History Unit 3: Rise of Totalitarianism

Viewpoints of Americans after WW1

• United States → emerged from WW1 economically in good shape 

• Entered the war later → no fighting on American territory 

  • Suffered very few losses of life and property during the war

• Americans feared the radicals and Bolsheviks due to the Russian Revolution 

  • set off a “Red Scare” in 1919 and isolation in the US

  • Congress passed laws to limit immigration from Europe (previous laws limited Chinese and Japanese immigration) 

• Helped Europeans economically, however, to stabilize the global economy → with reparations through the Dawes Plan 

Cause of the Great Depression

• The price of the stock exchange was at an all-time high

  • Investors + others took risky debts and investments -- using credit (money they didn't have)

• 1929: people were nervous about the economy, sold stocks all at once → financial panic

  • They also rushed to take money out of the banks 

What was the Great Depression + effects on PEOPLE

• The great depression: an economic crisis that spread around the world

• Effect on People

  • People bought and invested less → low profits 

  • Businesses + Banks failed → weak and credit froze up

    • They foreclosed, and credit rose (deflation)

    • People blamed the federal gov who didnt help banks 

  • Millions were out of work 

    • Less money in circulation → workers were laid off, and unemployment rose

    • relied on soup kitchens (gangsters) and government support and relief 

    • lived in shanty houses (shacks) or towns called Hoovervilles

Great Depression’s Global effects

• US banks stopped making loans and demanded repayment

• Tariffs were put in place to stimulate domestic purchases

  • Weakened international markets and trade

• Germany + France + Britain suffered

  • Couldn’t make reparation payments

  • Europe also had many cash crop colonies → with a lack of need for these cash products, colonies suffered 

• Ultimately →  many people lost faith in the democratic government's ability to solve problems 

  • pushed European nations to turn to authoritarian leaders

    • leaders who promised to restore order and prosperity

How did the U.S. try to address the Great Depression

• Herbert Hoover's efforts (president 1929-33)

  • Proposed a moratorium (pause) on intergovernmental debt payments 

    • bankers wouldn't let go of the gold standard (devalue currency and pump money into the economy)

      • financial markets froze 

  • Hoover used limited government action and increased taxes 

    • Encouraged private charity (POUR) and gov relief programs → however did not help

• In 1932, a new president was elected, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933-45)

  • Roosevelt introduced the New Deal, a massive package of economic and social programs 

    • Stock market regulations 

    • Protection of bank deposits

    • Aid to farmers

    • Job creation

    • Social security pensions

      • money into retirement

• The New Deal failed to end the depression, but it did ease some of its effects

  • ended through WW2

How did Japan expanded and why

• Limited resources in Japan → were dependent on economic trade 

  • traded silk for essential products → coal and oil 

• also had a very large population (about 60 million)

  • After the great depression, the silk trade crashed

• military officials argued that they needed to expand 

  • Hoped to go to Manchuria (and other parts of China)

• How?

  • expanded through imperialism and colonization   

    • set up a puppet state (proctorate) in Manchuria 

      • The government is still there, but Japan actually controls it

  • Sought further rights in China with the Twenty-One Demands

  • also used pan-Asianism 

    • wanted to liberate Asian territories from Western control 

      • argued they were bringing Asian brothers together 

      • used this ideology to justify military aggression → really just propaganda

Role + influence of the zaibatsu

• Zaibatsu were powerful business leaders of Japan

  • often manipulated the government (political parties) and the military to do things that would benefit them and their businesses

Who were ultranationalists, and their role in Japan’s greater conflict with the west

• previously Western nations grew wary of Japan’s aggressive growth 

  • Japan agreed to slow down (not stop) its foreign expansion 

  • Signed a 1922 agreement with the United States, Britain, and France to limit the size of its navy (the island's navy is most important) 

• Ultranationalists blamed Western influences for their raw material shortage and suffering

  • resented American laws that excluded Japanese immigrants 

  • also condemned the Western demands to stop the expansion

    • influenced military officials to feel angry and seek expansion/militarism to gain these resources, attacking China again

Who were the Axis powers and what led Japan to this relationship?

• Axis powers were Japan, Italy, and Germany 

  • Once World War II broke out,  Japan joined

  • Joined because Germany and Italy’s ideals aligned with theirs

    • all sought expansion, anti communism, and wanted to protect their resources and interests  → deter Western influence 

What was life like under Stalin?

• Extreme state control

  • No equal society → a few elite groups emerge as a new ruling class

    • At the head: members of the communist party 

  • Also included are industrial managers, military leaders, scientists, some artists, and writers

• low standard of living → inadequate food + housing

• Children attended free schools 

  • participated in sports, cultural activities, and political classes 

• Women won some equality under the law 

  • Gained access to education and jobs 

  • Worked in medicine, engineering, and science

Goals of the five-year plan

• 1928: Stalin imposed the first of several five-year plans to: 

  • Build up heavy industry 

  • Improve transportation

  • Increase farm output (agricultural production)

• Results: experienced tremendous growth in the industry 

  • Built large factories, hydroelectric power stations, railroads, and industrial complexes

  • Improved oil, coal, and steel production

• However, the standard of living remained low 

  • Central planning was often inefficient, causing shortages in some areas and surpluses in others 

    • Consumer products were scarce

    • Wages were low 

    • Workers were forbidden to strike 

      • Workers’ movements were restricted 

Russification

• Although many soviet republics were not Russian, Stalin ordered that the Russian language had to be used in all schools and businesses

  • aimed to suppress national identities 

  • wanted to create a unified Russian-dominated society

• Russians were appointed to high-ranking positions in non-Russian republics

• Atheism became an official state policy

  • Catholic, Jewish, and Islamic teachings were suppressed 

  • Very uncommon at the time to have atheism as the national belief

Command economy

• Command economy: Stalin brought all economic activity under government control

What is collectivization and its impact on the Soviet Union

• Collectivization was the process by which land and labor were brought under state-controlled farms, or collective farms, to increase agriculture

  • Peasants had to farm on state-owned land

  • Could keep houses and belongings, but livestock and tools belonged to the state 

  • The state set prices and controlled supplies

  • Kulaks (wealthy farmers) resisted 

    • Land was taken

    • They were sent to labor camps

    • Thousands were killed or died

Stalin’s purges + who was effected

• Stalin wanted to achieve absolute power and eliminate threats

• targeted former communist army heroes, industrial managers, writers, and ordinary citizens 

• Also staged a series of spectacular “show trials” to force false confessions 

• At least 4 million people were purged between 1934 and 1938

  • Executed or sent to the Gulags

• The purge increases Stalin’s power 

  • But the victims of the purge were experts in various fields 

    • Specifically in the military → creates a problem when Hitler invades

• All of those who were not purged as they “supported” Stalin

  • Lived in the best apartments and shopped in special stores

Various ways in which communists attemped to maintain control

• Censorship 

  • The government censored books, music, and art 

  • Socialist realism: Stalin required artists and writers to present Soviet life in a positive light and project hopeful visions of the communist future 

    • Those who failed to conform faced government persecution (prison, torture, exile)

  • no free press or protests

    • Critics were sent to the Gulag (a system of brutal labor camps)

• Propaganda

  • Bombarded citizens with stories of communist success and capitalist evils

  • Used:  

    • Radios

    • Loudspeakers

    • Newspapers

    • Billboards 

• Other Tactics

  • indoctrination of children in political classes in schools → create nationalism

  • Police spied → opened private letters

Why was Italy Bitter after WW1

• Didn't get all the land promised to them by the allies

  • Outraged Italian nationalists

• Chaos erupts due to poor economic conditions

  • Peasants seized land

  • Workers went on strike or seized factories

  • Returning veterans faced unemployment

  • Trade declined

  • Taxes rose

  • Government split into feuding factions

Who was Italys new leader and how

• 1919: organizes the Fascist Party

• used speeches to spread these beliefs

  • used black shirts 

• claimed facists were the only ones who could stop the chaos

• gained power through March on Rome

• By 1925 → Mussolini had taken the title “the leader” (“Il Duce”) and ruled Italy as a dictator 

Who were the Black Shirts?

• Supporters of Mussolini

• Party militants who rejected the democratic process in favor of violent action

  • used violence to enforce fascism

What was the March on Rome

• 1922 → Black Shirts marched into Rome to demand changes in government

  • A staged event→  wanted to take control of gov buildings

• King Victor Emmanuel III feared a civil war, so he offered the Prime Minister position to Mussolini

  • Obtained power legally from the king

What is Fascism and why was it popular

• State over individual 

• based on extreme national and racial pride

  • sought racial purity in a nation

  • relies on extreme violence

  • offshoot of totalitarianism 

• glorified the military

• offered revival of Italy/roman greatness

  • originates from Ancient Rome -- “Fasces” (bundle of sticks)

    • Represented unity and authority

Tactics used to maintain power

• He suppressed rival parties

• Censored press

• Rigged elections 

• Replaced elected officials with his supporters 

  • Stripping those who opposed him of their power

• used propaganda

  • black shirts → indoctrinate

  • radios/newspapers

  • cult of personality 

Impact of the Treaty of Versailles and Inflation on Germany

• Treaty of Versailles: summed up the punishment 

1. Germany must reduce its army, the size of the nation (relinquish colonies), and ban conscription (draft) 

2. Made Germany pay reparations (payment for war damages)

3. Demanded that Germany must accept all the blame for causing the war (war guilt clause)

   1. caused anger and resentment 

• 1923: economic disaster fed the unrest

  • Germany fell behind in reparations payments, so France occupied the Ruhr Valley 

    • When German workers in the Ruhr refused to work, the German government continued to pay them → printed huge quantities of money 

  • Inflation spiraled out of control, and the German mark became worthless

    • Many middle-class families saw their savings wiped out

  • Western powers helped: the U.S. got British and French approval to reduce German payments

    • Dawes Plan: France withdrew forces from the Ruhr, and U.S. loans helped Germany recover 

  • Things were getting better until the great depression hit and knocked Germany down again 

How did Hitler Rise to power

• People were angry with the Weimar Republic (who signed the Treaty) 

• Germans turned to Adolf Hitler → the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (the Nazi Party)

• promised to end the economic crisis + restore/unite German greatness 

  • Nazi Party grew to almost a million

  • Hitler promised to create jobs, end reparations, and defy the Versailles treaty by rearming Germany + expanding

• Appointed chancellor in 1933 → dictator of Germany within a year

  • he demanded unquestioned obedience

  • Established the Third Reich (Third German Empire) that would dominate Europe for a thousand years

  • organized an efficient but brutal totalitarian rule enforced by the Gestapo (secret state police)

• Enabling Act (1933)

  • Fire in the Reichstag blamed on communists

  • Gave Hitler absolute power for 4 years

  • Took over the government bureaucracy

    • Installed Nazis in top positions

  • Strikes and unions are  prohibited

  • Took over publishing houses and universities

  • Germany also withdrew from the League of Nations that year

Who did Germany blame for losing WW1

• Hitler blamed german defeat in World War I on…

  • Marxists

  • Jews (anti-semitism)

    • Germans were the “superior race”

  • Corrupt politicians

  • Business leaders  

    • These became the people he tried to target/scapegoat 

Concept of Lebensraum

• Germany must expand to gain Lebensraum (living space) for the aryan or superior race

  • The Aryan race conflicted with the Jews

    • The racial group had to use war to conquer more land 

  • Hitler believed that any race that was not expanding was doomed to disappear

Nuremberg Laws + their effects

• In 1935, Hitler set out to deprive Jews of German citizenship through the Nuremberg laws

• Anyone with three Jewish grandparents was considered Jewish 

  • With two Jewish grandparents → considered Jewish if you practiced Judaism or had a Jewish spouse

• Restricted Jewish life in Germany 

  • Jews: 

    • Could not marry non-jews

    • Could not attend of teach schools

    • Could not publish books 

    • Banned from government jobs 

    • Were banned from practicing the law of medicine 

• Many German Jews fled, seeking refuge in other countries

What was the Night of Broken Glass (Kristallnacht)

• Hitler used a minor incident as an excuse to stage an attack on all jews

• Came to be known as the night of broken glass (Kristallnacht)

• Government-sanctioned violence 

  • Firefighters were only instructed to put out fires that affected aryans

• Jewish communities were attacked all over Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia

  • Under German rule 

What was the final solution

• Hitler began making plans for a “Final Solution” in which all Jews would be exterminated 

  • Also, other races and ethnicities, as well as differences, were sent to concentration camps

Aggressive actions taken by totalitarian regimes

• Japan was led by military leaders 

  • Overran Manchuria and much of Eastern China → 1931/1937

    • second sino-china war

• Germany was led by Hitler

  • Rebuilt the military and invaded the Rhineland → 1936

• Italy was led by Mussolini 

  • Invaded and conquered Ethiopia → 1935

Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis

• The anti-democratic, aggressive powers formed an alliance 

  • The Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis agreed to fight Soviet communism 

• Italy, Germany, and Japan became the Axis powers

  • They also pledged not to interfere with one another’s plans for territorial expansion 

Significance of the Anschluss

• 1938 → Hitler annexed Austria (the Anschluss)

  • first act of expansion

• Although this violated the Treaty of Versailles, Western democracies took no action

Sides in the Spanish War

• ides in the Civil War 

  • Nationalists: 

    • Fascists and the right wing

    • Supported conservative Franco

  • Loyalist 

    • Communists, socialists, and those wanting democracy 

    • Supported the republic

• In 1931, a rebellion ousted the King of Spain 

  • Reformers created a republic with a liberal constitution

    • Took land and privileges from the church and the old ruling class

• Conservative general Francscico Franco launched a revolt against the republic 

  • Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)

Germany, Italy, and Soviet Union involvement in the war

• Hitler and Mussolini sent arms and forces to support Franco

• Soviet Union sent soldiers to help the Loyalists (non fascists) → wanted to stop facism spread + European alliances

  • More than 500,000 people died in the struggle 

  • By 1939, Franco had won

    • Created a fascist dictatorship, similar to those of Germany and Italy

• One of the worst atrocities was in Guernica (1937) 

  • Nazis dropped bombs, then machine gunned anyone who survived (1,000 civilians killed) 

    • Used war to practice new bombing techniques

    • Pablo Picasso created a painting of this atrocity for the World Fair

Munich agreement

• settlement permitting Nazi Germany to annex the Czechoslovakia border regions known as the Sudetenland, signed by Germany, Britain, France, and Italy

Who thought they had achieved “Peace for our time“ and why?

• during the munich agreement: 

  • British and French leaders gave in to Hitler’s demands

  • Hitler promised that he had no further plans to expand

  • British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announced they had achieved “peace for our time.”

    • Thought this because Germany would not invade any territory and cause issues (according to the agreement)

      • also thought they prevented a future European war

Appeasement, and why did it not work?

• Appeasement: gave in to demands in order to maintain peace

• Reasons for appeasement:

  • The British people hoped that a strong Germany would stop the growth of Communist Russia

  • Many people felt that events in Europe were not Britain’s business

  • Many British people wanted peace

  • Many British people agreed with Hitler that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair

• Failed because it enabled German aggression → gave him power 

  • Hitler broke his promises and took over the rest of Czechoslovakia

Nazi-Soviet Pact and why was it important?

• August 1939 → Hitler and Stalin announced the Nazi Soviet Pact 

  • Publicly bound them to peaceful relations 

  • Privately agreed not to fight and divide up Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe between them

• This was a shaky alliance since neither Hitler nor Stalin trusted the other

  • Hitler breaks a promise

Beginning of WW2

• On September 1, 1939, a week after the Nazi Soviet Pact, German forces invaded Poland 

  • Two days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany 

• The official beginning of World War II was when Germany invaded Poland