European Dictators
Mussolini, Stalin, and Hitler
Italy and Mussolini• After WWI Italy’s leadership
was unstable and indecisive• Mussolini, once a strong
promoter of socialism, helped create a new political group called the National Fascist Party
• Wanted to build an Italian empire that would be more glorious than the Roman Empire
• He believed fascism was necessary to make Italy strong
• Fascism places the good of the nation above all else, including individual rights; an all-powerful dictator makes all major decisions
Mussolini in Power
• Mussolini’s fascist party got a lot of support, but he wanted total control
• He organized a march on Rome to force the king of Italy to give him power, and the king put Mussolini in charge
• Mussolini use propaganda to promote his ideas and convince the people that Italy was the greatest country on Earth
• Introduced new holidays and festivals to remind people if their Roman heritage
Ethiopia
• Mussolini wanted to display Italy’s military strength and expand his empire
• He chose to invade Ethiopia for two reasons
• Ethiopia was an easy target• It was the territory that had
defeated the Italian armies during the Age of Imperialism
• The League of Nations refused to stop Mussolini from conquering Ethiopia because they were afraid it would lead to another world war
Stalin and the Soviet Union
After Lenin
• Lenin did not choose a successor to his position, so when he died there was a struggle for power
• Stalin eventually won the battle for power and took over as leader of the Soviet Union
• Unlike Lenin, Stalin did not follow Karl Marx’s communist theory to lead
• Instead of gradually reducing government power, Stalin turned the Soviet Union into a totalitarian state
The Five-Year Plans
• Stalin wanted to improve the economy and implemented five-year production goals for all factories and mines
• The plans increased production greatly, but they forced the workers to meet increasingly high demands
Collectivization
• Stalin took away all lands from peasant farmers created large, mechanized farms to increase production
• When the peasants protested, he had them killed or sent to Siberia; millions of resisters in the Ukraine starved to death when Stalin refused to send them food during a famine
The Purges• Stalin constantly feared that
people were plotting against him
• He had political opponents arrested or killed, and then he purged thousands of people in his own government
• Stalin ordered secret police to eliminate Russian citizens who they thought might be anti-communist
• People were very afraid of appearing anti-communist, so they did everything they could to show their faith in the Soviet Union
Hitler and Nazi Germany
How did Hitler Turn the Chancellorship into a Dictatorship?
January 1933
The depression after the Wall Street Crash made many more people vote for the Nazis because they promised to rebuild Germany
In 1933 advisors convinced Hindenburg that Hitler should become Chancellor
February 1933
February 1933
The Reichstag, the building where the German government met, burned down
A communist was found inside the building. He admitted responsibility after having “a little chat” with Nazi officials
Chancellor Hitler was able to convince people that the Communists were trying to take power by terrorism
He was able to have the Communists banned from the Reichstag
March 1933HITLER CANRULE ALONEFOR FOUR
YEARS WITHOUT HAVIINGTO
CONSULT THEREICHSTAG
With the Communists banned from the Reichstag Hitler was able to pass:
The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to make his own laws, so he banned all other political parties!
The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to make his own laws, so he banned all other political parties!
June 1934
•Now I have got rid of opposition political groups, I can now deal with opposition in my party. •The head of the S.A. is very unpopular with the German army leaders who have the power to overthrow me•I’ve been worried about him for a while, so this is a good excuse to get rid of him
The Night of the Long Knives
• Hitler had to get rid of the head of the S.A. He was too much of a threat
• On the night of June 30 1934, Hitler’s S.S. killed over 1000 SA members including their leader
• The army was pleased and Hitler gained their support
August 1934
A final note
PRESIDENT HINDENBURG’SALLOWED HITER TO COMBINETHE ROLE OF CHANCELLORAND PRESIDENT. HE CALLEDHIMSELF ‘DER FUHRER’.
Every soldier swore a personal oath of loyalty to ADOLF HITLER.
HITLERBECAMECHANCELLOR
THE REICHSTAGFIRE
THEENABLING
ACT
THE NIGHTOF THELONG
KNIVES
DEATH OFPRESIDENT
HINDENBURG
OATH OFLOYALTY
TOHITLER
Putting Germany Back to Work
Germany 1933
By January 1933, unemployment had reached 6,000,000.
No one would loan Germany money to run the country
The Weimar Government couldn’t do anything to help the unemployed
Hitler was elected on a promise to give the German people ‘Bread & Jobs’
Impact of Hitler’s Policies on Unemployment
0
1000000
2000000
3000000
4000000
5000000
6000000
7000000
Series1 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
Series2 6,014,000 3,773,000 2,974,000 2,520,000 1,853,000 1,052,000 302,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
How Did Hitler Put Germany Back to Work?
RAD – The National Labor Service Gave men jobs in public
work schemes Men in RAD had to wear
a uniform & live in camps
They were given free meals and pocket money
They built drainage ditches, schools, a new network of motorways and planted new forests
What was the goal of Hitler’s Public Works Program?
Kick start the Cycle of
Prosperity
To improve the public transport network for
industrial & military use
To improve the living conditions of the German people
To build impressive buildings so that the
German people would feel proud
Autarky – National Self Sufficiency
Hitler wanted to make Germany a strong independent country that was sufficient in food and materials
Germany had lost WWI because it had run out of food and war materials
German scientists developed all sorts of artificial substitutes such as gas from coal and coffee from acorns
These new substitutes were made in Germany and gave the unemployed jobs in new industries
Hitler also encouraged the growth of the car industry
The Car Industry Designed by Porsche
and nicked named ‘The Peoples Car’, known today as the ……?
Car Industry
Created Jobs in other industries because of the
need for standardized parts.
Car Production could easily be switched to the
production of military vehicles
Produced low cost cars which helped to
keep the German people happy
Steel
Glass
Rubber
Leather
Cycle of Prosperity
What Other Things Did Hitler Do to Reduce Unemployment?
By 1934 all Jews were fired from civil service jobs which were then given to German workers.
Unemployed Jews were not registered. Women lost their jobs which were given to men. People who refused jobs offered by the labor service were
arrested and put into concentration camps.