RISE OF DICTATORS

RISE OF DICTATORS

DICTATORS

• Dictator - a leader who rules a country with absolute power, usually by force

• Dictators are usually able to take power in countries that are suffering economically and socially

• The conditions in The Soviet Union, Germany and Italy made it easy for these dictators to assume power

Joseph Stalin

-Took Power in Soviet Union after death of Lenin, 1924.

-Known for his brutality-He had Trotsky killed

-Killed over 20 million of his own people

-Paranoia

-Modernized Russian economy-Took the name

“Stalin”, which means “Steel”.

The Five Year Plan

• Believed Soviet Union was 50-100 years behind the west. Needed to modernize NOW

• The aim was to build industry, improve transportation, and increase farm output

• Command Economy - government officials controlled all economic decisions

• A) Industry - USSR was successful with heavy (steel, oil, coal) industry but failed to produce competitive consumer goods ie clothing, cars and appliances

The Five Year Plan cont.

• B) Stalin brought agriculture under government control

• Forced peasants to work on collectives• Collectives were large farms owned and

operated by groups of peasants• They were allowed to keep their houses

but all animals and machinery were turned over to the collective

Ukraine Famine• Peasants resisted the plan by killing farm animals,

destroying tools and burning crops• The government responded with brutal force• Angry peasants often grew only enough food to

feed themselves• Stalin responded by seizing the grain and leaving

the peasants to starve• Famine spread across the USSR and over 8

million Ukrainians died• Over the years the situation did not improve much

The Great Purge• Stalin was always fearful of rival party members

plotting against him• In 1934 he launched the Great Purge• In his reign of terror, Stalin and his Secret Police

cracked down on old Bolsheviks• He then targeted generals, writers, industrial

managers and ordinary citizens• They were charged with a wide variety of crimes,

from plotting to overthrow Stalin to not meeting production quotas – Anyone seen as a threat to Stalin had to disappear

Show Trials• Stalin staged a series of “Show Trials”• They were public trials where people were forced

to confess (often through torture and threats to family) to crimes against the Stalin regime

• Many were executed publicly and other were sent to the Gulag - a series of forced labor camps throughout the USSR but mainly in Siberia

• This increased Stalin’s power as old revolutionary members were replaced with young members loyal to Stalin and fearful of his wrath

Benito Mussolini

What is Fascism?

• It was a term used by Mussolini, taken from the Roman word for power and authority: fasces

• Rooted in extreme nationalism• It glorified violence, discipline and blind

loyalty to the state, one leader• It is anti-democratic and anti-communist• Use of symbols very important

The Fasces

Rise of Mussolini• After WWI Italy was a land of economic chaos

and political corruption• Italian nationalists were upset that they were not

allowed to expand their territories• People were inspired by the revolution in Russia• Peasants took land, workers went on strike and

took over factories• Veterans faced unemployment • Trade declined and taxes rose• Gov’t split into warring factions

Rise in Power• Mussolini organized The “Black Shirts”

– They broke up socialist rallies, smashed leftist presses, and attacked collective farms

• Fearing a civil war, King Emanuel III asked Mussolini to form a gov’t as Prime Minister

• By 1925 Mussolini assumed most of the power in Italy

• He took the title “Il Duce”

In Power

• Mussolini ran Italy like a dictatorship upheld by terror

• Critics were thrown in prison, exiled or killed• Secret police and propaganda supported the

regime• He preserved capitalism but much of the

economy was under gov’t control• Workers suffered: strikes were not allowed

Social Policies

• In Fascist Italy the individual was only important as a member of the state

• Men were urged to be warriors for Italy• Women were pushed out of the workforce and

told to focus on being mothers• Children were molded to obey strict military

discipline by Fascist youth groups

Mussolini

• At first he was received in both Italy and around the world

• Once his policy changed toward foreign conquest other nations lost support of him

• Italy’s failure in WWII and the fact that his people saw him as a pawn of Hitler lead to his demise

• He was captured and publicly executed

The end of Mussolini

ADOLF HITLER

Germany• Background:

– Weimar republic• Burdened by an economic crisis• Government printed more $

– Value of German currency dropped

» 1919: 8.9 marks = 1 USD» 1923: 1 USD = 4 billion

marks » Unable to make

reparations payments so French troops occupied the Ruhr, center of German industry

Germany• Rise of Adolf Hitler:

(1889-1845)– Born in middle class family– Tried to get into Vienna

Academy of Fine Arts but failed

– Painted postcards to earn $

– Was homeless for a while in early 1920’s

– Absorbed himself in racial, anti-semitic, nationalist literature

– Also acquired a hatred for Marxism

Germany• Adolf Hitler:

– Volunteered for WWI– Fought bravely, received Iron

Cross twice• Acted as a runner/messenger

– Believed Germany never really lost WWI but the “traitors” (Weimar Republic) stabbed Germans in the back

– 1919, joined an extremist party: National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazi)

• He quickly became its leader

Germany• Nazi Party:

– He incorporated: military symbols, uniforms, salutes, flags, emblems: created solidarity

• Hitler himself designed the Nazi symbol

– Became Chancellor of Germany in 1933

Hitler’s Third Reich• He removed all socialist and communists,

suspended civil rights and made Germany a single party state

• He predicted his Third Reich would rule Germany for 1000 years

• He created a totalitarian state• The Fuhrer’s rules were enforced by a brutal

system of terror and repression• The SS troops were the main enforcers• The Gestapo - his secret police, removed all of his

opposition

Nazis in Power• Press, books, cinema all under Nazi control

– Nazi biology books!• Compliance was assured by terror: SS, original body

guards of Hitler were now his enforcers of Nazi doctrine.

• Instituted anti-Jewish measures early:– Nuremberg Laws:– Jewish doctors, lawyers, musicians, artists, barred from

practicing– Marriage between Jews and Germans, forbidden– Schools, restaurants, pharmacies, hospitals gradually

closed to Jews– Jews could not fly the German flag on their homes

• Kristallnacht: Night of Broken Glass, 1938

The Third Reich

• To help Germany recover economically Hitler launched a huge public works campaign– The autobahn

• He violated the Treaty of Versailles by rearming the nation but this created jobs

• Capitalism was kept but big businesses and labor were brought under gov’t control

Nazis in Power• To most Germans, life under the

Third Reich seemed quite satisfying in the first years of Nazi control– By 1936, near unemployment– Military strong again– Germany respected– The best possible way to bring the German

people back into work is to set German economic life once more in motion through great monumental works... This is not merely the hour in which we begin the building of the greatest network of roads in the world, this hour is at the same time a milestone on the road towards the building up of the community of the German people. -- Adolf Hitler

Society Under Hitler• Societal expectation under Hitler were very

similar to Mussolini’s• Men were to be strong and fight for their country• Women were to produce as many “pure”

children as possible; were rewarded• Children were trained to be loyal Germans and

to destroy all enemies: The Hitler Youth• Religion was despised and replaced with the

Nazi racial creed

Hitler

• He was able to rebuild Germany in under 10 years

• He tried to expand the German Empire• Nazi foreign aggression set the stage for

WWII

Regimes

• Mussolini built a model for Hitler and Stalin• All three regimes were different but had

several things in common– Single party dictatorship– Use of terror to enforce policy– Government control of the economy– Strict media censorship

Similarities in Dictators/Dictatorships• Used scapegoats to rise to power• Killed “enemies” who were in their way• Used the Great Depression and other crises to rise to power

– People were desperate and supported them• Came to power legally and through elections• Made empty promises, used propaganda, and

paranoia• Promoted fascism or communism to get support• Censorship and few rights for people• Built up the military and economy