Totalitarian DictatorsTotalitarian Dictators

• The Rise to Power

After World War I – in EuropeAfter World War I – in Europe

• Returning veterans needed jobs.• War-ravaged lands needed to be rebuilt. • Many nations owed huge debts because

they had borrowed heavily to pay for the war.• Economic problems fed social unrest and

made radical ideas more popular.• The peace settlements dissatisfied many

Europeans, especially in Germany and Eastern Europe.

• Europe lacked strong leaders just when they were most needed.

The Great DepressionThe Great Depression

• World wide slow down in the economy• Inflation (rising prices) was out of control in

Europe

– How high were fuel prices?

The Situation in ItalyThe Situation in Italy

Italians were NOT HappyItalians were NOT Happy

• Treaty of Versailles made them angry• Lower classes were mad saw what was

happening in Russia– Peasants seized land– Workers seized factories

• Soldiers returning from war did not have jobs• The government was weak and divided

• Chaos ensued

Along came…..Benito MussoliniAlong came…..Benito Mussolini

Fascist Totalitarian Dictator1. His political party2. Led Mussolini to power? (1922)3. Goal for Italy4. Invasion5. League of Nations?

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1. Fascist Party2. Hatred for Treaty of Versailles, Depression

in Italy3. Restore glory of Roman Empire

• Would include North Africa and the Balkans

4. Ethiopia to increase empire5. Did nothing to stop him

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Q: Why would Italians be willing to turn to a leader that was extremely militaristic and extremely nationalistic?

Q: Why would Italians be willing to turn to a leader that was extremely militaristic and extremely nationalistic?

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What Is Fascism?What Is Fascism?

A form of government that became popular in the 1920’s and 1930’s Basic Features:• extreme nationalism• glorification of action, violence, discipline, and, above all, blind loyalty to the state• rejection of Enlightenment faith in reason and the concepts of equality and liberty• rejection of democratic ideas• pursuit of aggressive foreign expansion• glorification of warfare as a necessary and noble struggle for survival

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The Situation in GermanyThe Situation in Germany

Adolf Hitler’s Rise to PowerAdolf Hitler’s Rise to Power

Hitler fought in the German army in World War I.

In 1919, he joined a small group of right-wing extremists.

Within a year, he was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers, or Nazi, party.

In 1923, he made a failed attempt to seize power in Munich. He was imprisoned for treason.

In prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (“My Struggle”). It would later become the basic book of Nazi goals and ideology.

Nazi membership grew to almost a million.

In 1933, Hitler was made chancellor of Germany.

Within a year, Hitler was master of Germany. He made Germany a one-party state and purged his own party.

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Adolph HitlerAdolph Hitler

Fascist Totalitarian Dictator1. His political party2. What led Hitler to power (1933)3. His book4. Nearby countries he took over5. How he started WWII

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1. Nazis – Nationalist Socialist Party2. Great Depression, hatred for Treaty of

Versailles, anti-Semitism3. Mein Kampf (My Struggle)4. Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland5. Invasion of Poland (1939)

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Q: Why would Germans be willing to turn to a leader that was extremely militaristic and extremely nationalistic?

Q: Why would Germans be willing to turn to a leader that was extremely militaristic and extremely nationalistic?

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Josheph StalinJosheph Stalin

Totalitarian Dictator1. His goal2. Five Year Plans3. Collectivization4. Secret Police5. Great Purge6. Who he makes deal with

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1. Make USSR a world power2. Plans for industrializing USSR3. Peasants “collected” on govt run farms (no

private property)4. KGB – spies on citizens5. Stalin executes anyone who might oppose

him (genocide)6. Hitler – they agree not to attack each other

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