Rise of Dictatorial Regimes
Trevor C, Michael S, Nathan D
Important People
Joseph Stalin- General Secretary of USSR in 1929. Communist government, supported by party officials.
Adolf Hitler- Chancellor & Controlled Germany in 1933. Fascist government, affiliated with the Nazis.
Benito Mussolini- Prime Minister & Controlled Italy in 1922. Affiliated with the Fascist Party.
Dictators of World War II
Rise of Mussolini
- Benito Mussolini established the first fascism movement in Italy.
- Fascism-A political philosophy that glorifies the state above the individual by emphasizing the need for a strong central government.
- When he was named Prime Minister he created new laws that gave him complete control over the country and the ability to arrest anyone for political or non-political crimes.
- Mussolini had secret policemen, he controlled all mass media (newspaper, radio, etc) to spread the Fascists message along with propaganda.
- Inflation grew rapidly
- Workers staged strikes
- The middle class feared of a Communist takeover
- Italy suffered from a Great Depression
Rise of Stalin
- Used his position as secretary to gain complete control of the Communist Party
- He had Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks eliminated.
- His 5 year plan included 1) Max production of armaments and machines used to produce other goods. 2) Doubled oil production. 3) Increase in steel production.
- Horrible working conditions.
- Horrible living conditions.
- People weren't allowed to move in order to keep the labor force high.
- Was a system in which private farms were destroyed and peasants worked in the fields.
- Farmers resisted by hoarding food, killing livestock, and created Famine.
- At least 10 million died from starvation
- This was just the beginning to his reign in the USSR.
- He began purging all opponents to himself, he had army officers killed as well as intellectuals. He sent others to labor camps in Siberia while some were simply executed.
Rise of Hitler
Rise of Nazism
- While in Vienna he became influenced by racism, anti-semitism, and nationalism.
- He joined the German Worker's Party, when he took control of this group they were now known as the Nazi's.
- While trying to overthrow the government, Hitler was thrown in jail where he realized the Nazi's would have to be a mass political party to compete with other political parties.
- After being released from prison and the end of a Great Depression he promised to create a stronger nation.
Absolute Power
- He created the S.A. (stormtroopers) or the "Brownshirts".Their job was to put down opposing parties by beating up jews and anti-nazi voters. There were almost 400,000 Brownshirts by 1932.
- By 1933 all political parties were outlawed, along with the peoples civil rights, except the Nazi's.
- The skill that helped with his success was his public speaking, he promised the people there would be employment, safe lives for children, and a stronger nation. Which led them to believe he was there "Savior".
Concentration Camps
- A 2/3 vote passed the Enabling Act, a law that gave the Nazi's the power to ignore the constitution for 4 years.
- They acted quickly by forcing all jews and opposing people into the camps.
- He now created a Totalitarian State.
- He created these camps because he hated Jews and wanted to get rid of them, he wanted a person to have a certain type of color of hair, eyes, etc.
Anti-Semitic Policies
- The Nuremberg Laws excluded Jews from German citizenship and forbade marriages between Jews and German citizens. The Jews were forced to wear the yellow star of David and to carry identification cards saying they were Jewish.
- On the night of November 9, 1938, Nazi's burned 7,000 Jewish businesses and sent 30,000 Jewish males to concentration camps. While other Jews were encouraged to emigrate from Germany.
Dictators of World War II
Essential Questions
Q.1) What are some similar characteristics between these 3 dictators?
Q.2) What led Hitler to create the concentration camps?