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Political Progression
The Rising Tide of Fascism
and Nazism
Introduction
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By 1933, almost 30% of the global workforce was
unemployed
The turmoil of the post-war world sparked the initial rise
of fascism (authoritarian nationalism: the interests of
society as a whole are held to be more important than
the rights of individual citizens)
1922: Benito Mussolini in Italy had a fascist reign – the
first fascist dictatorship in Europe
Civil War in Spain
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1931: Statute of Westminster
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1931: Japan invades Manchuria
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Giving Canada independence over its foreign policy
King used this new policy to remain neutral in foreign
conflicts
King refused to support the League of Nations
1935: Italy invades Ethiopia
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King chooses not to support actions against Italian
aggression
Spanish Civil War – Cont’d
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1936: military coup led by Francisco Franco
overthrows the elected government
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Followed by a civil war: battle between fascism
and communism
Franco was supported by other fascist leaders:
Mussolini, Hitler
The ousted communist government was
supported by the Soviet regime
Spanish Civil War – Cont’d
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King refused to take a side: feared it would threat
national unity
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Québec: sympathetic to Franco because he supported
Catholic values and traditions
Communist Party of Canada did not
In English Canada, people feared the communist
cause might appeal to many frustrated, angry, and
unemployed workers
King banned CDNs from fighting in foreign armies
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Over 1500 CDNs defied the law and went to Spain to
fight
CDNs fighting in Spain
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Formed the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion (or MacPaps)
Half of the battalion died in the fighting
Once Franco won the civil war, CDNs who survived
returned home
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The gov’t had refused to honour them as war veterans
In October 2001 the Mac-Paps were acknowledged with
a monument in Ottawa
Hitler Gains Power
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1919: Hitler joins a
small political group
that eventually
becomes the Nazi
party
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Took over the party and
began to shape it to fit
his ideas
Hitler’s Promises
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Get back the land lost during WW1
Restore Germany to world leadership
Aryans (Caucasians not of Jewish descent;
considered to be of “pure” German descent)
would be the master race
“Deal” with the Jewish problem
Hitler’s Rise to Power
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Early 1920s: wrote Mein Kampf (meaning
My Struggle) in which Hitler wrote his AntiSemitic views for all to see
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Described Jews as “deadly poison” and
“vermin”
Hitler had persuaded millions of Germans
that their problems (i.e. unemployment,
etc.) would be resolved if they followed him
Hitler’s Rise to Power
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1933: Hitler and the Nazis are elected into the
German parliament
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Signifies the end of democracy in Germany
Germans pledge absolute obedience to their leader, der
Führer
Hitler becomes a dictator:
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Outlaws all other political parties
Uses force to keep control
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Anyone who opposed him was rounded up by the secret
police: Stormtroopers (SA)
Hitler’s Rise to Power
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The Nazis also
controlled the
newspapers and
radios
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Germans read and
heard only what their
leaders wanted them
to read and hear
Books burned in public
bonfires
Hitler’s Rise to Power
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Professions were
controlled as well
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Teachers had to be members of
the Nazi party
Students were recruited to join
the Hitler Youth Movement,
where they could learn Nazi
ideas
Priests and clergy had to obey
or be thrown in prison
Nazi Germany became a
totalitarian state.
Anti-Semitism
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Jews were banned
from:
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Government jobs
Teaching,
broadcasting,
newspaper, and
entertainment jobs
Marrying non-Jews
Many shops and public
buildings
Anti-Semitism
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Hitler began a systematic rounding up of Jewish
people: placed them in ghettos and concentration
camps
Germany embassy official in Paris was shot by a
young Jew in Nov. 1938: brutal attack on German
Jews followed
Huge fine forced on the Jewish population
7000 Jewish shops were looted and 20 000 Jews
arrested, many of whom were savagely beaten
Why Did Germany Want Another
War?
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Germany’s condition between 1918 and
1932 was in dire straits
But why was it so bad that the German
people were willing to turn to Hitler and
consequently treat Jewish people (amongst
others) so harshly and savagely?
Why did Germans … lose it?
Problem #1:
The Economy - Inflation
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Germany didn’t want to tax its people to
death – so, she borrowed money
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Germany was burdened by a HUGE DEBT
In order to pay off its debt, the gov’t just
printed more paper money
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It was printed even though the industry,
agriculture, and commerce were not expanding
Instead of going into the economy, all of the
country’s wealth was going to debt payments
and war reparations
Problem #1 – cont’d
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This rapid printing of Germany currency did not
mean real economic value – this caused severe
inflation (the value of the Germany mark went
down)
Prices for goods and services rose astronomically
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1922: 300 marks = 1 American dollar
1923: 50 000 marks = 1 American dollar
Soon, Germans needed billions of marks just to pay for a
postage stamp!
Problem #1 – Cont’d
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People returned to the
bartering system:
trading goods and
services rather than
using money
Problem #1 – Cont’d
•
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Advertisements from a Berlin paper for
Schmidt’s Delikatessen
1918
1923
Cabbage 4.5 marks/kg 13 million marks/kg
Dill Pickles
2.8 marks/kg 12.7 million marks/kg
Sausages6.6 marks/kg 15.4 million marks/kg
Problem #2: Political Instability
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After WW1, Germany had 12+ different
political parties
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No one party was strong enough to gain and
maintain control
The main political parties fell into three
general groups:
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Communists
Social Democrats
Nazis (National Socialists)
Problem #2: Communists
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Beliefs:
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Gov’t run by councils of workers
Industries and agriculture should be owned by the gov’t
rather than by individuals
Military should be reduced
Workers should be powerful, protected
Supporters:
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Factory/agricultural workers
Teachers and professors
Pacifists (what is a pacifist?)
Problem #2: Social Democrats
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Beliefs:
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Gov’t run by elected reps from all parties
Key industries owned by gov’t
Honour the terms of the Treaty of Vers.
Constitution must guarantee the rights of minorities and
workers
Freedom of worship and of the press
Supporters:
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Some workers
Some professional and business people
Roman Catholics
Problem #2: National Socialists
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Beliefs:
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Gov’t run by army, wealthy
Industry should be privately owned
Military should be increased
Outlaw democratic gov’t
Jews and foreigners should be restricted
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Believed these two groups responsible for Germany’s
economic problems)
Supporters:
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The army
The unemployed
Big businesses, land owners and aristocrats
Problem #2: Political Instability
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Why would owners of big businesses and
the wealthy be willing to support the National
Socialists and Hitler?
If you were a Jewish citizen living in
Germany, which political party would you
support? Why?
Problem #3:
Treaty of Versailles
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Germany was humiliated from it
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Believed the new boundaries and the reparation
payments to be unjust
War Guilt Clause was a stain on the honour of all
Germans
The morning of the signing of the Treaty, the
German News ran a headline:
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VENGEANCE! “Today in Versailles the disgraceful Treaty is being
signed. Do not forget it! The German people will, with unceasing labour, press
forward to reconquer the place among the nations to which we are entitled!
Then will come vengeance for the shame of 1919!”
Problem #4:
Depression and Unemployment
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The stock market crash meant that:
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Americans could no longer afford to buy
German goods
American banks could not lend money to the
German gov’t or businesses
German businesses went bankrupt
People lost their jobs
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Germany had little money and could not make
its reparation payments
Problem #4 – Cont’d
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Germans who still had jobs watched their wages
fall steadily from month to month
Families lived in tents or packing crates, even
through the winter
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Couldn’t afford rent
Farmers guarded their crops and gardens with
loaded rifles
Many people were reduced to begging in the
streets
Berlin 1932: 6 million people unemployed – half of
Germany’s labour force!
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People are hoping to get arrested in order to receive
free food and shelter…
Problem #4 – Cont’d
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Hitler saw his chance:
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“Believe me, our misery will
increase! The government
itself is the biggest swindler
and crook. People are starving
on millions of marks! We will
no longer submit! We want a
dictatorship.”
What Hitler said to Germans
who were bitter about inflation
and economic troubles.
The Steps to War
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Hitler promised to return
Germany to world power and
take back the land lost in the
T.of V.
Step 1: Strengthen army, air
force
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“Today Germany.
Tomorrow the world!”
War weapons poured out of German
factories
Nazi Stormtroopers were wiping out
all opposition to the new regime
Steps to War:
Step 2: Occupation of the Rhineland
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March 1936: German troops moved back
into the Rhineland
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The T.of V. states that German troops were
forbidden from moving within 50 km of the Rhine
River, to keep them away from France
No one stopped the German advance!
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Hitler’s test to see if Britain or France would
react – he now had the answer
Steps to War: (Step 3)
Takeover of Austria and Czechoslovakia
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Hitler wanted all Germans to live in the new
German state (the Reich)
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Hitler himself was Austrian by birth, so he wanted
Austria as part of Germany
March 1938: Nazi soldiers crossed into Austria
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Known as Anschluss (union)
Hitler frightened the Austrians with the threat of a
Communist takeover: only he would be able to save
and protect them
No one stopped Hitler because no one wanted
another war
Steps to War:
(Step 3) Takeover of Czechoslovakia
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Hitler wanted the NW part
of Czechoslovakia: the
Sudetenland
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Near the German border:
about 3 million Germanspeaking people lived here
Also contained heavy industry
and the main Czech defences
(coincidence?)
Czechs were ready to fight
Hitler, but France and
Britain weren’t
Steps to War:
(Step 4) The Munich Agreement
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British PM Chamberlain and Premier Daldier
of France met with Hitler in MUNICH where
they signed the Munich Agreement
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Allowed Germany the Sudetenland
Supported by CDN PM Mackenzie King
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Had met Hitler in 1937: convinced Hitler did not want
to start a war
Britain and France believed this would save
the world from another war
Steps to War:
(Step 4) The Munich Agreement
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The Czechs were not consulted in the Munich
Agreement
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Sold out by their allies?
Chamberlain said this would mean “peace in our
time”, but many people disagreed
Winston Churchill, who would succeed as British
PM, called this appeasement (giving in to the
demands of a potential enemy)
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Argued that Hitler should be stopped at all costs
Steps to War:
(Step 4) The Munich Agreement
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Hitler promised to make no new demands
for territory
March 1939: Germany occupied ALL of
Czechoslovakia
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Britain and France still did nothing
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August 1939: Germany signs a pact with
Soviet Union
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SHOCK! Hitler opposes communism, so why
would he sign an alliance?
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The deal was that if war came, they wouldn’t fight against
each other
Secretly agreed to divide Poland between them
Left Hitler free to plan attacks on the West –
He had no reason to fear the East.
Steps to War