European Premier of the 1920’s and 30’s

 War Guilt Clause- Germany forced to take responsibility for starting WWI ◦ Allowed Allies to make certain demands of Germany  Reparations-Germany made to pay Allies $33 billion for war damages ◦ Intended to keep German economy weak

 Disarmament- German army and navy limited; no airforce, tanks, submarines ◦ Kept Germany from sending troops west of the Rhine River ◦ Severely weakened Germany as a world power  Territorial Clauses- colonies, captured territory, and land taken from Germany and divided among Allies ◦ Weakened German economy

 Started Fascist Party in Italy, 1919  Fascism- aggressive nationalistic movement that considered the nation more important than the individual  Strong government dictator+ empire= social order  Anti-Communist  Promised to ◦ Protect private property and middle class ◦ Employment for working class and social security ◦ Return Italy to glories of the Roman Empire

 Took over Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), 1926  Communist Dictator ◦ Suppressed individual liberties ◦ Punished opposition (political enemies, intellectuals, artists, etc.) ◦ Forced confessions ◦ One-party rule ◦ Increased industrialization and steel production ◦ Decreased industrial wages ◦ Family farms taken over by government, families starved from famines ◦ Concentration camps ◦ 8-10 million people died

 WWI veteran  Anti-communist, admired Mussolini  Hated Allies and German government for agreeing to the Treaty of Versailles  Took advantage of post-WWI depression and political chaos  National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi Party) ◦ Nationalistic ◦ Anti-Communist ◦ Expand German territory ◦ Ignore terms of the Treaty of Versailles ◦ Anti-Semitic

 November 1923, Nazi Party tries to seize control of German government ◦ Epic Fail ◦ Hitler arrested  Wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle) in prison ◦ Unify Germans under one government ◦ Master race of blond hair, blue-eyes (Aryan) ◦ Expand territory into Poland and Russia ◦ Racism and Prejudice  Slavic peoples  Jews- blamed Jews for German defeat in WWI  Physically and Mentally Handicapped  Homosexuals  Gypsies

 Released from prison  Elections of Nazi Party Candidates, majority  1933, Hitler appointed as chancellor (Prime Minister) ◦ Held new elections ◦ Ordered police to target Communist and Socialist parties ◦ Intimidated voters ◦ Government officials voted to give Hitler dictatorial powers and control of military

 Economic hardship ◦ Limited economic growth ◦ Great Depression ◦ High tariffs from foreign countries  Japanese military officers blame corrupt politicians ◦ Democracy= un-Japanese, bad for country ◦ Want to seize territory for industrial resources  Japanese army invades Manchuria, China ◦ Assassinate Japanese Prime Minister ◦ Expand territory ◦ Nationalist policies