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Friday 4/25: Fascist and Communist Leaders in Europe Objective: Summarize political, social,
and economic reasons for why European nations turned to fascist and totalitarian leaders.
Bell Work #7: Interact with History-Who Would You Vote For?
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Europe after the War: Weimar Republic: the republic that was
established in Germany in 1919 and ended in 1933
In Germany, the Weimar Republic was weak from the start. Germany lacks strong democratic traditions;
postwar many political parties; blamed Weimar gov’t, not wartime leaders, for military defeat and humiliation at Versailles
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Europe after the War: Postwar Germany suffered from severe
economic inflation. German gov’t printed money for war
expenses and reparations, devalued money causing loss of savings
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Thousand Mark banknote with a OneMillard (1 Billion Mark) Stamp
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1st November 1923,1 pound of bread cost 3 milliard1 pound of meat: 36 milliard 1 glass of beer: 4 milliard
Duetsch Mark1 Millard=1 billion marks
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Fascism Rises in Europe Fascism: political movement that
promotes an extreme form of nationalism, a denial of individual rights and a dictatorial one-party rule
Italy: Benito Mussolini Germany: Adolf Hitler Spain: Francisco Franco
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Nazism: the fascist politics of the National Socialist
German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) based on totalitarianism, the belief in racial superiority and state control of the industry
Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei
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Fascism Both CommunismNo clearly defined program or theoryExtreme form of nationalismStates must struggle—peaceful countries would be conqueredEach class has a functionMade up of upper and middle classAnti-Communist
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Fascism Both CommunismNo clearly defined program or theoryExtreme form of nationalismStates must struggle—peaceful countries would be conqueredEach class has a functionMade up of upper and middle classAnti-Communist
Struggle is between owners and workersClassless societyDictatorship of the working classInternationalists hoping to unite workers worldwideWorkers/Peasants
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Fascism Both CommunismExtreme form of nationalismStates must struggle—peaceful countries would be conqueredEach class has a functionMade up of upper and middle classAnti-Communist
Both ruled by a dictator One-Party stateDenied individual rightsState supremacyNo democracy
Struggle is between owners and workersClassless societyDictatorship of the working classhoping to unite workers worldwideWorkers/Peasants
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Benito Mussolini’s Rise to Power in Italy First Fascist followers were
nationalists and soldiers from WWI; eventually, aristocrats and the middle class join in
Interested in stopping communism and the rise of the working class
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Benito Mussolini’s Rise to Power in Italy Mussolini and his followers (known as
Black Shirts) intimidated opposing groups and eventually marched on Rome
Convinced the King to step down from power and allow Mussolini to rule
Set up himself as a dictator
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Germany: The Weimar Republic In 1919 following World War I, Germany
became a republic with a constitution
German people were unhappy with the Weimar Republic because the government agreed to the Treaty of Versailles which ruined Germany Also severe economic troubles
Many groups tried to overthrown the government and support moved to the Nazi Party
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The Nazis and Hitler National Socialist German Worker’s
Party: Nazi Party Extremely nationalistic, anti-Communist and
anti-Semitic
Hitler became head of Nazi Party by 1921 and wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) while in jail showing his beliefs of racial purity and elimination of all Jews
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The Nazis and Hitler Speeches attracted many listeners
Promised to repeal the Treaty of Versailles and restore Germany’s military power
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The Nazis and Hitler Nazis in Power
Gained power through elections Used private Nazi army to frighten
members of the government who were not Nazis
Hitler gains title of Der Führer meaning “the leader”
Gave Gestapo (secret police) power Created Ghettos for the Jews
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Dictatorship in the Soviet Union Vladimir Lenin: rules Russia until 1924
New Economic Policy: Lenin’s policy to deal with the economic collapse in Russia that allowed some free trade
Josef Stalin gains power following Lenin’s death
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Dictatorship in the Soviet Union Stalin sets up a command economy where the
government controls all economic decisions
Changes to the Economy: Collective Farms: land is taken over by the state so the
people don’t own the land they work Creates Five Year Plans for economic growth Tries to turn agricultural economy into a modern,
industrialized economy
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Dictatorship in the Soviet Union Stalin’s dictatorship grows harsh over
time Purge: a large-scale elimination of people
from an organization or area Great Purge of millions of “traitors” to
Russia are executed or exiled to work camps in Siberia Sentenced because they were not loyal to
Stalin above the Communist Party and other ideas
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Comparison of Fascist and Totalitarian Leaders
Mussolini Hitler Stalin
Their system of governmen
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Fascism Fascism Communism (Stalinism)
The country Italy Germany Russia
Main ideas and
beliefs
Restore military, protect from Communists
Restore Germany’s power; anti-Communist; anti-Semitist
No Classes; Government in charge of everything
How the people respond to their ideas
Upper classes join in against government and lower classes
Large parts of society join in to fight against Weimar gov’t and restore Germany
Some support Party lines but many go against or object; Purges eliminate dissention
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