
welcomed by the Italian people who called
him “Il Duce” which means “the leader.”
The Rise of Dictators
•Single-Party
Dictatorship
•Denial of
Individual Rights
•Supremacy of the
State
•Non-Democratic
The Rise of Dictators
 After the Russian Revolution, the
Communist Party, led by Vladimir
Lenin, renamed the Russian
Empire, “The Union of Soviet
Socialist Republics” or USSR.
 In 1926, after a power struggle that
followed Lenin’s death, Joseph
Stalin became the Soviet dictator.
The Rise of Dictators
 In the countryside, farms were
combined to form collectives, which
were large, government-owned
farms.
 The collectivism disrupted food
production leading to mass starvation of
10 million peasants.
 The USSR under Stalin became a
totalitarian state where everything
was controlled by the government
and all opposition was crushed.
 By 1935 Stalin had imprisoned 2 million of
his own people in slave labor camps in
Siberia.
The Rise of Dictators
 After Germany’s defeat in WWI,
new political parties formed to
compete for control of Germany.
 One of the groups was the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party
also known as the Nazi Party.
 They wanted Germany to ignore the
Treaty of Versailles which ended WW I.
The Rise of Dictators
 Adolf Hitler admired Mussolini,
hated communists, and despised
the Treaty of Versailles.
 Hitler became the leader of the Nazi
Party.
 Hitler was arrested for trying to
seize power from the government.
 While in prison, he wrote his manifesto
“Mein Kampf” (My Life).
 In his book, Hitler proclaimed that
Germans were from a “master
race” called the Aryans.
The Rise of Dictators
Hitler discriminated against
other races and focused most
of his hatred towards Jews
who he blamed for Germany’s
defeat in WW I.
 Bt 1932, the Nazis controlled most
of the positions in the German
parliament, the Reichstag.
 The Reichstag then voted to give
Hitler dictatorial power.
 He became the leader or “Der
Führer.”
The Rise of Dictators
In Japan, just as in Germany,
difficult economic times
undermined confidence in the
political system.
The Japanese military argued
that the only way to improve
the economy was to seize
territory that would provide
natural resources.
 In 1931, the Japanese army
invaded Manchuria, a resource
rich region in northern China.
The Rise of Dictators
The prime minister of Japan
tried to stop the war by
negotiating a peace treaty
with China, but his own
military assassinated him and
took control over the
government.
American Neutrality
Americans, once again,
wanted to be careful not to
get caught up in Europe’s
troubles.
 Senator Nye of S. Dakota held
hearings on allegations that
weapons companies had pushed
politicians into joining WWI.
Congress passed the
Neutrality Act of 1935 which
made it illegal for US
companies to sell weapons to
any country at war.
Gallop Poll: May 1939 –
“In case Germany and Italy go to
war against England and France,
how far should we go in helping
England and France? Should we
send our army and navy abroad to
fight Germany and France?"
16% responded 'yes' ; 84%'no'.
American Neutrality
In 1936, Hitler and
Mussolini formed the BerlinRome Axis, and pledged to
support one another on
international issues.
 Shortly afterwards, Japan
joined Germany and Italy in a
pact of anti-communism and
the three countries became
known as the Axis Powers.
President Roosevelt
American
favored a policy of
internationalism, the idea
that trade between nations
creates prosperity and
helps to prevent war.
 When Japanese forces in
Manchuria invaded mainland
China in 1937, Roosevelt
decided to help the Chinese.
 FDR argued that selling
weapons to China didn’t
violate the Neutrality Act
because neither Japan nor
China had officially declared
war.
Neutrality
American Neutrality
 A weak China was unable to stop
the invasion, and the Japanese
soldiers committed atrocities
against the Chinese civilians, and
Roosevelt knew that it would be
difficult for the US to remain
neutral forever, but the public was
not interested in getting mixed up
in wars taking place in Europe or
Asia.