RISE OF DICTATORS

DICTATORS Dictator - a leader who rules a country with absolute power, usually by force Dictators are usually able to take power in countries that are suffering economically and socially The conditions in The Soviet Union, Germany and Italy made it easy for these dictators to assume power

Joseph Stalin

The Five Year Plan The aim was to build industry, improve transportation, and increase farm output Command Economy - government officials controlled all economic decisions Industry - USSR was successful with heavy industry but failed to produce competitive consumer goods ie clothing, cars and appliances

The Five Year Plan cont. Stalin brought agriculture under government control Forced peasants to work on collectives Collective were large farms owned and operated by groups of peasants They were allowed to keep their houses but all animals and machinery were turned over to the collective

Ukraine Famine Peasants resisted the plan by killing farm animals, destroying tools and burning crops The government responded with brutal force Angry peasants often grew only enough food to feed themselves Stalin responded by seizing the grain and leaving the peasants to starve Famine spread across the USSR and over 8 million Ukrainians died Over the years the situation did not improve much

The Great Purge Stalin was always fearful of rival party members plotting against him In 1934 he launched the Great Purge In his reign of terror, Stalin and his Secret Police cracked down on old Bolsheviks He then targeted generals, writers, industrial managers and ordinary citizens They were charged with a wide variety of crimes, from plotting to overthrow Stalin to not meeting production quotas

Show Trials Stalin staged a series of “Show Trials” They were public trials where people were forced to confess (often through torture and threats to family) to crimes against the Stalin regime Many were executed publicly and other were sent to the Gulag - a series of forced labor camps throughout the USSR but mainly in Siberia This increased Stalin’s power as old revolutionary member were replaced with young members loyal to Stalin and fearful of his wrath

Benito Mussolini

What is Fascism? It was a term used by Mussolini rooted in extreme nationalism It glorified violence, discipline and blind loyalty to the state It is anti-democratic and communist

In Power Mussolini ran Italy like a dictatorship upheld by terror Critics were thrown in prison, exiled or killed Secret police and propaganda supported the regime He preserved capitalism but much of the economy was under gov’t control Workers suffered

Social Policies In Fascist Italy the individual was only important as a member of the state Men were urged to be warriors for Italy Women were pushed out of the workforce and told to focus on being mothers Children were molded to obey strict military discipline by Fascist youth groups

Mussolini At first he was received in both Italy and around the world Once his policy changed toward foreign conquest other nations lost support of him Italy’s failure in WWII and the fact that his people saw him as a pawn of Hitler lead to his demise He was captured and publicly executed

ADOLF HITLER

Hitler’s Third Reich He removed all socialist and communists, suspended civil rights and made Germany a single party state He predicted his Third Reich would rule Germany for 1000 years He created a totalitarian state The Fuhrer’s rules were enforced by a brutal system of terror and repression The SS troops were the main enforcers The Gestapo - his secret police, removed all of his opposition

The Third Reich To help Germany recover economically Hitler launched a huge public works campaign He violated the Treaty of Versailles by rearming the nation but this created jobs Capitalism was kept but big businesses and labor were brought under gov’t control

Society Under Hitler Societal expectation under Hitler were very similar to Mussolini’s Men were to be strong and fight for their country Women were to produce as many “pure” children as possible; were rewarded Children were trained to be loyal Germans and to destroy all enemies Religion was despised and replaced with the Nazi racial creed

Hitler He was able to rebuild Germany in under 10 years He tried to expand the German Empire Nazi foreign aggression set the stage for WWII

Regimes Mussolini built a model for Hitler and Stalin All three regimes were different but had several things in common –Single party dictatorship –Use of terror to enforce policy –Government control of the economy –Strict media censorship

Similarities in Dictators/Dictatorships Used scapegoats to rise to power Killed “enemies” who were in their way Used the Great Depression and other crises to rise to power – People were desperate and supported them Came to power legally and through elections Made empty promises, used propaganda, and paranoia Promoted fascism or communism to get support Censorship and few rights for people Built up the military and economy