Fascism, Nazism, and Spanish Civil War Review

Benito Mussolini

• leader of Italian fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919

• assassinated in 1945

• founded and lead the National Fascist Party

• as a dictator and founder of fascism, he inspired the international spread of fascist movements during the interwar period

economic policies of Italian fascism

• economic self-sufficiency

• extremely right-wing

• cult of state worship

  • individual had no significance except as a member of the state

  • fascists were taught to believe, obey, and fight

“equal rights” to Italian fascism

• restrictions to human rights

  • bc. of fear of enemies and need for security, ppl are persuaded that rights can be ignored out of “need”

  • ppl look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, long incarcerations of prisoners, assasinations, etc.

social darwinism with Italian fascism

• with subordination to the state, violence was organized to suppress opposition, including accepting the tenets of this

nationalism with Italian fascism

• continuing nationalism

• use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, etc.

• flags are seen everywhere

• celebrates nation or the race as an organic community transcending other loyalties

militarism with Italian fascism

• citizens had to have a warrior’s mentality

• national expansion and imperialism are a measure of the nation’s spirit

• now, Italy has been around for 80 yrs and they have not been united yet

family life with Italian fascism

• promoted traditional gender roles and emphasizes the importance of the family unit in supporting the state

• women were encouraged to focus on motherhood and homemaking, while men were supposed to be strong, patriotic figures

• large families were supported to increase the population

• women were wanted to have more children

• wanted to align families with those nationalistic values and also encouraging loyalty to Mussolini and the state

• divorce, birth control, and homosexuality are suppressed because the Catholic Church says you from a family to have children and nothing should get in the way of that

Black shirts

• they were part of the radical National Fascist Party of Benito Mussolini

• played crucial role in rise of Mussolini’s power

• were originally a volunteer militia group who used violent tactics to intimidate political opponents, suppress strikes, and maintain order in fascist-controlled areas

• gained name from black uniforms they wore, symbolizing loyalty to this regime

• over time, were integrated into the official military and police force

Weimar constitution

• required to adopt a democracy

• president, chancellor, reichstag, cabinet

• parliamentary=picking party, not person

• in emergency, president can call out armies and put parts of constitution on pause (article 48)

• chancellor and ministers need to have confidence of reichstag or you can get thrown out

• personal freedom is inviolable (you have all of these rights unless we decide to take them away)

• German politicians make the constitution but they aren’t used to democracy

inflation

• Germany is trying to pay off WW1 reparations, so try to pay France in German Marks

  • run printing press and make more

  • in 1922, 400 Marks= 1 US dollar

  • savings are shot by 1923

NSDAP origins

• National Socialist German Worker’s Party

• Nazi Party

• Hitler joined in 1919

• founded by Anton Drexler

• included extreme Nationalism, anti-Semitism, anti-Communism, and a desire to overturn the Treaty of Versailles

Beer Hall Putsch

• failed coup attempt by Hitler

• in Munich, Germany

• Hitler and his followers tried to overthrow the Weimar government

• began the revolt in the beer hall, hoping to gain the support of local military leaders and police

• but, German police and military forces resisted leading to arrest of Hitler and other Nazi leaders

Mein Kampf

• book by Adolf Hitler

• autobiography manifesto

• the book outlines many of Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Germany and the world

Nazi election successes and struggles

• World Wide Depressions

• unemployment hits 6.1 mill

• Nazis promise “work and bread”

• making highways, cars

• credit to Nazis with improved standard of living

• however, Nazi violence grows

Brown Shirts/ SA (Sturm Abeilung)

• Created in 1922, the SA's supposed purpose was to guard Nazi Party meetings, but in actuality, Hitler meant for the group to serve as the Nazi army

Economic priorities for the Nazi party

• rearm and rebuild Germany's military in preparation for an eventual war to conquer Lebensraum ("living space") in the East

• also sort of want to consolidate power

• anti-Jewish

• book bans

Reichstag Fire

• in 1933, terrorist bombs Reichstag

• setting government on fire

• person arrested is a member of communist party and the whole party then gets arrested

Enabling Act

• dark times, Chancellor and cabinet get power to pass laws w/o Reichstag involvement

• 2/3 majority vote of Reichstag

• gave Hitler’s government dictatorial powers for 4 years

Anti-semitism

• hatred of Jews

• Nazis used this view

Night of Long Knives

• was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany from 30 June to 2 July 1934

• kill of some of his political leaders because they are a liability to him politically (sort of like Stalin…)

• admits to it and says it’s for the best

Fuhrer

• German word meaning leader or guide

• Hitler was this as a dictator

Republican policies for Spanish Civil War

• roll back influence of Catholic Church

• ban Jesuit (society of Jesus) schools

• cut military funding

Francisco Franco

• full on fascist

• Spanish military general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War

• thereafter ruled over Spain from 1939 to 1975 as a dictator, assuming the title Caudillo (military or political leader)

Falange/ Nationalist supporters

• supports a national, trans-class society while opposing individual-class-based societies such as bourgeois or proletarian societies

• extreme nationalist political group

• supporters were devout Catholics, landowners, and military leaders

how does Orwell relate what happened in his lifetime (WW1, etc.) into the novel, 1984

• Orwell’s novel uses the historical ideas/events of global conflict and the rise of certain authoritarian states to craft this vision of a future where all freedom is gone, individual right of self-gov. (autonomy) is replaced with the regime of totalitarianism that controls all aspects of life

• this novel is critiquing the dangers of unchecked government power, propaganda, and the loss of this personal truth

• the state in the book (Oceania) mirrors the pervasive police states that emerged during WW1 with leaders like Hitler and Stalin

• Orwell wrote of the rise/ height of Stalin’s regime in the Soviet Union, which portrayed this portrayal of the party in the book with Stalin’s purges, propaganda, etc. being the Party’s tactics