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Dictators in Europe
Objective: Understand the beginnings
of World War II.
Totalitarianism
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Totalitarianism: The
government controls every
aspect of your life.
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This includes the economy,
politics, religion, philosophy,
science, and sports.
One’s personal goals were
ignored for the “glory of the
state.”
Why?
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Governments wanted more
control of the people after World
War I.
Fascism
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Fascism calls for a strong
government led by one person.
Fascism celebrates the “nation” and
the “natural born” people in it.
Benito Mussolini was given
temporary dictatorial powers by the
Italian King.
Why?
 Mussolini’s followers
(Blackshirts) threatened to take
over Rome
Italy attacked Ethiopia (in Africa)
The United States stayed neutral, but
the League of Nations penalized
Italy with no way to enforce the
penalties.
Mussolini in Italy
Italy like the rest of Europe was ravaged
by WWI and received little $ or land for
their efforts
Benito Mussolini was soldier in WWI
and a journalist
Led a group of followers known as
“Blackshirts” threatened to march to
Rome & take over (1922)
Italian king gave Mussolini temporary
dictatorial powers, meaning he was sole
ruler
Mussolini ended up ruling for 21
YEARS!!!
He abolished democracy in Italy,
outlawing all parties except fascists
Govt. censors forced newspapers &
radio stations to publish only fascist
ideas
Mussolini
Teacher who had been
kicked out of schools
as a student for beating
up people
Led the Black shirts or
gangs of Fascists
swarmed Rome but the
king fearing civil war
appointed Mussolini
prime minister
Preserved capitalism
but took over economy
Joseph Stalin
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In the late 1920s, Joseph Stalin wanted a
more controlling government and a
country that built more things rather
than grow food.
Resulted in MILLIONS of people
starving to DEATH.
Stalin also purged his own political
party of people through his police.
Of the original 100,000 Red Army
officers, 60,000 were executed.
The United States, however, was
impressed with the industrial gains and
formally recognized the Soviet Union in
1933.
In 1917, Vladimir Lenin helped lead the
revolution in Russia
In 1922 Lenin renamed Russia, the Union of
Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
The country followed the principles of
communism
Marx the founder of communism preached that
the workers needed to be in control with no
classes in society
In reality, Lenin’s USSR was a dictatorship
with the Communist party in sole control
By 1928, the USSR was producing at pre-WWI
levels, despite the worldwide Depression
When Lenin died the question of who would
take over as leader of the USSR
Russia under Lenin
Leon Trotsky & Joseph Stalin
were both part of the revolution
under Lenin
They both helped him set up the
USSR
However, after Lenin died, both
bitterly fought for control
Lenin did not trust Stalin, who
was extremely cold and ruthless
From 1922-1928 Stalin quietly
climbed up the ladder of the
Communist party in Russia
He was always sure to put allies
in other govt. positions
By 1928 he was in sole control &
a year later he sent Trotsky away
into exile
Spread
Lenin & Trotsky wanted to
promote & spread communism
throughout the world immediately
Stalin instead focused on improving
Russia within until after WWII
He wanted to perfect communism
before he tried to spread it
When Stalin took over he made the
Soviet Union a totalitarian state
Stalin’s New Ways
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Lenin’s New Economic Policy (NEP) was
about mixing free enterprise (business) &
state (govt.) control
Stalin’s economic policy was about TOTAL
state control
Stalin introduced a command economy
Command economy= The government
makes all economic decisions
Political leaders like Stalin make the
decision on what the country’s economic
needs are & fulfills them
Five Year Plan
The first target of Stalin was
increasing industrialization
He felt the USSR was 50-100 years
behind other western powers
Stalin set a Five-Year Plan which
set extremely high quotas (goals)
for steel, oil, coal & electrical
output
To actually reach the goals the
govt. cut down on the production
of consumer goods
As a result, citizens faced shortages
of food, clothing, housing & other
necessary products
Stalin was successful pushing Russia through the
industrial revolution & through agricultural revolution
More brutal
When he took over in 1928, he immediately seized 25
million privately owned farms
He combined farms into govt. owned farms called
collectives producing food for the state
Many peasants resisted-killing livestock & crops
Resistance especially strong among kulaks- wealthy
peasants
Stalin eliminated this group & other protesters by
executing them
Stalin
5 year Plan
Several 5 year plans for heavy industry,
transportation and farm output
Government distributed everything
under command economy where
government made all decisions unlike a
capitalist consumer economy where
competition regulated price and quality
Standard of Living
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Low
Central Planning caused shortages and overproduction,
low quality goods – numbers only counted
Consumer goods and cars were scarce in contrast to
free world
Kulaks, rich peasants, resisted collectives and were
killed or sent to Siberian camps in 1929
Peasants who raised only enough to feed themselves
starved to death as all their production was taken in
1932 - 8 million starved in Ukraine alone
Gulag and the Great Purge
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Terror labor camps
1934 –The Great Purge of Old Bolsheviks,
army heros, managers, scholars
Charged with counter-revolutionary tactics, to
failure to meet quotas, to stealing a potato they
grew
Most talented purged
Lost over 1/2 military officers and cost dearly
when Hitler invaded in 1941
Propaganda
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Pravda (means “truth”) communist controlled
paper
Pasternak, Author of Dr. Zhivago was afraid to
publish under Stalin
USSR consisted of 11 Republics like old
Russia, Ukraine, Uzbek, but all had to speak
Russian and Russify their old cultures
Religions persecuted- Orthodox, Islam, Jewish
Synagogues confiscated, but people resisted
Scarcities
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Housing so bad whole families shared one room
Meat scarce
Women gained same rights as men, were allowed
in occupations traditionally male, worked for
same low wages
Wanted world domination and used Comintern or
Communist International that drew Red Scare fear
in U.S. and Europe in 1920’s and 1950’s that the
totalitarian terror and shortages would come to
other countries
Hitler
In 1919 Weimar Republic was born in
Weimar giving women right to vote, a new
constitution minus the kaiser, and a
government that depended on coalitions to
rule
Savings were wiped out and money was
worthless as striking workers continued to
get paid and paper money was overprinted
Hitler was a beacon of strength as his Nazi
storm troopers fought in the streets against
his political foes
Democracy Falls to Fascism
During the Great Depression democracies in
the U.S., France, & Britain were able to
survive
Millions in other countries lost faith in
democracy
In response they turned to extreme form of
govt. called fascism
Fascism: Strong govt. led by one leader,
Loyalty to leader is crucial
Government is more important than the
people. Opposition is quickly put down
Fascists promised to revive economy, punish
those responsible & restore national pride
Message was attractive to those struggling
from WWI & Depression
Adolf Hitler
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Germany was also in a depression
because the money Germany had to pay
for the Treaty of Versailles (WWI)
Hitler rose to power in this depression
by blaming Communists and Jews for
the loss in WWI
Hitler began the National Socialist
Party (Nazis)
In 1933, Hitler became the chancellor
of Germany, and established the Third
Reich.
He stopped Germany from making
foreign-debt payments.
Hitler’s Power
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Between 1933 and 1934 unemployment
fell by 2 million and the government
funded housing and highway
construction.
Hitler rebuilt Germany’s army which was
a violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
November 9, 1938 “Night of Broken
Glass”
Nazi mobs killed 90 Jews, destroyed
7,500 Jewish businesses and 177
synagogues.
After Kristallnacht the Nazi persecution
of Jews increased dramatically.
Hitler
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Veteran of WWI, Adolf Hitler a native
Austrian, came to power in Germany
became der Fuhrer or leader of the National
Socialist Party or Nazis
In 1923, he & the Nazis tried to seize power
in Munich, the attempt failed
While in jail, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My
Struggle)
Asserts Aryans, Germans who were blond
haired & blue eyed, were the master race
Hitler
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Blamed communists & the Jews for
Germany’s defeat in WWI
Felt all non-Aryans (Jews, Slavs, Gypsies)
were inferior & should be eliminated
He promised to get Germany more living
space by conquering lands in Eastern
Europe & Russia
Power
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Hitler got out of jail in 1924, but most Germans ignored his
hateful words
When the economy collapsed many Germans turned to
Hitler
Those in power thought they could use Hitler for their
advantage
He was named Chancellor in 1933
Hitler quickly acted to gain power
He called for more elections hoping the Nazis could gain a
majority
Six days before the parliamentary elections, fire broke out
in the Reichstag building (parliament)
Hitler quickly blamed the communists, by stirring up the
Why
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With majority control, Hitler demanded absolute power
for 4 years
The Enabling Act gave him this power
Hitler used the power to make Germany a totalitarian
state
He banned all other political parties & had opponents
arrested
He created an elite black uniformed unit called the SS.
Its loyalty was strictly to Hitler
SS murdered Hitler’s enemies
His Gestapo, or secret police forced most Germany to obey
Hitler put millions of Germans to work & helped pull
Germany out of Depression
Democracy to Fascism
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During the Great Depression democracies in the U.S.,
France, & Britain were able to survive
Millions in other countries lost faith in democracy
In response they turned to extreme form of govt. called
fascism
Fascism: Strong govt. led by one leader, Loyalty to leader
is crucial
Government is more important than the people.
Opposition is quickly put down
Fascists promised to revive economy, punish those
responsible & restore national pride
Message was attractive to those struggling from WWI &
Depression
Youth
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He took over all forms of media & used them
to promote Nazi ways
Books that didn’t conform were burned
Boys had to join the Hitler Youth, while girls
had to join the League of German girls
Hitler believed in Social Darwinism
Survival of the fittest
Anti-Semitism
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Hatred of Jews or anti-Semitism, was key
Nazi ideology
Jews made up less than 1% of population,
but Hitler blamed them for Germany’s
troubles
He banned all Jews and non-Nazis from the
government and took their property
Kristallnacht – “night of broken
glass”…11/9/1938…Nazis killed over 90
Jews and hurt more
7,500 Jewish businesses and 177 synagogues
Japan’s Military Expansion
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Japan’s military leaders wanted to seize new
territories to gain additional natural resources.
After Japan invaded northern China the United
States condemned the invasion, but took no action.
December 12, 1937- Japan sinks a U.S. gunboat, and
the U.S. only asks for an apology and payment for
the damages.
The Neutrality Acts were passed to keep the country
out of international conflicts
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U.S. could not ship arms to nations at war
Overall, Americans continued to favor isolation (not
getting involved)
Differences
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Communism
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classless society
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wanted to unite workers around the world (internationalists)
Redistribution of wealth/collectivization
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Fascism
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class had its place & function
Gov’t supported rich aristocrats, industrialists, war veterans &
middle class
Nationalistic
Private ownership
Similarities
(Totalitarianism’s Characteristics)
Ruled by dictators
1 political party states
Deny individual rights
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The state or government is supreme over the individual
Democratic principles don’t apply; people don’t have voting power
Gov’t censorship of media/Freedom of speech illegal
Joseph Stalin
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In the late 1920s, Joseph Stalin wanted a more controlling
government and a country that
.
Resulted in MILLIONS of people
.
Stalin also purged his own political party of people through
his police.
Of the original 100,000 Red Army officers,
.
The United States, however, was
and
formally recognized the Soviet Union in 1933.
Fascism

Fascism calls for a
.



Fascism
and
the “natural born” people in it.
Benito
was given temporary
dictatorial powers by the Italian King.
Why?



Mussolini’s followers (
over Rome
Italy attacked Ethiopia (in Africa)
The United States
League of Nations penalized Italy with
) threatened to take
, but the
.
Adolf Hitler
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Germany was also in a depression because the
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(WWI).
Hitler rose to power in this depression by
.
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Hitler began the
(Nazis)
In 1933, Hitler became the chancellor of Germany,
and established the Third Reich.
He stopped Germany from
.
Hitler’s Power
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Between 1933 and 1934
and the government
funded housing and highway construction.
Hitler
which
was a violation of the Treaty of Versailles.
November 9, 1938 “
”
Nazi mobs killed 90 Jews, destroyed 7,500 Jewish
businesses and 177 synagogues.
After
.
Japan’s Military Expansion

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Japan’s military leaders wanted to seize new territories to
gain
.
After Japan invaded northern China the United States
condemned the invasion,
.
December 12, 1937- Japan sinks a U.S. gunboat, and the
U.S. only asks for an
.
The
were passed to
keep the country out of
.
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U.S. could not ship arms to nations at war
Overall,
Totalitarianism
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Totalitarianism: The
.



This includes the economy, politics, religion, philosophy,
science, and sports.
One’s personal goals were ignored for the
.”
Why?

“
Governments wanted
after World War I.