Rise of Totalitarianism Unit 9: WWI and Interwar

Totalitarianism: controlling the people of a country in a very strict way with complete power that cannot be opposed

Discussion: How does one person get all the power? How does one person keep all the power? What makes dictatorships go badly? How do we prevent dictatorships in the U.S.? What about abroad? Do we even have the right to do so? Why/why not?

Discussion: What factors lead to the rise of totalitarianism after WWI? Economic disruptions -> unstable political conditions

Joseph Stalin - USSR Entrenchment of communism Policies Five-Year Plans (economics) Collectivization of farms State run/controlled industrialization Secret police Great Purge

Adolf Hitler - Germany Factors leading to Hitler’s rise to power: Economic issues (inflation, depression, Reparations for WWI) Democratic government (Weimar Republic) weakened/destroyed Anti-Semitism (Jews blamed for economic situation) Extreme nationalism Germany under Hitler: National Socialism (Nazism) German occupation of nearby territories

Benito Mussolini - Italy Rise of fascism Ambition to restore the glory of Rome Invasion of Ethiopia

Hirohito & Hideki Tojo - Japan Hirohito = Emperor Hideki Tojo = Prime Minister Militarism Industrialization, leads to drive for raw materials Invasion of Korea, Manchuria, China