1. Chapter 27, Section 1: The Gathering Storm Main Idea: In the 1930s, as dictators elsewhere embarked on a path of aggression, the United States tried to stay out of the conflict.

2. A. Stalin’s Totalitarian State Vladimir Lenin set up a communist government in the Soviet Union (formerly Russia) back in 1917, during WWI (Bolshevik Revolution). After his death in 1924, Joseph Stalin took over & ruled as a dictator. In his version of communism, the Party controlled the government & every aspect of people’s lives. –Citizens were to obey the government without question. Those who didn’t were punished. –Peasant farmers were ordered to turn their land & animals over to government-run farms. –Millions who resisted were executed or sent to labor camps in Siberia for “re-education.” –Stalin’s political foes were “tried” & executed. Many confessed to false charges under torture.

3. B. Fascist Italy Fascism is rooted in militarism, extreme nationalism, & blind loyalty to the government.Mussolini Benito Mussolini (Il Duce) took over in 1922. –He played on Italians’ anger about feeling cheated out of land in the Treaty of Versailles, by promising to return Italy to its past glory (the Roman Empire). –Once in power, he banned all other political parties, controlled the press & schools, & punished critics. Conquering Ethiopia He invaded the African nation of Ethiopia in 1935 (this was like Goliath vs. David). –Horses & muskets vs. tanks, planes & machine guns. Ethiopian leader Haile Selasse received no help from the League of Nations. Britain & France were too busy dealing with the Depression, & didn’t want another war, so they turned a blind eye to the situation. (*appeasement*)

4. Italy Attacks Ethiopia, 1935 Emperor Haile Selassie

5. C. Nazi Germany Adolf Hitler led the Nazi Party to power in Germany. He used German resentment of the Versailles Treaty (blamed Germany & made them pay heavily) & the Great Depression to win support. Hitler Becomes Dictator He emphasized anti-Semitism, claiming the Jews & other traitors “stabbed Germany in the back,” & used them as a scapegoat for Germany’s problems. His public speaking skills convinced most Germans that he was the right man to lead them out of the Depression. The Nazi Party won a majority of seats in Germany’s government in 1933 & named Hitler chancellor of Germany. Within two years, he was a dictator who controlled the press, schools & religion. Nazi rallies, such as the one in Nuremburg in 1934, indoctrinated Germans into Nazi culture & made Hitler & his party more popular than ever. (slogans like “Heil Hitler!”)

6. Attacks on Jews Hitler preached that Germans belonged to a superior race. Nazis singled out the Jews as the cause of Germany’s problems & started to take away their rights. Deprived of their citizenship. Forbidden to use public facilities. Kept from working in many areas. Had to register with the gov’t. & wear the Star of David on their clothes to publicly identify them. This is the beginning of what will develop into the Holocaust, where Jews & others will eventually be rounded up & sent to concentration camps to be exterminated. The Nazi War Machine Hitler will start to reverse the damage to Germany caused by the Versailles Treaty (WWI) by building up his armed forces. The League of Nations will condemn his actions, but not actually do anything about it. Hitler: “They will never act. They’ll just protest. And they will always be too late.” He will then move troops into the Rhineland, which borders France & was supposed to be demilitarized. Again, no action is taken. This will establish a pattern of appeasement.

7. The Great Depression The Versailles Treaty The “Stab-In-The-Back” Theory German soldiers are dissatisfied.

8. Rome-Berlin Axis, 1936 The “Pact of Steel”

9. D. Military Rule in Japan Japan suffered greatly during the Depression. As people grew impatient with their democratic government, Japanese military leaders took over They invaded other parts of Asia for raw materials to industrialize. –Manchuria (NE China) was invaded in 1931 for coal & iron, & was renamed Manchukuo by Japan. –China asked the League of Nations for help, but it did little except condemn Japan’s actions. (*appeasement*) –The US refused to officially recognize Manchukuo, but it did not take any action either. Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931

10. E. American Isolationism The US was isolationist in the 1920s & 30s. We were determined to stay out of the growing conflicts overseas. Neutrality Acts Congress passed a series of laws in the 1930s, called the Neutrality Acts, hoping to keep the U.S. out of a war. –Banned arms sales/loans to nations at war. –Warned Americans not to travel on ships of countries at war (remember Lusitania). Good Neighbor Policy We tried to improve relations with Latin American nations. –Hoover rejected the Roosevelt Corollary in 1930, no longer intervening in their affairs. –FDR withdrew US troops from Nicaragua & Haiti, & canceled the Platt Amendment with Cuba, which had limited their independence. –As Europe became more divided & hostile, we tried to strengthen our ties within the Western Hemisphere.