Setting the Stage for World War II
Totalitarian Governments One party dominates government Powerful Dictator usually in charge State more important people Violence- secret police forces used to make people obey Government controls personal lives Kicks out anyone that goes against them Government Controlled Economies
Russia Joseph Stalin- won the battle for power after Lenin died Five Year Plan- production goals for factories set by the state (successful) Extreme force- arrested or killed anyone that defied him Great Purge
Stalin continued… Communism- State rules to strengthen USSR Collectivism - combined all farms to increase food production Then famine- Peasants unhappy (Peace, Land, Bread! From revolution remember?)
Joseph Stalin
Italy Benito Mussolini- “Il Duce” (the leader) Wanted to build a great Italian Empire Took power during the March on Rome Fascist- comes from fasces which was an ancient Roman symbol for unity and strength of the state Ethiopia invasion easy target for Italy Victory made Mussolini look good League of Nations slapped them on the wrist
Mussolini Fasces on Italian Flag
Japan Industrial/military development post WWI Moved away from agricultural economy Promoted Fighting spirit in troops Manchuria- took over for its resources Devotion to Emperor and military Military took over the government Sino-Japanese war: develops the Empire in China
Germany Weimar Republic inherits a nation in bad shape Postwar inflation- money became worthless Adolf Hitler- World War I veteran, great speaker Mein Kampf “My Struggle”- outlined his ideas while in prison
Germany continued… Takes power bit by bit- Chancellor by 1933 Used the struggles of Germany to his advantage: he said that German would be a great Nation again Fire to the Reichstag (like US Capitol Building) ○ Nazis used this fire as an excuse to use “emergency powers” and take total control
Reichstag Fire Berlin
The National Socialist Party (Nazi) Superior race- the pure German Aryan people Anti-Semitic- Against Jewish people Blamed the Jews for many of Germany’s problems and its defeat in WWI Kristallnact- “Night of Broken Glass” ○ Germans looted Jewish businesses Lebensraum- Living space for the German people- Nazis thought Germany was too small Youth Nazi camps Hitler Youth
Nazi Germany Hitler as the “Fuhrer” Conditions improved- good for Hitler Breaking Treaty of Versailles Taking Rhineland, Czechoslovakia, Absorbed Austria Rearmament- military expansion Trying to take over all of Europe Making Pacts/Agreements Soviet Non-Aggression Pact
On the Brink of another War… Appeasement by Britain (UK) and France Gave in to Hitler’s demands in order to avoid war ○ World War I still fresh in everyone’s mind Axis Powers Form- Germany, Italy, Japan Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan and Germany ○ Aimed to stop the spread of Communism Pact of Steel with Italy and Germany Tripartite Pact made them allies More nations joined as well