Totalitarianism in Europe

1. Totalitarianism in Europe

2. Reasons for the Rise of Dictators • Heightened sense of nationalism • Economic depression • New conflicts created by the Treaty of Versailles • Dictatorships began popping up all across Europe

4. Stalin and the Soviet Union • Took over after Lenin’s death in 1924 • Sought to industrialize rural Russia with a series of “5 Year Plans” • The USSR became to world’s second largest industrial power at a substantial cost… • The Great Purge: Stalin killed anybody who threatened or questioned his power • “Purged” an estimated 8-13 million people

6. Fascism in Italy • Unemployment and inflation led to communist-led strikes • To combat this, the middle and upper classes sought stronger leadership under Benito Mussolini • Established the Fascist Party after marching on Rome with thousands of his followers • Fascism= a totalitarian gov’t that stresses nationalism and places the interests of the state or those of the individual • Greatly increased efficiency by crushing the opposition • Anti-Communist

8. The Nazis • In 1919 an unemployed soldier named Adolph Hitler joined the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (aka the Nazis) • He quickly became the party’s leader by promising to fix all of Germany’s problems • Wanted to create a German empire • Sought to enforce racial “purification” • Promoted national expansion (lebensraum) • Anti-communist

9. The Nazis Continued • The Great Depression allowed the Nazis to come to power • Hitler promised to create jobs • By 1932, the Nazis were the most powerful political party in Germany • Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in 1933

10. American Reaction • How did we respond to these threats to Wilson’s dream of a “world safe for democracy”? • While the rise of dictatorships in Europe scared Americans, they still wanted to cling to isolationism