Review of all interwar leaders

Communists and Fascists of the 20th Century

Bolsheviks and Vladimir Lenin

took over Russia

Led from 1917-1924

How did Lenin get back to Russia after being exiled?

• Provisional Government (led by Kerensky) wanted an end to the war but was not willing to give into Germany’s demands and could not get Allied support that he needed.

• Instead focused on a defensive war• Germany reacts by sending in more political

dissenters (like Lenin) to support the Bolsheviks• During power Lenin signed the Treaty of Brest-

Litovsk which with withdraw Russia from WWI and give western lands to Germany

Russian Revolution- 1917 •February/March Revolution

•A temporary (or provisional) government takes over.•October/November Revolution

•Lenin overthrows the temporary government and takes over as the leader of Russia

Some changes that Lenin made:

• Redistributed farmland

• Moved the capital

• Took control of banks and industry

• Established Soviets (like unions) to discuss worker’s rights

• Used propaganda and a secret police to keep loyalty

They created a new flag that symbolized a union between peasants and workers

Lenin started the New Economic Policy to try to change the economy

-Allows for some foreign trade and private business

-Moves away from strict communism towards modified capitalism

• 1922 Lenin renamed Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)

STALIN1879-1953

In office: 1922-1953Became the TOTALITARIAN

leader in 1928

JOSEPH STALIN

• Born: Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili• Changed name to Stalin

= Man of Steel• 1928 in total control of

Communist Party

• Leon Trotsky • Stalin’s political

competitor• He was forced into exile

(in Mexico) by Stalin so that he could not be a threat• In 1940 Stalin’s

agents killed him in Mexico with an ice pick.

Totalitarianism

• A government that takes total control over EVERY aspect of public & private life.

• Command Economy—the government make all economic decisions.

Problems for the USSR

• Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR)• By 1921 decreasing industry

• Russia was 50-100 years behind industrialized countries (like Britain and Germany) and if the Soviet Union did not catch up they would be conquered!

• Low agricultural output• Ukrainian Famine

• created by the government to crush Ukrainian nationalist• killed 5 million people!

Stalin’s reactions to these problems:

Five Year Plans

(1928-32, 1933-37)

• 5 year plans• High quotas to increase steel, coal, oil & electricity

• It worked, industrial output skyrocketed • But government limited production of consumer goods to meet quotas

• = Shortages in housing, food, clothing

Another solution…Collective Farming• USSR seized 25 million farms

• Combined them into collective farms• 100’s of families were living in one

large farm

• No privacy, easier for government to control

• 5-10 million died•Kulaks (wealthy peasants) resisted (They were executed)

Weapons of Totalitarianismused by Stalin to fix Russia and keep control

1. Police Terror

• Secret police arrested & executed MILLIONS of so-called traitors

• Gulags-Hard labor camps in Siberia

Weapons of Totalitarianism2. Great Purges

• Eliminate anyone who threatened Stalin’s power

• Showed fake “Court Trials” to trick the public into thinking things were fair and necessary

• Killed 8-13 millions people by 1939

• It is estimated that about 25 million were killed during Stalin’s rule!

More Weapons of Totalitarianism

3. Censorship & Propaganda• Communist Newspaper

• Socialist Realism (art)• Artistic style that praised Soviet life &

Communist Values

4. Religious Persecution

• Religion was labeled the “opium of the masses” and banned• Stalin had statues erected of himself, he became like a god

to the people

• Churches=Museums of Atheism

Il DuceMussolini’s Rise to Power

What was Italy like during the 1920s & 1930s?

• Democracies had been weakened by WWI and Great Depression

• Many workers are crippled by WWI or unemployed

• Italy feels cheated by Versailles Treaty

• Many businessmen are worried about the communists seizing power

• Led by a King-Victor Emmanuel III

Who was Benito Mussolini?

• Son of a Communist blacksmith and a school teacher

• Named after Mexican Revolutionary

Continued…• Communist Newspaper editor• Good student but unable to stay in school due to his

violence

• WWI veteran (wounded himself with a hand grenade)

• Mussolini was a politician who founded the Fascist Party in 1919

What is Fascism?• Fascism:

• Political Party that advocates: • totalitarianism• extreme Nationalism • the State is more important than the

individual • but doesn’t call for state ownership of

property

Fascism emphasizes:

• Action over thinking

• Community spirit/Nationalism

• Militarism

• The future

• One political party

• Violence

What changes did Mussolini promise?:

He promised :

1. To revive the economy and rebuild the Armed Forces

• Wanted to rebuild Italy into the Roman Empire

2. To be Anti-communist and anti-democratic

How does he seize power?

• 1922- • 30,000 to 40,000 Fascists march from Milan to

Rome and demanded that Mussolini be named Prime Minister of Italy.

• The King of Italy was worried that the Fascist would start a civil war so he agreed• Mussolini therefore took power “legally.”

What did Mussolini do while in power?

• Outlawed strikes

• Censored the press

• Allied with industrialists and large land owners

• Built a strong military

• Started public works project to help during the Depression

• Secret police jailed opposition leaders

Adolf HitlerThe road from Vienna to the Führer of Germany

Weimar Republic • Post WWI government in Germany

• Technically a republic with democratic ways• But…

• Very weak• Unable to fix the economy

• Make it worse by printing more money• Leaders that people do not support

Hitler’s background• Son of an abusive Austrian official.• Dropped out of high school and moved to Vienna.• Wanted to be an artist.

• Was denied entry into the Imperial Art Academy(twice).• Lived off of his dead fathers inheritance.

• Listened to many Anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish) speakers • During WWI, moved to Munich, Germany and joined

the Army. • Was a runner and achieved the rank of corporal.

• received two Iron Crosses for bravery. • Feels cheated at Germany’s loss and blames the

Weimar Republic

Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party

• Hired as an internal spy by the Army• Hitler spies on then joins the National

Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi) • Nazi’s mimicked much of the ideas of

Fascist Italy

• High unemployment rate and sky rocketing inflation made Hitler’s ideas very appealing to the middle and lower middle classes.

• Established the SA or Brown Shirts, Nazi thugs used to beat up foes

Hitler took the party from a few dozen members to 55,000 by 1923.

Beer Hall Putsch, 1923• Inspired by Mussolini’s march on Rome • Hitler orders the Nazi to seize control of Munich, the plan fails

• Hitler catches national attention at his trial.• Hitler is sentenced to 5 years in low security prison

• He only serves 9 months

Mein Kampf Hitler’s goals/ideals:

• Racial Purity• Aryans = “master race” those of Germanic decent, blond hair and blue

eyes • non-Aryans = “inferior or subhuman races” = Jews, Slavs and Gypsies

• Denouncement of the Versailles Treaty

• Lebensraum: • living space, Hitler called for an invasion of Russia to allow the

German race to grow

• The twin evils:• Communism and Judaism, and he stated that his aim was to eradicate

both from the face of the earth

New plan to get to power

• Released from jail in 1924 but ignored because the economy was getting better

• New Plan: Legal Revolution, work with the Right against the Left• Nazi’s became a national party in 1929 and had 800,000 members by

1932• 1932,

• Great Depression at it worst• Germany 30% unemployment (6 million)

• Hitler’s Nazi Party won greatest # of seats in the government • Hitler is named Chancellor (similar to Prime Minister)

Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor• 1933: Hoping to increase his number of seats in the Parliament, Hitler calls a for new election.

• Six days before the elections the Reichstag (House of Parliament) is set on fire, • the Nazis blame the communists (many

historians think that the Nazis set the fire) and the Nazis win a slim majority.

• Enabling Act 1934• With a majority Hitler asks to be given total

control of the country for 4 years only one deputy spoke out against it.

How he changed Economics:• Banned Strikes and

dissolved labor unions

• Government took control over businesses

• Started many government jobs that put millions to work building public works (highways aka the autobahn, bridges, etc.) and weapons

Economics continued: • Hosted the 1936 Olympics

• Germany won many gold medals • Controversy with Jesse Owens

• First African American to compete• Won 4 gold medals!

• Caused people to question the Aryan teachings• He affirmed that individual excellence (not race or national origin) distinguishes one

man from another

Preview to WWII Unit…• Hitler begins moving his military and invading

surrounding countries• The League of Nations wants to stop him but has no

force or authority to do so• They instill a policy called “Appeasement” which gives in to

Hitler’s demands• Why did they do this? • Why was it unsuccessful?

Spanish Civil War1936-1939

• Until 1931 Spain was a monarchy• In 1931 a republic was established, run by socialist and

liberals (called “Republicans”).

• Spain was facing many problems, especially during the economic depression.

• 1936 a revolt began in favor ofa fascist government, led by General Francisco Franco and supported by army leaders.

Mao Zedong • Led China as the Leader from 1949-76

• Led the Communist Party starting in 1929

• Grew up in a peasant family

Civil War and Communists take-over

• Led the Communists in the Civil War against the Nationalists • Created the People’s Republic of China

• Tactics used: • Sent opposition to labor camps • Long March • 5 Year Plans (like Stalin) to get China up to speed with industry and

agriculture • Government sponsored education with communist teachings

• Communist China focused on a peasant revolt NOT a worker revolt (different than Marxism)

Hirohito, Tojo, and the rise of Japan

Reminder: Japan becomes an Imperial Power

• 1853: Matthew Perry forces the Japanese to open trade or face war

• 1868: Traditional government falls apart and the Meiji Era begins• Sends ½ of the government to learn from the Western world

• See Manchester (England) and realize the importance of Industrialization

• ½ stays in Japan • Invade Korea

A new constitution is formed

• Japanese officials that were in the West learned about constitutions • Took ideas from the Prussian Constitution

• Why was this not successful?

• Meiji Constitution• Emperor at the top• Military answers only to the emperor (and in future will help rule)

• In the 1920-30’s Great Depression and Government Corruption lead to the military appointing a “Prime Minister” to rule with Emperor

Emperor Hirohito (Showa) • 1926 he becomes the Emperor

• Grandson of Meiji• Appoints Tojo as Prime Minister

Tojo Hideki • Tojo believed in the Racial Superiority of the

Japanese people, especially over the Chinese.

• He was also ultra-nationalistic as well as very militaristic.

• He wanted to expand the Japanese empire throughout the Pacific Rim.

Tojo’s Rise to Power Joined the Japanese army• His military service included periods in Switzerland and Germany•Became “major general” in 1933 • Became head of the Kwantung Army military police in 1935• He was appointed minister of war in 1941 by Fumimaro Kondoye

A strong supporter of Nazi Germany• He feared long term plans of Joseph Stalin

Advocated pre-emptive air strikes on both China and the Soviet Union

Executed for charges of being a war criminal in 1948

Post WWI Japan

• Japan is facing economic depression and large population • People of Japan cannot go across the Pacific, instead

sent to Manchuria • Looking for markets to sell their industrialized

goods • Europe and Africa are taken by Europeans

• When Britain pulls out of China, Japan tries to take over

• Pan Asianism: “Asia is one”

Pan Asianism: “Asia is one”

• Japan reminds Asians that Asia is larger and higher populated than Europe

• Japan claims that they are the “true” Asians and unless culture has reached Asia, it must not be fully Asian• To be “fully Asian” (according to Japanese) you must be

controlled by the Japanese • In other words: The Japanese believed they were helping the

people they imperialized

• Unless culture made it all the way up to Japan, the Japanese did not believe it was really “Asian”

Military and Political ideologies • Invasion is necessary• “Korea is the dagger into the heart of Japan”

• To protect Japan you must control Korea• To protect Korea you must control Manchuria• To protect Manchuria you must control China

• If they resist you must force them!