The Rise of Dictatorships and the beginnings of WWII

Causes Extreme situations call for extreme governments People are afraid of disorder Order at the cost of personal freedom

Dictators Dictator: a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained power by force. Prominent Dictators of the Time Stalin – Communist Russia Mussolini – Fascist Italy Hitler – Fascist Germany Can you think of any more? (Modern or past)

Fascist governments CHARACTERISTICS Control the media Use propaganda to control people Infallible leader Myth

Joseph Stalin Took control after the death of Lenin Cruel leader Agricultural and economic reforms to ready Russia for war vs. Capitalism Totalitarian state: imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed

Benito Mussolini Came to power in 1922 Il Duce {The Leader} Opposed to democracy and communism

Germany after World War I GERMANY POST-WWI Treaty of Versailles: the peace treaty after WWI Article 231: War Guilt Clause Reparations Hyper inflation Stock market crash affected Germany most

Gustav Stresemann Chancellor of the Weimar Republic 1923 Tried to get Germany back on their feet

How did Gustav Stresemann improve the situation? YEARS OF RECOVERY 1924-1929 How did Gustav Stresemann improve the situation? Resolved currency problems German currency was useless Withdrew all old money (mark) and replaced it with a new currency (rentenmark) which had proper financial backing Boosted people’s confidence in the new currency

YEARS OF RECOVERY 1924-1929 Improved international relations How did Gustav Stresemann improve the situation? Improved international relations Signed Locarno treaty (1925) with allies, agreeing not to recapture lost lands Gained confidence of former enemies Allies withdrew troops from Rhineland in 1929, five years ahead of schedule Amount to repay reduced from 6,600 million pounds to 1,850 million pounds (Dawes Plan) USA gave loans and increased investment in Germany Germany was able to recover economically-> increased confidence in government

THE DEPRESSION YEARS 1929 - 1933 Wall Street Crash 1929 Germany had come to rely almost totally on US loans and investments American bankers demanded that German loans be repaid American businessmen withdrew their investments USA and other countries had less money to buy German goods Factories closed, leading to unemployment German economy collapsed totally People blamed the government (again)

Adolf hitler Born April 20, 1889 in Braunau am Inn, Austria Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and Führer ("Leader") of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945 Offered hope in time of despair

Rise of Hitler Hitler claimed that he had the answers Provided make work projects: Autobahn Abolished all other political parties Found scapegoats – Jews Use of paramilitary groups Failure of Weimar Government

Article 48 {how Hitler took control of the government} Art. 48. If a state fails to perform the duties imposed upon it by the federal constitution or by federal law, the President . . . may enforce performance with the aid of the armed forces. If public order and security are seriously disturbed or endangered within the Federation, the President . . . may take all necessary steps for their restoration, intervening, if need be, with the aid of the armed forces. For the said purpose he may suspend for the time being, either wholly or in part, the fundamental rights

Nuremburg Laws ARTICLE 3. Only citizens of the Reich, as bearers of full political rights, can exercise the right of voting in political matters, and have the right to hold public office. ARTICLE 4. (1) A Jew cannot be a citizen of the Reich. He cannot exercise the right to vote; he cannot hold public office. (2) Jewish officials will be retired as of December 31, 1935.

Kristallnacht or Crystal Night November 9, 1938 – German mobs attack businesses and Jewish synagogues The breaking of glass = Crystal Night Violence against the Jewish people Jews were billed for the damages

Appeasement March 1938 – Anschluss (Austria becomes a part of Germany) September 1938 – Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia March 1939 – takes the rest of Czechoslovakia August 1939 – signs Nazi-Soviet Pact September 1939 – Poland falls

The Road to War Japan invades Manchuria September 18, 1931 China asks League of Nations for help Japan leaves League of Nations Italy attacks Abyssinia {October 3, 1935} France and Britain reluctant to do anything (wanted Italy for an ally vs. Germany) 1936 – Hitler enters the Rhineland Spanish Civil War {July 1936 – 1939} – Communism and Democracy vs. Fascism

Japan in Manchuria

Canada’s Response Canada like America remained isolationists Why? Memories of WWI, Great Depression, and harsh Treaty of Versailles PM Mackenzie King thought Hitler was peaceful Did not accept Jewish refugees (the St. Louis)

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Nazi-Soviet Pact, 1939