Between the Wars

1920s and 1930s

Germany, Italy, and Spain

Mussolini• Forms Fascist party in 1919• “Il Duce” – the leader• Blackshirts terrorize and

control opposition• 1922 appointed Prime

Minister when he threatens to march on Rome

• “The Country is Nothing Without Conquest”– Roman Empire

Wannabe– Wants Mediterranean to

be Mare Nostrum again– Wants lands on the

Adriatic back from Yugoslavia (irredenta)

• 1935 – gets Ethiopia (revenge at last)

Il Duce’s Italy• Suppressed rival parties, muzzled the press,

rigged elections and replaced elected officials with Fascist support

• Critics thrown into prison, exiled or murdered• Secret police and propaganda bolster the

regime• Preserved capitalism, but workers forbidden

to strike, wages very low• “Believe! Obey! Fight!”• Youth groups toughen kids and teach them

strict military discipline– Taught about glories of ancient Rome– March in parades, sing hymns and chants,

“Mussolini is always right”• Women asked to “win the battle of

motherhood”– 14 kids and you get a medal!

Fascism• An authoritarian (non-communism) government that

emphasizes extreme nationalism and glorifies violence, discipline and blind loyalty to the state

• Bundle of sticks around an axe - “fasces”• Antidemocratic – democracy leads to corruption and

weakness, allows individual or class interests to rise above national goals

• Aggressive foreign expansion– “survival of the fittest”, dominance and war are necessary for

survival• Sworn enemies of communists

– Fascism – support comes from business leaders, wealthy landowners, and lower middle class

– Communism – support comes from urban and agricultural workers

Appeal of fascism?

• Promises a strong, stable government and end to political feuding that had paralyzed democracy

• National pride

Totalitarian Rule

• Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin:– Single party dictatorship– State control of economy– Use of police spies and terror to

enforce the will of the state– Strict censorship and government

monopoly of the media– Use of schools and media to

indoctrinate and mobilize citizens– Unquestioning obedience to a

single leader

1920’s Inflation in Germany

• Weimar Republic • Print money to

solve economic problems

• Desire for stronger leaders

Hitler

• Adolf• 1919 National Socialist German

Workers Party (aka Nazi Party)– Nazism – fascism shaped with

fanatical German nationalism and racial superiority

• Mein Kampf and Aryan race• 1932 – Nazi’s gain majority in

Reichstag• 1933 -- Hindenburg appoints Hitler

chancellor– Suspends freedom of speech

and press– Brownshirts/stormtroopers

silence opposition• 1934 – Hindenburg dead, Hitler

“Der Fuhrer”

Der Fuhrer

• Begins rearming• Hires unemployed workers for public works projects

– Massive public buildings– Autobahn

• 1936 – Depression ends in Germany• Germany needs more living space

– Militarize Rhineland in 1936

• Axis powers agreed between Berlin and Rome• 1938 Anschluss realigned (most Austrians welcome

them) – Sound of Music!• Czechoslovakia, Chamberlain, and Appeasements

“peace in our time!”

Facts about the Nazi Party in Germany

• According to Joseph Goebbels in an official explanation of Nazism, the synthesis of the words nationalism and socialism was to "counter the Internationalism of Marxism with the nationalism of a German Socialism". – wikipedia

• Heil Hitler + salute = borrowed from Italian fascists

The Nazi Party• Wermacht – German military (defend + power/force) –

20 million from 1935-1945; 2.2 million in 1945– Army – Heer– Navy – Kriegsmarine– Airforce - Luftwaffe

• SA – Sturmabteilung – Storm Division – Brownshirts – 3 million men; superceded by SS after 1934’s Long Knives Night

• SS – Stchutzstaffel - Protection Squad, formed in 1925, led by Heinrich Himmler– Numbered at about 1 million men; most loyal; headed

up divisions of the military– Waffen-SS – group dedicated to racial superiority;

Order of the Death’s Head– SS ran the security service (SD), secret state police

(Gestapo), criminal investigative police (Kripo), and regular uniformed police (orpo)

On to war!

• March 1939 – Br and Fr agree to help Poland if invaded

• Aug 1939 – Hitler and Stalin agree to a ten year Non-Aggression Pact (secret document attached about how to divide up E. Europe)

• Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invades Poland– Blitzkrieg, Poland down in a month, Holocaust begins

in Poland– Stalin seizes E. half of Poland

• Sept. 3, 1939, Br and Fr declare war on Germany

Spanish Civil War

• Nationalism group rises to power led by Franco

• Nationalists v. Republicans• Nationalists – supported by

Germany and Italy• Republicans supported by

Soviets and International Brigade

• Nationalists take Madrid, Franco rules from 1939-1975