The Rise of Totalitarianism

1. The Rise of Totalitarianism World Wars – Ms. Hamer WWII March 14, 2011

2. Post WWI Democracies • There were the possibilities of democracies, but these were short lived: • Russia • Germany

3. The Great Depression • The worldwide Great Depression struck most countries in 1929 and lasted through the 1930’s • In some countries these times of economic strain led to the rise of a variety of dictators. • In other countries, such as Italy and the Soviet Union, dictators had already established themselves before the Great Depression hit.

4. Totalitarianism or Fascism? • Fascism is just one type • Term “Totalitarianism” coined in 1923 by an Italian journalist who was attacking the Italian fascists • Hannah Arendt (part of brain drain that came to US under beginning of Nazi regime) – study published in 1951: The Origins of Totalitarianism – • Even ideologically opposed regimes (like Nazis and Communists) had certain structural similarities and shared internal dynamics, which gave them a common identity of totalitarian regimes

5. What is Totalitarianism? • Pre-dated the Great Depression of 1929 • Totalitarianism: a term used to describe modern dictatorships that differ from earlier tyrannies • Use of technology and different goals made them ‘new’ • Goals: total control of individuals and society – especially enthusiastic control • Used fear/terror and ideological faith and conviction

6. Similarities in Totalitarian Regimes • Cult of a Leader • Dynamic claims of ideological infallibility that were animated into constant motion to make their prophecies come true • English = “Our ideas are perfect, see how well they’re doing because we make everything we say is going to happen actually happen” • Goals of World Domination

7. Similarities in Totalitarian Regimes • Prolific use of violence to fulfill their prophecies • Secret police as exercisers of terror • Institution of the concentration camp • Hierarchies of believers and elites • Preyed on lonely, lost individuals who were susceptible to brainwashing • Monumental art dwarfing the individual and other forms of propaganda

8. Effects of WWI on the Rise of Totalitarianism • WWI shook the ideology of liberal pre-WWI, so people looked for something else • Total war and total mobilization worked into totalitarianism – the systems were already in place

9. Mussolini and Fascist Italy

10. Post WWI Italy • Italy was in a volatile political state: • Bad results from the peace • Labor unrest • Rural conflict over land reform • Weak governments

11. Mussolini • Born July 29, 1883 • Socialist in early years – VERY active in the party • Before WWI decided that socialism was not an effective option and that it was dying • Fought in WWI for Italy • Was hit by a mortar in 1917

12. Rise of Fascism • March 1919: Mussolini organized groups of like-minded people (typically former soldiers) who became known as FascidiCombattimento- Combat Squads • Fascism rapidly gained support by advocating for nationalist unity instead of class warfare • Didn’t want to get rid of the classes or create equality though • Grew so quickly that it became the Nationalist Fascist Party in 1921

13. Where does this name come from? • Fascio means league or unit • Also is the name of a Roman symbol of state unity – axe surrounded by a bundle of sticks • A bundle of sticks fused into unity is much stronger than one stick • Can be seen in front of the Lincoln Memorial

14. Goals of Fascism in Italy • Praised action and violence • A powerful leader • When asked what fascism was, Mussolini responded “me” • A strong and warlike state • Individual was subordinated to this • Corporatism • Gathering people into unities • Imperialism • Praised war as hygiene, adventure, and the true test of a state and a people

15. Black Shirts • Squads often composed of former Italian stormtroopersgained their goals by killing those who opposed them: socialists, communists, others in the streets

16. How did the Fascists Take Over? • Were saving Italy from the chaos: • Some created by Black Shirt violence • Saving Italy from the Communists • Rapidly growing party

17. March on Rome • October 1922 – Fascist takeover of Italy • Staged PR event – because him taking power had been coordinated behind the scenes • Mussolini coordinated this with conservative elites • King gave Mussolini the job of Prime Minister

18. Fascism Moves Forward • Then Mussolini began to prepare his people for wars of conquest • Admired by would be leaders all over Europe • Hitler • Is Nazism best understood as a subcategory of fascism? • Marxists saw them both as the same • Or did Nazism draw its inspiration from fascism and then become something different? • Importance of racism to Nazism

19. Hitler and Nazi Germany

20. Post WWI Germany • Suffering from the terms of the Treaty of Versailles • Economy would quickly crumble under the strains of the Treaty • January 1919 – German Worker’s Party (DAP) was founded in Munich by nationalists

21. Adolf Hitler • Abusive father, weird childhood – you could do a research paper here • Austrian, but since his father was loyal to Austria, Hitler considered himself German instead of German-Austrian • Wanted to go to art school, orphaned, moved to Germany… • Petitioned to fight in a Bavarian unit once WWI started • Blindness caused by a gas attack caused Hitler to “see” that he was the future of saving Germany

22. Hitler and the Rise of Nazism • Adolf Hitler remained in the army after WWI • He was sent to investigate the new DAP, but then soon joined by September 1919 • Hitler quickly rose in the ranks of the party based on his oratorical skills, including his ability to inspirationally recount the experiences of WWI. • He referred to himself as a nameless soldier in WWI. • Hitler reshaped and renamed the party: National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP) to envelop the left and right – they weren’t really socialist of course

23. The Brown Shirts • In imitation of Mussolini – organized squads of muscle • Sturmabteilung (SA) –Stormtroopers (name from WWI) wore brown shirts • Supposedly Hitler wanted black shirts like Mussolini, but the military surplus store was out of black and had plenty of brown… • Were very important to Hitler’s rise to power, but would be replaced by the SS after that

24. Growing Popularity of Nazism • Began to attract famed fighters of WWI like General Ludendorff and fighter ace Hermann Goring • Goring would be one of the first leaders of the SA

25. Beer Hall Putsch • Failed attempt at a coup on November 8-9, 1923 • Supposed to be a re-creation of the March on Rome • During his time in jail, Hitler rethought his tactics to gain power legally • Instead he would use democracy to destroy democracy Bürgerbräukeller Beer Hall in Munich 1923

26. Beer Hall Putsch cont. • Post Beer Hall Putsch propaganda promised a revival of the inner truce of WWI – Burgfrieden • This was set in terms of a racially defined Volksgemeinschaft (people’s community) • This would exclude the outsiders (Jews)

27. Nazism • Denounced the Versailles Treaty • Endorsed the “Stab in the Back” legend • German Jews were blamed for Germany’s problems • Impact of WWI on Nazis • Hierarchical rank structure, military language, rituals, uniforms, glorification of war

28. Nazis Come to Power in Germany • January 1933 Hitler came to power as chancellor of Germany • Nazi Party won election and elected Hitler as their chancellor • The Great Depression helped boost Nazis into power

30. Hitler’s War Aims • Hitler wanted a war that would be a replay of the Great War with a different ending • New war aims included a German racial Empire in Eastern Europe • Cleansing of Germany would prevent a repeat of the Stab in the Back • Would eventually lead to purification to create a master race • Nazi elite was proud of its toughness, unsentimental efficiency, and coldness • Outside Germany, Hitler claimed that he wanted peace, since he was a former soldier and everything… Inside Germany he mobilized the country for war and Germans celebrated nationalistic events in WWI

31. Totalitarianism in the Soviet Union

32. Stalin Takes Leadership of the Soviet Union • Lenin died in 1924 • By 1927 Stalin had established himself as the heir to the Bolshevik leadership • Bye bye Trotsky – he ran away to Mexico where he was killed … by an ice pick!

33. Stalin’s Changes to the Soviet Union • Stalin began to prepare the country for the war he knew was coming • Since WWI was a capitalistic war, there would have to be another one since capitalism had not been destroyed yet

34. Stalin’s Changes to the Soviet Union • Society was “Stalinized” during the late 1920’s and into the 1930’s: • Purges of the Great Terror • Stalin got rid of all of those he though were against him or Communism • Violent Collectivization of the countryside • Forced industrialization • All cost millions of lives

35. Stalin’s Attitudes • Stalin and his supporters were realists who were intentionally tough in pursuit of their goals • Historians claim that this ethos had shaped younger Bolsheviks during the brutal years of the Russian Civil war • Seen in the militarized language of Stalin’s propaganda – “enemies, campaigns, the fronts of the battle for industrialization…” Stalin’s mugshot before the Civil War

36. Stalin’s Plans for the Coming War • New goal was to stand aside from the coming war – let the capitalists fight it out • Repetition of Lenin’s plan in the last stages of WWI – Brest-Litovsk • Would allow the Soviet Union to come out on top • Led to an alliance with Hitler in the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact of August 1939 • Partnership with ideological enemies • Fit into Stalin’s idea of staying out of the war • Total miscalculation since Hitler attacked in 1941

37. Militarism in Japan

38. The Meiji Restoration • In the 1800’s, Japan chose to modernize itself instead of face China’s fate of being carved up by Western powers: • Made Japan imperialistic as well • Caused a rapid development and modernization of Japan’s army and navy • Caused Japan to want to be valued on the world political scene

39. The Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 • A battleship tonnage limit was achieved with this ratio: US Britain Japan France Italy 5 5 3 1.67 1.67 • Japan got a guarantee that the US and Britain would stop fortifying their Far East territories (including the Philippines). • Loophole - no restrictions on small warships • Angered Japan that they were not accepted as equals to America and England

40. Japan as an Imperialist Power • Ideas circulated at the turn of the century that Japan needed to expand itself through imperialism • This would take care of domestic issues and Japan’s lack of natural resources • By the Inter-war Years, Japan could not generate enough food to feed its population and it could never generate enough raw materials • This prompted the idea of a strong military to help Japan take over other areas

41. The Manchurian Incident - 1931 • China was the obvious next step • Currently weak country that had already let itself get taken over for the last 100 years or so • Japanese army in Manchuria took it over - without instructions from the Japanese government

42. Japan Invades Manchuria

43. Japan Invades Manchuria, 1931

44. The China Incident 1937-1938(Second Sino-Japanese War) • By 1938, Japan had taken over most of fertile China • Yellow and Yangtze River Valleys • Peking and Nanking • Rape of Nanking December 1937-January 1938

46. Militarism • Japan was ruled by an imperial government (led by an emperor), but during this time, militarists took over control of the country. • Militarism is a type of government that uses the strength of the military to further the goals of the country – the goals of the country are nationalistic. • Militarists also believe that discipline (like that found in the military) is necessary for the proper functioning of society.

47. Hideki Tojo • General in the China Incident • Became Vice-Minister of War in 1938 • Encouraged rearmament • Nationalist, but not as radical as some • Became Minister of War in 1940 • Became Prime Minister in 1941 – ruled Japan through the war

48. Fascism (Falange Party) in Spain

49. Fascism in Spain • In 1936, a group of Spanish army officers led by GeneralisimoFrancisco Franco rebelled against the Spanish republic. • This began the Spanish Civil War, which ended after half a million deaths in 1939; Franco was victorious. • The Spanish Civil War aroused sympathies all over the world. For those who wanted to stop the spread of fascism, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

50. Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 The American “Lincoln Brigade” Francisco Franco