1. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance Who were the Fascists and the Nazis?

2. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance Objectives In this activity you will: Learn what the Nazis believed.

3. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance Who were the Fascists? Following the end of World War I, a new political philosophy developed in Europe. It was called Fascism.

4. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance Who were the fascists? Italy was the first European country to embrace Fascism; in 1922, the Fascists under Mussolini took power. Fascio is Italian for a group. In 1919, it was used to describe groups that fought against communism in Italy. Fascists had no real beliefs, apart from a hatred of communism. However, over time, they came to believe: - In strong government. - That individuals were not as important as the state. - That national pride was important. - That expansion of the country was to be encouraged. - And that the leader was always correct.

5. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance Who were the Nazis? The beliefs of Fascism spread to Germany where they were to evolve into Nazism under Adolf Hitler. The Nazis formed in 1921 as the NSDAP.

6. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance What did the Nazis believe? What does this poster tell us about the Nazi Party and their beliefs?

7. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance What did the Nazis believe? The main ideas of Nazism are written down in Adolf Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, written while he was in prison in 1924.

8. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance What did the Nazis believe? The Aryan race (blonde, blue eyed, tall, Northern Europeans) was superior. All other races were inferior and needed to be removed from Germany. The Treaty of Versailles was very unfair and needed to be ripped up. Germany needed one strong leader. Democracy did not have a place in Germany. Germans needed living space ‘Lebensraum’ in Eastern Europe for their growing population to live in. All people should be loyal and show obedience to Adolf Hitler. The state should have total control over everybody’s lives (totalitarianism).

9. © HarperCollins Publishers 2010 Significance Have you been learning? What is Fascism? What is Nazism? What were the main Nazi beliefs? What dangers are there in allowing a group such as the Nazis to take power? What impact do you think Fascism might have on Europe in the 1920s and 1930s? Is Fascism still significant today?