European Dictators

Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler

Italy and Mussolini• After WWI Italy’s leadership

was unstable and indecisive• Mussolini, once a strong

promoter of socialism, helped create a new political group called the National Fascist Party

• Wanted to build an Italian empire that would be more glorious than the Roman Empire

• He believed fascism was necessary to make Italy strong

• Fascism places the good of the nation above all else, including individual rights; an all-powerful dictator makes all major decisions

Mussolini in Power

• Mussolini’s fascist party got a lot of support, but he wanted total control

• He organized a march on Rome to force the king of Italy to give him power, and the king put Mussolini in charge

• Mussolini use propaganda to promote his ideas and convince the people that Italy was the greatest country on Earth

• Introduced new holidays and festivals to remind people if their Roman heritage

Ethiopia• Mussolini wanted to display

Italy’s military strength and expand his empire

• He chose to invade Ethiopia for two reasons

• Ethiopia was an easy target• It was the territory that had

defeated the Italian armies during the Age of Imperialism

• The League of Nations refused to stop Mussolini from conquering Ethiopia because they were afraid it would lead to another world war

Stalin and the Soviet Union

After Lenin• Lenin did not choose a

successor to his position, so when he died there was a struggle for power

• Stalin eventually won the battle for power and took over as leader of the Soviet Union

• Unlike Lenin, Stalin did not follow Karl Marx’s communist theory to lead

• Instead of gradually reducing government power, Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state

The Five-Year Plans

• Stalin wanted to improve the economy and implemented five-year production goals for all factories and mines

• The plans increased production greatly, but they forced the workers to meet increasingly high demands

Collectivization• Stalin took away all

lands from peasant farmers created large, mechanized farms to increase production

• When the peasants protested, he had them killed or sent to Siberia; millions of resisters in the Ukraine starved to death when Stalin refused to send them food during a famine

The Purges• Stalin constantly feared that

people were plotting against him

• He had political opponents arrested or killed, and then he purged thousands of people in his own government

• Stalin ordered secret police to eliminate Russian citizens who they thought might be anti-communist

• People were very afraid of appearing anti-communist, so they did everything they could to show their faith in the Soviet Union

Hitler and Nazi Germany

How did Hitler Turn the Chancellorship into a Dictatorship?

January 1933

The depression after the Wall Street Crash made many more people vote for the Nazis because they promised to rebuild Germany In 1933 advisors convinced Hindenburg that Hitler should become Chancellor

February 1933

February 1933

The Reichstag, the building where the German government met, burned down

A communist was found inside the building. He admitted responsibility after having “a little chat” with Nazi officials

Chancellor Hitler was able to convince people that the Communists were trying to take power by terrorism

He was able to have the Communists banned from the Reichstag

March 1933 HITLER CANRULE ALONEFOR FOUR

YEARS WITHOUT HAVIINGTO

CONSULT THEREICHSTAG

With the Communists banned from the Reichstag Hitler was able to pass:

The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to make his own laws, so he banned all other political parties!

June 1934

• Now I have got rid of opposition political groups, I can now deal with opposition in my party.

• The head of the S.A. is very unpopular with the German army leaders who have the power to overthrow me

• I’ve been worried about him for a while, so this is a good excuse to get rid of him

The Night of the Long Knives

• Hitler had to get rid of the head of the S.A. He was too much of a threat

• On the night of June 30 1934, Hitler’s S.S. killed over 1000 SA members including their leader

• The army was pleased and Hitler gained their support

August 1934

A final note

PRESIDENT HINDENBURG’SALLOWED HITER TO COMBINETHE ROLE OF CHANCELLORAND PRESIDENT. HE CALLEDHIMSELF ‘DER FUHRER’.

Every soldier swore a personal oath of loyalty to ADOLF HITLER.

HITLERBECAMECHANCELLOR

THE REICHSTAGFIRE

THEENABLING

ACT

THE NIGHTOF THELONG

KNIVES

DEATH OFPRESIDENT

HINDENBURG

OATH OFLOYALTY

TOHITLER

Putting Germany Back to Work

Germany 1933

By January 1933, unemployment had reached 6,000,000.

No one would loan Germany money to run the country

The Weimar Government couldn’t do anything to help the unemployed

Hitler was elected on a promise to give the German people ‘Bread & Jobs’

Impact of Hitler’s Policies on Unemployment

0

1000000

2000000

3000000

4000000

5000000

6000000

7000000

Series1 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939Series2 6,014,000 3,773,000 2,974,000 2,520,000 1,853,000 1,052,000 302,000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

How Did Hitler Put Germany Back to Work?

RAD – The National Labor Service Gave men jobs in public

work schemes Men in RAD had to wear

a uniform & live in camps

They were given free meals and pocket money

They built drainage ditches, schools, a new network of motorways and planted new forests

What was the goal of Hitler’s Public Works Program?

Kick start the Cycle of

Prosperity

To improve the public transport network for

industrial & military use

To improve the living conditions of the German people

To build impressive buildings so that the

German people would feel proud

Autarky – National Self Sufficiency

Hitler wanted to make Germany a strong independent country that was sufficient in food and materials

Germany had lost WWI because it had run out of food and war materials

German scientists developed all sorts of artificial substitutes such as gas from coal and coffee from acorns

These new substitutes were made in Germany and gave the unemployed jobs in new industries

Hitler also encouraged the growth of the car industry

The Car Industry Designed by Porsche

and nicked named ‘The Peoples Car’, known today as the ……?

Car Industry

Created Jobs in other industries because of the

need for standardized parts.

Car Production could easily be switched to the

production of military vehicles

Produced low cost cars which helped to

keep the German people happy

Steel

Glass

Rubber

Leather

Cycle of Prosperity

What Other Things Did Hitler Do to Reduce Unemployment?

By 1934 all Jews were fired from civil service jobs which were then given to German workers.

Unemployed Jews were not registered. Women lost their jobs which were given to men. People who refused jobs offered by the labor service were

arrested and put into concentration camps.