The interwar years: An age of Anxiety

1. The interwar years: An age of Anxiety 1919-1939

2. The Interwar years • 1934: Adolf Hitler is now President and Da Fuhrer of Germany • He will begin to restore German pride, fix the country, and transform it into a totalitarian, fascist state • But, he will not be the only man, or country promoting fascism and dictatorship

3. The interwar years • Italy was struggling after World War I with an inept gov’t and a lackluster economy • Italy was upset at England and France because it had not received what was promised to them • Benito Mussolini: The future leader of Italy, starts the first fascist party the world had seen in 1919 • 1922 he ran the BlackShirts, his private army, and became the new dictator of Italy after his ‘March on Rome.

4. The interwar years “IL DUCE” (The Chief)

5. The interwar years • The Blackshirts and Mussolini were successful at stabilizing the economy to popular support of fascism • Fascism: Complete devotion to your country. Nothing is better or more important than the nation • Mussolini had the goal of creating a new Roman Empire and found himself involved in several foreign affairs to accomplish this goal • None was more important than Ethiopia in 1935

6. The interwar years Mussolini sent 400,000 troops to Ethiopia and captured it by May of 1936

7. The interwar years • The League of Nations opposed this act, but did nothing about it. This drove Mussolini closer to Hitler and Nazi Germany who were non-members of the League • Hitler admired Mussolini and by October of 1936, they formed an alliance known as the “Pact of Steel”

8. The interwar years • What about Japan? • Japan was behind in industrialization after WWI and needed to catch up to the rest of the world • They needed resources and raw materials and had to expand to acquire these commodities • As the Great Depression takes hold in the 1930s, the citizens lose faith in their gov’t, and turn toward their military for help

9. The interwar years • The military takes control of the country promoting an extreme form of nationalism under General Hideki Tojo, the new Prime Minister • Emperor Hirohito was allowed to remain, but he was more of a figurehead. The real power rested in the hands of the military • Realizing that trading for resources takes time, Japan instead decides to take their resources from other countries. First up, Manchuria, China in 1931

10. The interwar years

11. The interwar years • Japan’s invasion of Manchuria is successful and allows them to industrialize further, while continuing to build up and promote their military. (Manchukuo) • This move is condemned by the League of Nations. Japan simply quits the League and later joins an alliance with Adolf Hitler in 1936. • “The Tripartite Pact”

12. The interwar years • We now have our 3 Axis powers for WWII

13. The interwar years • A Civil War in Spain breaks out in 1936 offering a “practice war” for the Axis powers • Promoting Fascist General Francisco Franco, Hitler advises and directs Franco on how to carry out the war successfully • Franco is successful at overthrowing the gov’t and this gives Hitler the confidence that his plans for Europe will work in WWII

14. The interwar years • Hitler begins to intentionally violate the terms of the Treaty of Versailles in 1937 by building up his military, renouncing the War Guilt Clause, and by stopping all war reparation payments • What do England and France do? • Appeasement:Giving into the demands of your enemy in order to avoid a war

15. The interwar years • England and France aren’t ready for war and don’t have the military numbers of Hitler • They want peace and feel that appeasement is the best policy • Hitler realizes that his enemies are too afraid to stop him, and that he can take what he wants • They have put us on the doorstep of World War II