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The Rise of the Modern Totalitarian State • Totalitarianism is a political philosophy that emerged in the 20th century. Totalitarianism describes governments in which one political party monopolizes all power and exercises complete authority over the people and their activities. It involves total control of all aspects of an individuals life by the government, with both civil and political rights being curtailed • Although various forms of totalitarianism exist in parts of the world today, its earliest examples were in three European nations during the 20-year period following World War I. These nations were the Soviet Union (under communism) Italy (under fascism) and Germany (under Nazism). Totalitarian societies look down on individual human rights and civil liberties. “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” Benito Mussolini • The values of democracy are not found in such societies. Totalitarian states emphasize: (1) glorification of the whole community (that is the state); (2) authoritarian rule by a dictator or by selected members of the one political party allowed to exist; (3) control of the individual citizen’s life; (4) belief in the idea that the individual should benefit the state and exists solely to serve the state’s interests. • In Western Europe, these features of totalitarianism were most characteristic of Germany under the control of Adolf Hitler known as the Third Reich, arose after the period of the Weimar Republic. Germany Under the Weimar Republic 1919-1933 • The Weimar Republic was the name of the German government that came to power after WW1. It was drawn up in the city of Weimar. However, this experiment with democracy in Germany faced many problems, including economic chaos and street violence. It was not successful for a number of reasons. 1. In the early 1920s the Weimar government printed paper money with little to back it, resulting in severe inflation. This devastated the Germany economy and resulted in severe unemployment and street violence 2. When Germany was unable to meet its reparation payments in 1923, France sent troops to occupy the Ruhr Valley. Germany’s chief industrial area. 3. There was terrible unemployment in Germany in the early 1920s and again in the 1930s. 4. The economy was restored after 1923 and conditions improved. In 1924, the United States gained British and French approval for a plan to reduce German reparation payments. Under the Dawes Plan, France withdrew its forces from the Ruhr, and American loans helped Germany recover. • German politicians like Adolf Hitler and Alfred Hugenberg attacked the Dawes Plan because it did not reduce the reparations total. They also disliked the idea that foreigners would have control over the German economy. • Nevertheless, Germany began to recover. However, in 1929 a worldwide depression that threatened the stability of democratic governments everywhere brought much suffering to Germany. Unemployment rose to 6 million in 1932, and Germans lost faith in their political leaders. This further fueled the bad feelings that had been caused by the Versailles Treaty. The Germans began to turn to energetic leaders, like Adolf Hitler, who promised to solve the economic crisis and restore Germany’s former glory 5. The government was unstable because no single party was able to achieve a majority in the Reichstag, the more powerful of the two legislative houses created by the Weimar constitution. As a result, German political leaders seemed helpless to deal with the severe economic problems. • These problems led many Germans to conclude that democracy was ill suited to their nation and that autocracy was preferable, especially since it had brought Germany political unification, economic growth, and respect as an international power. A strong democratic tradition did not exist in German history. The Role of Adolf Hitler • Hitler was born in Austria and served in the German army during World War 1. He joined the Nazi party (National Socialist Germany Workers Party). He spoke out against the Weimar government and was arrested for his role in the Munich Putsch of 1923, an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government. • While in prison, he wrote the book Mein Kampf (My Struggle) that contained his ideas for a stronger and more powerful German nation. It also revealed his racist beliefs concerning the alleged superiority of Aryans as a “master race” and the need to eliminate all groups be considered inferior, such as Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, and blacks. Hitler was a stirring and charismatic speaker when addressing large crowds, thereby attracting many people to the Nazi party Rise of the Nazis to Power In addition to the problem of the Weimar government and the powerful role played by Hitler, a number of other factors led to the rise of the Nazis in Germany: 1. The Nazis offered simple explanations for both the causes of Germany’s economic problems and its cures. These problems, as described above, affected millions of Germans. The reparations demanded by the Versailles Treaty were condemned as unjust and blamed for causing the economic crisis. 2. The Nazi’s appealed to peoples feeling of patriotism. This in turn sparked German nationalism. The Nazi’s called for: • A large increase in the armed forces. This had been limited by the Treaty of Versailles. • The expansion of the German fatherland. Once the German people of Western Europe were under Nazi leadership (notability a merger with Austria which was not allowed under the Treaty of Versailles) they then had to gain control over all Europe, and then acquire much-needed lebensraum (living space) in the east. This would include areas where Germanic groups already lived including territory in Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. Hitler considered this to be the German birthright. • The Nazi’s imposed control over educational and cultural institutions to teach Nazi principles of racism, physical fitness, and glory of the state • They ignored the Versailles Treaty and refusing to accept the war-guilt clause. Germany had been forced to accept the entire guilt for causing the First World War. • Regaining land that Germany had held in Europe and its overseas colonies prior to World War 1; • The use of violence as a legitimate means to achieve domestic and international goals; • The importance of looking back to and glorifying the mythical German race (the so called Volk) as the source of all strength and power. The Nazis also claimed that Nordic Germans were destine to rule the world and to eliminate undesirable peoples. They blamed the Weimar government for accepting the Treaty of Versailles and said it had been forced to do so by Jews, communists, and others. Finally, the Nazis claimed that German forces had not been defeated in WW1 but had been stabbed in the back 3. Anti-Semitism. Prejudice towards Jews had existed in Germany for hundreds of years, resulting in exile, loss of life and property, and hatred. However, Hitler's prejudice against the Jews was fanatical; he used the Jews as scapegoats and blamed them for his own personal failures and also for Germany’s problems. These false notions became persuasive parts of Nazi propaganda, especially when they blended with Hitler’s master race theories. “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Adolf Hitler Hitler claimed that Aryans (Germans) were the master race who were naturally entitled to control and rule peoples of less “pure” blood, such as Slavs and Jews. (The Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were systematically murdered after Hitler came to power, was the tragic consequence of these misguided notions.) 4. Fear of communism and the Soviet Russia. The Nazis played upon these fears with much success and portrayed themselves as the only ones capable of protecting Germany from foreign beliefs and potential aggressors, like the Communist Russians. In this way, they were able to win support of large segments of the German population, such as banker and industrialists. 5. Use of private, illegal armed groups. Many of Hitler's followers were organized into private armies. One such group was the Storm Trooper (S.A.), or Brown Shirts, who used scare tactics and violence to terrorize Jews and opponents of the Nazis. 6. Lack of meaningful opposition. Few strong voices inside Germany spoke out against the Nazis. Many Germans came to gradually support Hitler, while others were apathetic. Others feared speaking out against him, and many who did were intimidated. Internationally, there was little awareness of or concern about the Nazi movement. • The formal takeover of Germany by the Nazis took place in Jan. 1933 when the President of the Weimar Republic, Paul Von Hindenburg, appointed Hitler as chancellor. By this time, the Nazis had become the largest political party in Germany, and they formed the single largest block in the Reichstag, the German parliament. Yet they had never won a clear majority in any national election (in 1932 for example, they won slightly less than 40% of the seats in the Reichstag). • Within two months, Hitler had laid the foundation for Nazis’ complete control over Germany. In March 23,1933 the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act that gave the government the power to ignore the constitution for four years to deal with the country’s problems. This gave Hitler’s later actions a legal basis. • Hitler acted quickly to bring the institutions under Nazi control. The civil service was purged of Jews and democratic elements. Large prison camps or Concentration Camps were set up for people who opposed the new regime. All Trade unions and all political parties opposed to the regime were eliminated. • After Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler became the sole ruler of Germany. That same day Hitler had the German Army swear allegiance to him. • Although Hitler promised to preserve the Weimar constitution, he carried out policies that destroyed the democracy that existed under the Weimar Republic. The result was a totalitarian dictatorship that eventually about World War II and the devastation of Germany and most of Europe. Italy • Italy experience totalitarian rule under a fascist government headed by Benito Mussolini. The word “fascist” comes from the word “fasces,” an axe-like weapon that was a symbol of the ancient Roman Empire. • Mussolini wanted Italians to feel a strong sense of nationalism and to remember the glory of the Roman Empire. Mussolini and his Black Shirt followers came to power for the same reasons that led to the rise of the Nazis in Germany 1. Economic. The costs of World War 1 Had been staggering. After the war, there was high unemployment, strikes, and severe inflation. 2. Political. The weak and divided government of King Victor Emmanuel III was unable to provide leadership or to inspire confidence in its ability to solve the postwar crisis. Also, there was no strong democratic tradition in Italy. Moreover, the fear of communism and a communist-led revolution was seized upon by Mussolini, who promised to defend Italy and thereby won followers. • Social. Italy was suffering from low morale, and was saddened by the many deaths in World War I. Mussolini promised the Italian people security, order, and economic progress in exchange for their liberties and freedom. Mussolini in Power • As a result of his famous March on Rome in 1922 supposedly to save Italy from a communist revolution, Mussolini came to power. Neither the king nor the army opposed him. He soon established a police state, destroying civil liberties and demanding that people recognize him as Il Duce, the leader. Mussolini reorganized the economy of Italy, established fascist-controlled associations in all industries, and Italy was run as a corporate state. The Rise of Stalin • When Lenin died in 1924, a struggle for power developed between Leon Trotsky, Lenin’s chosen Successor and Joseph Stalin, who was Communist Party Secretary. By 1925 Stalin had gained control and removed Trotsky from all official positions. • In 1929 Trotsky was deported as Stalin began to remove all possible opposition and rivals (Trotsky was assassinated by Stalin’s agents in Mexico in 1940) • Stalin’s rule proved to be one of the most brutal and ruthless dictatorships in modern history. From his consolidation of complete power in 1929 until his death in 1953, he was responsible for millions of deaths, starting with the elimination of all possible rivals. • Stalin created his own secret police, which spied on, arrested, tortured, and executed party members, government officials, artist, writers, clergy workers, and peasants he suspected of not supporting his policies. In time, his fear became paranoia (fear and suspicion of everyone, often without cause), and even his close friends and relatives were suspected and some were executed. • From 1935 to 1936 Stalin conducted a series of show trials (hearings where the verdicts were decided in advance) known as purges, in which hundreds of leading Communists were arrested, forced to confess to crimes they had never committed, and executed. • A vivid example on Stalin’s show trials was his attacks on the Red Army. In 1936, Tukhachevski, Chief of Staff of the Russian army was executed for treason following a trial which lasted only a single day. Six of the eight generals forming the court-martial which condemned him were themselves to follow suit soon after. By the end of the purge, the Russian army had lost three of the five remaining Marshals of the Soviet Union; all eleven deputy Ministers of Defense; seventy five of the eighty members of the Military Soviet; all the commanders of the military districts; thirteen of the fifteen army commanders; more than half the corps commanders and approximately thirty per cent of the officers below brigade level. These purges would really hurt the Russian Army when the Germans invaded in 1939 • In 1929, dissatisfied with the slow growth rate of Soviet industry, Stalin abandoned Lenin’s N.E.P. that had combined features of both capitalism and socialism in favor of centralized economic planning. Goals for agriculture and Industry (often unrealistically high), as well as the means for achieving them, were laid out in a series of FiveYear Plans. These were designed to make the U.S.S.R. catch up with other industrialized nations by emphasizing the industrial development of Steel, iron, coal, and oil. • The population was expected to sacrifice and do without consumer goods until the Soviet Union could reach the level of industrial development attained by capitalist nations. Opposition to these plans was quickly and brutally put down. In order to pay for the importation of technology needed to institute the Five-Year Plans, farms were collectivized. • To end the opposition of peasants to collectivization, Stalin began a series of genocides (mass killings) from 1932 to 1937, claiming that he was eliminating the Kulaks (wealthy peasants who supposedly exploited their neighbors) In fact, few of the 14.5 million peasants who died by execution, perished in Siberian labor camps, or starved in Stalin’s man-made famine in the Ukraine (19321933) were kulaks. • While outright opposition was finally crushed by genocide, the peasants did not fully cooperate and collectivization program failed to achieve its goal. When World War II interrupted the Third Five-Year Plan in 1941, only the heavy industry had made any progress. The loss of life and human suffering that this modest gain had cost was enormous. It is no wonder that many Soviet citizens, especially Ukrainians, first saw he invading German armies as liberators in 1941. • In 1939 the Soviet Union signed an nonaggression pact with Nazi Germany. Under this agreement the Germans and soviets would partition Poland. Russia would take over eastern Poland and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and would not contest Hitler's attempt to take over western Poland. Also, Russia and Germany promised not to fight each other