Totalitarianism in Europe

Reasons for the Rise of Dictators Heightened sense of nationalism Economic depression New conflicts created by the Treaty of Versailles Dictatorships began popping up all across Europe

Stalin and the Soviet Union Took over after Lenin’s death in 1924 Sought to industrialize rural Russia with a series of “5 Year Plans” The USSR became to world’s second largest industrial power at a substantial cost… The Great Purge: Stalin killed anybody who threatened or questioned his power “Purged” an estimated 8-13 million people

Fascism in Italy Unemployment and inflation led to communist-led strikes To combat this, the middle and upper classes sought stronger leadership under Benito Mussolini Established the Fascist Party after marching on Rome with thousands of his followers Fascism= a totalitarian gov’t that stresses nationalism and places the interests of the state or those of the individual Greatly increased efficiency by crushing the opposition Anti-Communist

The Nazis In 1919 an unemployed soldier named Adolph Hitler joined the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (aka the Nazis) He quickly became the party’s leader by promising to fix all of Germany’s problems Wanted to create a German empire Sought to enforce racial “purification” Promoted national expansion (lebensraum) Anti-communist

The Nazis Continued The Great Depression allowed the Nazis to come to power Hitler promised to create jobs By 1932, the Nazis were the most powerful political party in Germany Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933

American Reaction How did we respond to these threats to Wilson’s dream of a “world safe for democracy”? While the rise of dictatorships in Europe scared Americans, they still wanted to cling to isolationism