Fascism

Description:

• a nationalistic movement

• anti-democratic and anti-communist

• a strong central government with a single dictator to run the state that glorified the state above the individual

Fascist?

• No clearly defined political program (follow the leader)

• were nationalists who wore uniforms, glorified war, and were racist

Characteristics

• uses propaganda, rallies, beatings, and intimidation to gain power and popular support

• leaders are charismatic

• promise better times and national glory

• blame outside groups for the country’s problems

Fascism in Italy

Gained Power:

• ineffective postwar government

• used violence to put down a number of industrial strikes and deal with social unrest

• won support from middle class industrialists and large landowners

Fascism in ItalyCharismatic Leader:

• Benito Mussolini

• emerged in 1922

• Italy’s king, Emmanuel III named Mussolini prime minister

• established himself as dictator of Italy

• known as Il Duce (the Leader)

Fascism in Italy

National Glory:

• envisioned to restore Italy to ancient Roman Empire

• supported Catholicism, and appealed to Italian nationalism

• 30,000 people marched to Rome and demanded Mussolini be given power in 1922

Fascism in Italy

Blamed Outsiders:

• Mussolini’s followers were the “Black Shirts”

• attacked communists in the streets

Agreement on 1 issue.

• Do you want to know when the Treaty of Versailles will be destroyed? asked one communist speaker: When the Red Army stands at the French Frontier…A Nazi countered: We shall tear up the Versailles Treaty without any Red Army. And he continued: only National Socialism can win back all that has been taken from us.

Fascism in Germany

Gained Power:

• won loyalty of conservatives, anti-communists, and many of the nation’s churches

• considered the country’s defeat in WWI and the Treaty of Versailles a humiliation

• took advantage of the nation’s discontent and the economic depression of the 1920s to win many Germans

Fascism in GermanyCharismatic Leader:

• Adolf Hitler

• “Fuhrer” (guide of Germany)

• In 1921Fascist leader of the Nazi Party (Brown Shirts)

• tried and failed to seize power in 1923

• became chancellor of Germany in 1933

• seized more power with Enabling Act

Mein Kampf (My Struggle)

• wrote while in prison

• Outlined beliefs & goals for Germany

• Germans were the “master race”

• declared all Jews, Gypsies, Slavs, and handicapped inferior

• abolish Treaty of Versailles and conquer Europe

Fascism in Germany

National Glory:

• Hitler gave nationalist speeches

• promised to return Germany’s honor following defeat WWI

• labeled new government “Third Reich”

Don’t be left out

• The Volkischer Beobachter reported that, “The wave of acclamation for Hitler was infectious. And it served not only to reinforce the devotion of the already converted, but to isolate the reluctant and hesitant by making them feel outsiders from a society in which the adulation expressed by millions was the norm.” Ibid. , 57.

Fascism in Germany

Blamed Outsiders:

• Nazi Party enacted programs against Jewish people

• 1935 “Nuremberg laws”

• 1938 “Kristallnacht” (night of shattered glass)

• Concentration Camps

• “Final Solution” = Death Camps

Nuremberg Laws

• prevented Jews from being German citizens

• forbade marriages between Jews and German citizens

• required Jews to wear yellow Stars of David

Kristallnacht

• November 9, 1938 burned Jewish synagogues and destroyed thousands of Jewish businesses

• killed at least 100 people and sent thirty thousand Jewish men to concentration camps

After Kristallnacht

• Jews were barred from all public transportation, schools, and hospitals

• could not own, manage, or work in a retail store

• encouraged to leave Germany

Japan

Gained Power:

• food shortages, inflation, and other economic problems led to riots and unrest

• Great Depression had a severe impact on workers and farmers

• trouble finding sources of raw materials and foreign markets

• political rivalries resulted in the military seizing power

Japan

Charismatic Leader:

• Hirohito

• Emperor of Japan

• reigned from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989

• General Hideki Tojo assumed the role of Japan’s premier

• led the nation through WWII

• ruled in the name of the Emperor

JapanHirohito General Tojo

Japan

National Glory:

• Japan placed on wartime status

• in 1938 a military draft begun

• government controlled all economic resources

• Labor unions were disbanded

• only one political party

• Traditionalists called for a return to older Japanese values

Japan

Blamed Outsiders:

• rejected the influence of Western ideas in education and politics

• Western ideas were purged from education and culture