mrsbowlesclasses.weebly.com · Web viewDocument 3: Speech given by Benito Mussolini (October 23, 1939) The Ethiopian war, begun in 1935 was hardly finished when from the other shore

World History II Name: _________________________Fascism Document Based Question Date: _________________________

Guidelines: Identify the characteristics of the fascist ideology. Write a thesis that can be proven, with evidence, throughout your DBQ. Incorporate relevant historical background information into the introduction and each body paragraph. Describe how and why fascism took hold in three European nations. Answer the prompt using at least SEVEN of the ELEVEN of the documents as evidence. Write a coherent organized essay with a minimum of FOUR paragraphs. Use proper framing and sourcing when using documents. Please remember that this counts as a ESSAY/PROJECT GRADE—not as a DBQ-Close Reading grade.

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Document 1: Excerpt from Paul Valéry’s “The European Mind” (1922)

The storm has died away, and still we are restless, uneasy, as if the storm were about to break. Almost all the

affairs of men remain in a terrible uncertainty. We think of what has disappeared, we are almost destroyed by

what has been destroyed; we do not know what will be born, and we fear the future, not without reason. We

hope vaguely, we dread precisely; our fears are infinitely more precise than our hopes; we confess that the

charm of life is behind us, abundance is behind us, but doubt and disorder are in us and with us. There is no

thinking man, however shrewd or learned he may be, who can hope to dominate this anxiety, to escape from

this impression of darkness, to measure the probable duration of this period when the virtual relations of

humanity are disturbed profoundly. We are a very unfortunate generation, whose lot has been to see the moment

of our passage through life coincide with the arrival of great and terrifying events, the echo of which will

resound through all our lives.

Document 2: Map indicating the impact of the Great Depression on Europe (1928—1934)

Prompt:  How and why did the various elements of fascism manifest in European nations in the 1920s and 1930s?

Document 3: Speech given by Benito Mussolini (October 23, 1939)

The Ethiopian war, begun in 1935 was hardly finished when from the other shore of the Mediterranean there reached us appeals from General Franco, who had begun his national revolution. Could we Fascisti leave without answer that cry and remain indifferent in the face of the perpetuation of the bloody crimes of the so-called popular fronts? Could we refuse to give our aid to the movement of fascism? No. Thus our first squadron of airplanes left on July 27, 1936 to assist Spain, and during the same day we had our first dead.

We have actually been at war since 1922-that is from the day when we lifted the flag of our revolution, which was then defended by a handful of men against the democratic, capitalistic world. From that day world liberalism and democracy and declared and waged war against us with press campaigns, spreading libelous reports, financial sabotage, attempts and plots even when we were intent upon the work of international reconstruction which is and will remain for centuries, as the undestroyable documentation of our creative will.

The Italian people, the Fascist people deserve and will have victory. The hardships, suffering and sacrifices that are faced with exemplary courage and dignity by the Italian people will have their day of compensation when all the enemy forces are crushed on the battlefields by the heroism of our soldiers and a triple, immense cry will cross the mountains and oceans like lightning and light new hopes and give new certainties to spirit multitudes: Victory, Italy, peace with justice among peoples!

Document 4 : Excerpts from Benito Mussolini’s explanation of Romanita (1928 )

Document 5: Photograph specially built arch welcoming Mussolini to a small village (1931)

Ancient Rome is our point of departure and of reference; it is our symbol, or if you like, it is our Myth. We dream of a Roman Italy, that is to say wise and strong, disciplined and imperial. Much of that which was the immortal spirit and glory of old Rome resurges in Fascism.

Document 6: Excerpt from the Anti-Semitic Nazi publication Der Sturmer (1936)

Document 7: Nazi Propaganda Poster (1936)

Document 8: Excerpt from Adolf Hitler’s Speech to the German Youth (1939)

My German Youth:

We know that nothing is handed to a people. Everything must be fought for and conquered. There is nothing you can take possession of that you have no first learned and instilled into yourself. And now we want you, German boys and German girls, to take up all that we have hope for in Germany—whatwe want to see achieved in Germany.

Germany looks at you with pride. Everyone's heart runs over with joy when we see you. We see in you the promise that our work was not in vain and we realize that it bears fruit for our country. We are all gripped with a proud happiness to see in you the fulfillment of our work. With that we have the assurance that the millions who died in World War I — the great numbers of our comrades — have not made the sacrifice for Germany in vain, so that in the end a one- spirited, free, proud and honor- loving people will emerge.

The caption reads “Hitler builds with help from the German people.”

Document 9: Excerpt from Francisco Franco’s Speech, Madrid, July 17, 1936 Spaniards! The nation calls to her defense all those of you who hear the holy name of Spain... The situation in Spain grows more critical every day; anarchy reigns in most of the countryside and towns; government-appointed authorities encourage revolts, when they do not actually lead them; murderers use pistols and machine guns to settle their differences and to treacherously assassinate innocent people, while the public authorities fail to impose law and order. Revolutionary strikes of all kinds paralyze the life of the nation, destroying its sources of wealth and creating hunger, forcing working men to the point of desperation. The most savage attacks are made upon national monuments and artistic treasures by revolutionary hordes who obey the orders of foreign governments.

Document 10: Poster from Bando Nacional— the Spanish Nationalist Party (1936)

Document 11: Guernica by Pablo Picasso (1937)

The caption reads “Spain—One Great & Free.” which was the motto of the Nationalists during the civil war.