1. The Rise of the Axis Powers and the Road to World War II
1920 – 1939
(Chapter 31)

2. Terms to Know Totalitarian Fascism Nazism
Government with complete control over peoples lives
Fascism
Political movement based on extreme nationalism and militarism
Usually led by a single party and one leader with ultimate power
Nazism
Germany’s fascist movement
Included a belief in racial superiority

3. Aspects of Fascism
Focused on extreme nationalism with loyalty and sacrifice for your state
Loyalty to a leader who brought order and structure
Often had unique uniforms, salutes, and would hold large rallies
Similarities to Communism
1 political party with a dictator (no democracy)
Both denied individual rights and put the state first
Differences to Communism
Fascists didn’t want a classless society
Fascists were usually nationalists, while Communists were internationalists

4. Italy Becomes a Fascist State

5. Italy’s Struggles after WWI
Did not gain large amounts of territories from the Treaty of Versailles
Rising inflation and unemployment caused the people to be upset
Felt their democracy was not doing enough to fix the country’s problems, looked for a strong leader

6. Benito Mussolini
Newspaper editor, politician and founder of the Italian Fascist Party (1919)
Promised to improve the economy and rebuild the military
“Black Shirts” attacked Communists and Socialists
Gained support of the middle class, aristocracy, and industrialists
Promised to return Italy to the time of the Roman Empire

7. Il Duce October 1922 Il Duce (“the leader”)
30,000 Fascists marched on Rome
King Victor Emmanuel III appointed Mussolini Prime Minister to avoid further violence
Il Duce (“the leader”)
After gaining power, Mussolini takes near complete control
Outlawed all political parties (except the Fascist)
Censored the radio and newspapers
Took control of the economy

8. Italy invades Ethiopia
Italy failed to take over Ethiopia in the 1890s
October 1935, Italy invades with a modern army of tanks, planes, and machine guns
Ethiopia’s emperor Haile Selassie asked for help from the League of Nations
League condemned the attack, but did nothing to stop it
Great Britain allowed Italy to use the Suez Canal to move troops into Ethiopia
Wanted to avoid fighting (appeasement)

9. Militarism Takes Control of Japan

10. Japan Shifts Attitudes
1920s Japan
Democracy was growing
1922 – treaty to respect China’s borders
1928 – signed the Kellog-Braind Pact that was to outlaw the use of war
After the Great Depression starts
People blamed the government for economic problems
Military took over the government, but kept Emperor Hirohito in charge as the face of the government
Planned to expand the empire for new markets, raw materials, and room for its population

11. Japan invades China
1931 – Japan takes control of Manchuria (northeast province of China)
League of Nations condemned the invasion, but did nothing
Japan withdrew from the League in 1933
July 1937 – Japan invades China
Rape of Nanjing
Jiang Jieshi’s army forced to retreat
Mao Zedong’s Communists fight a guerilla war against the Japanese

12. Rape of Nanjing (these pictures are graphic, feel free to skip!)

13. Hitler and the Rise of Nazism in Germany

14. Paintings Hitler

15. Nazism
1919 – National Socialist German Workers’ Party formed (Nazi Party)
Wanted to overturn the Treaty of Versailles
Wanted to fight Communism
Created a private army called the Brown Shirts
Hitler becomes a leader of the Nazi Party
Beer Hall Putsch (Nov )
Hitler leads attempt to overthrow the government
Fails and sent to prison for 5 years (serves 9 months)

16. Mein Kampf
Hitler explains his beliefs and goals in a book he writes in prison
Aryan Race
Claimed Germans were the “Master Race” and should rule the world
All “non-Ayrans” were inferior and should be destroyed
Treaty of Versailles
Wanted to gain back all of Germany’s lost territories
Lebensraum (“living room”)
Claimed Germany was overcrowded
Would take over Eastern Europe and Russia
Third Reich

17. Hitler Gains Power
After his prison term, Hitler took back control of the Nazi Party
When the Great Depression starts, the German economy further collapsed and support of the Nazi Party grew
January, 1933 – President von Hindenburg makes Hitler Chancellor of Germany
After Nazis win a parliamentary election, Hitler turns Germany into a totalitarian state

18. Hitler becomes der Furhrer
Hitler’s SS (Schutzstaffel) and Gestapo force German peoples into obedience
SS = Hitler’s private army
Gestapo = private police force
Both groups arrested and murdered rivals to the Nazis and Hitler
Hitler takes economic control and cuts unemployment
Hitler forced propaganda to create a loyal nation
Controlled the press, radio, literature, and art
Burned books that didn’t fit Nazi beliefs
Prevented churches from speaking bad about Nazism
Schoolchildren joined the Hitler Youth or League of German Girls

19. Nazi Propaganda

20. Book Burning

21. Hitler Youth

22. 1936 Berlin Olympics

23. Hitler begins terrorizing the Jews
Nazis blamed the Jews for many of Germany’s problems (anti-Semitism)
1933 – Nazi party begins to strip rights from the Jews
1935 – Nuremburg Laws
Took away legal rights to Jews and other minorities
November 9, 1938 – Kristallnacht
The “Night of Broken Glass”
Nazis attacked and arrested Jews in large numbers
Jewish owned homes and businesses were destroyed

24. German Aggression

25. Hitler Breaks the Treaty of Versailles
March 1935 – Hitler begins make his army larger
League of Nations does nothing
March 7, 1936 – Germany invades the Rhineland
France and Great Britain begin practicing appeasement
Appeasement = giving into the demands of an aggressor to avoid war
October 1936 – Germany and Italy create the Rome-Berlin Axis
November 1936 – Germany, Italy and Japan create the Axis Powers (Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis)

26. Spanish Civil War
July 1936 – Francisco Franco leads a Fascist revolution to overthrow the republican government
Hitler and Mussolini send troops, tanks, and planes to help Franco’s forces in the 3 year civil war
Western Democracies supported the Republican side, but did not send any help (except the Soviet Union)
Franco’s fascist forces win in 1939

27. Germany continues to expand
March 1938 – Germany annexes Austria (Treaty of Versailles prohibited this)
September 1938 – Germany demands that the Sudetenland be given to Germany
Sudetenland was a German speaking section of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia asked France to help

28. German Expansion to 1938

29. Munich Conference
September 29, 1938 – France, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy meet to discuss the Sudetenland and Czechoslovakia
Hitler promised to not take any more of Czechoslovakia if he got the Sudetenland
Great Britain’s Prime Minister again follows the idea of appeasement and gives in
“I believe it is peace in our time.”
March 1939 – Germany annexes Czechoslovakia

30. Munich Conference
Every body say “appeasement”!

31. Heading toward war Mussolini seized Albania
Hitler looks to take over Poland
Great Britain and France threaten war if Germany invades Poland
August 23, 1939 – Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression pact
This would keep the Soviet Union from joining the war and prevent a two-front war
September 1, 1939 – Germany invades Poland