Common Characteristic of Right Wing Dictators + Rise of Dictators

  • Great Depression Impact:

    • Early 1930s crisis led to massive unemployment in the US.
    • Wide suffering and crisis of confidence in capitalism.
    • Many relied on charities and long bread lines for food.

  • New Deal Overview:

    • Franklin D. Roosevelt elected in 1932, promising a "New Deal".
    • Initial measures included:
    • Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation: Guaranteed bank deposits up to $5,000.
    • Securities and Exchange Commission: Monitored stock market.
    • Federal Emergency Relief Administration: Assisted needy through state governments.
    • Works Progress Administration established in 1935, employing 3 million for public works.
    • Social Security Act initiated old-age pensions and unemployment insurance.
    • Despite massive spending, unemployment lingered at around 20% two years in.

  • Responses to Authoritarianism:

    • Different regimes emerged: Italy (Fascism), Germany (Nazism), Japan (Militarism), and the Soviet Union (Communism).
    • All regimes rejected liberal democracy; claimed to mobilize the masses for national revival.

  • Soviet Union's Approach:

    • Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 established a regime opposed to capitalism.
    • Civil War from 1918-1921 and subsequent famines illustrated severe hardships.
    • Lenin's New Economic Policy allowed for private trade to revive economy.
    • Stalin's policies emphasized collectivization but caused additional famines.
    • Major purges occurred from 1936-1938, leading to mass arrests and deportations.

  • Italian Fascism:

    • Mussolini rose amid post WWI chaos and established fascist dictatorship.
    • Initial social programs shifted toward traditionalism, aligning with big business and church.
    • Employed propaganda and spectacle to maintain support during the Great Depression.

  • German Nazism:

    • Hitler rose in political turmoil, combining nationalism with anti-capitalism and anti-Semitism.
    • Emphasized national pride through economic revival and military expansion.
    • Established a totalitarian state, suppressing dissent and persecuting Jews.

  • Militarist Japan:

    • Initially appeared democratic post WWI, but militarism surged due to economic decline.
    • Military factions increasingly gained control, leading to imperial expansion (e.g., Manchuria).
    • Political parties dissolved by 1940, resulting in complete militaristic rule.

  • Common Features of Authoritarian Regimes:

    • Shared rejection of parliamentary systems, embracing state direction of economies.
    • Emphasis on mass mobilization and the cult of the leader, often employing violence.
    • Social welfare policies favored national community members; women faced contradictory roles.

  • Responses in Latin America:

    • Amidst the Great Depression, a hybrid of authoritarianism and democracy emerged in some nations.
    • Leaders responded to economic challenges with varying degrees of repressive and reformative policies.