Chapter 9 Section 2 THE RISE OF DICTATORIAL REGIMES

A. THE RISE OF DICTATORS Democracy after WWI didn’t last By 1939, only Britain and France still had democratic gov’ts Germany, Italy, Russia and many others had dictatorial regimes Italy created a modern totalitarian state a gov’t that aims to control the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural lives of its citizens Totalitarian states dominated every aspect of the gov’t Dictators ruled through propaganda and mass communications Modern technology also helped dictators achieve power Individual freedoms were given up for the will of the masses The masses, however, were ruled by the ideas of the dictator

B. FASCISM IN ITALY Early 1920s, Benito Mussolini established the first European Fascist regime Fascism glorifies the state above individuals, by emphasizing a strong central government led by a dictatorial ruler In a fascist state, people are controlled by the gov’t and any opposition is suppressed After WWI socialism threatened to take over Italy Mussolini emerged with armed Fascists called Blackshirts The Blackshirts forcefully removed all socialists, winning support from Italian people Mussolini then threatened to take over Rome, The ruler of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III stepped down and made him Prime Minister

To establish his regime, Mussolini used a number of methods 1) He had secret police make sure no citizen spoke against the government 2) He took control of radio stations and newspapers 3) He also worked through youth organizations to spread propaganda

C. Authoritarian Spain In 1936, General Francisco Franco led the Spanish military to overthrow the democratic government Resulted in a bloody civil war, which ended with Franco in power Franco was aided by both Italy and Germany Hitler used the Spanish Civil War to test new weapons Franco’s gov’t favored traditional groups such as business-owners, landowners, and Catholic clergy Franco did not aim to control every aspect of a citizen’s lives It was Authoritarian, not Totalitarian

D. A NEW ERA IN THE SOVIET UNION Lenin’s regime began to fall apart A drought swept through Russia, causing a famine, killing 5 million people In March, 1921, Lenin changed the gov’t into a form of capitalist system (like the U.S. and Britain) People were allowed to own small businesses, however banks and factories were still owned by the gov’t This was called the New Economic Policy (NEP) In 1922, Lenin called Russia the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) Lenin’s policy saved Russia from disaster Lenin and other communists intended the NEP as a temporary solution

Lenin died in 1924 members of the Politburo fought for power -this was the committee that made the communist party’s policy One group of the Poliburo was led by Leon Trotsky He wanted to get rid of the NEP and go back to communism Also wanted to spread communism around the world Joseph Stalin, was the highest ranking member in the Politburo He used his position to gain complete control of the Communist Party By 1929, Stalin eliminated the Bolsheviks and took over the USSR

Stalin ended the NEP and set up his Five Year Plans plans to completely industrialize Russia emphasized the production of machines and capital goods Factories sprung up throughout Russia people suffered, getting paid low wages and living in terrible conditions Eliminated small farms and brought all land under gov’t control ( Collectivization ) Stalin used propaganda to urge people to make sacrifices for the new socialist state Peasants began to hoard food and even kill their livestock to resist collectivization Stalin’s programs produced famines that killed 10 million peasants btwn 1932 and 1933 Stalin also eliminated all who opposed him by arresting them and executing them