31.3 - Fascism Rises in Europe

Fascism

• A new, militant political movement that emphasized loyalty to the state and obedience to its authoritarian leader

• Promotes an extreme form of nationalism and militarism

• Denial of individual rights

• Dictatorial one-party rule

• Similarities to Communism: both ruled by dictators who allowed only their own political party, denied individual rights, had a supreme state, and didn’t practice any form of democracy

• Differences to Communism: didn’t seek a classless society, but instead believed that each class had its place and function

Benito Mussolini

• Widespread unrest in Italy because of discontent over the failure to win large territorial gains at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, along with rising inflation and unemployment

• Mussolini promised to revive Italy’s economy, rebuild its armed forces, and give the country strong leadership

• Founded the Fascist Party in 1919 and gained support

• In 1922, 30,000 Fascists marched on Rome and demanded that King Victor Emmanuel III put Mussolini in charge of the government — the king agreed and Mussolini took power “legally”

• Abolished democracy, outlawed all political parties except the Fascists, used a secret police force to arrest his opponents, censored the media, and promoted Fascist doctrines

Adolf Hitler

• Joined a political group called the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, or Nazi for short, which believed that Germany had to overturn the Treaty of Versailles and combat communism

• Nazism: German brand of Fascism

• Hitler was chosen to be the leader of the Nazi Party and, inspired by Mussolini’s march on Rome, attempted to seize power in Munich but failed and was sent to prison

• Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”): included Hitler’s beliefs and future plans for Germany — asserted that the Germans, “Aryans,” were superior to other races; called the Versailles Treaty an outrage and wanted to regain German land; and wanted to get more lebensraum (“living space”) for Germany by conquering eastern Europe and Russia

• Revived the Nazi Party after leaving prison and, following the Great Depression and collapse of the German economy, many Germans turned to Hitler for stability and strong leadership

• The Nazis were the largest political party by 1932

• President Paul von Hindenburg, head of the Weimar Republic, appointed Hitler chancellor

• Hitler called for new elections, hoping to win a parliamentary majority, which they achieved — blamed the fire at the Reichstag building on the Communists, stirring up fear

Hitler’s Totalitarian State

• Banned all other political parties

• Created the Schutzstaffel (SS), which arrested and killed many of Hitler’s enemies

• The Gestapo, the Nazi secret police, forced most Germans into total obedience

• Took control of the economy

• Used propaganda and censorship to shape public opinion and win praise for his leadership

Anti-Semitism

• Hatred of Jews

• Key part of Nazi ideology

• Nazis used Jews as scapegoats for all of Germany’s problems since the war

• Laws deprived Jews of most of their rights

• Violence against Jews