Download II. Fascism in Europe

II. Fascism in Europe
A. Rise of Mussolini
• Italy was upset that they did not
gain more land after WWI
• Also had high inflation and high
unemployment
• Wanted a leader who could take
action
Benito Mussolini
• Promised to
rescue
Italy’s
economy and
strengthen
its army
B. Mussolini Takes Control
• Creates Fascist Party in 1919
• Fascism – Political movement that
promotes nationalism, denies individual
rights, and has dictators
• Believes that rights and wrongs do not
exist
• 1922 – King Emmanuel III puts Mussolini
in power
• Came to power legally
Mussolini and Hitler
“Pact of Steel”
• Il Duce – Takes this title – “The
leader”
• Mussolini abolished democracy
• Outlaws other political parties
• Put all opponents in jail
C. Rise of Hitler
• Weimar Republic – Democratic
government established after WWI
• Faced major problems
– 1 Germany lacks democratic tradition
– 2 Germans blamed it for signing Treaty
of Versailles
– 3 Germany is hit hardest by depression
Picture of Hitler During
World War I
Adolf Hitler
• Born in Austria
• Applies to
Imperial Art
Academy
• Rejected for his
lack of talent
• Twice awarded
the Iron Cross
for bravery in
WWI
• 1920 – Hitler joins the National
Socialist German Workers’ Party
(NAZI)
• Der Fuhrer – “The leader”
• Beer Hall Putsh (1923) – Hitler
tries to take power by force
D. Mein Kampf
• Hitler is sent to prison
• Writes Mein Kampf (My
Struggle)
• Main points become the blue
print for the Nazi Party
Mein Kampf
Main Points
• 1 – Aryans – Were a master race
– Social Darwinism – “Survival of the fittest”
– Hitler used these beliefs to argue that inferior people needed
to be eliminated because he claimed that they were polluting
the superior race
• 2 – Vowed to overturn the Treaty of Versailles
• 3 – Lebensraum – Wanted to provide Germans
with greater “living space”
• 4 – Wanted to eliminate Jews from German life
E. Results of Mein Kampf
• Most people ignored
the book and few
people read it
F. Hitler Becomes Chancellor
• 1932 – Nazi Party becomes the
largest political party
• Weimar Republic believed that they
could control Hitler
• 1933 – President Paul von
Hindenburg named Hitler Chancellor
• Hitler also came legally to power
Primary Source – April 8, 1933
“I can say with pride,
comrades of the SA and
SS, that if the whole
German people now was
possessed of the spirit
which is in us and in you,
then Germany would be
indestructible. Even without
arms, Germany would
represent an unheard-of
strength through this inner
will tempered like steel.”
-Adolf Hitler
Nazi Rally
Hitler Youth
G. Hitler is Supreme
• Enabling Act (1934) – Makes
Hitler’s word the law
• Banned other political parties
• SS – Killed many who oppose Hitler
• 1936 – Unemployment in Germany
dropped from 6 to 1.5 million
World War II - American Cartoon