Unit 16

1. Unit 16 Part 3 The Rise of Fascism

2. Fascism on the Rise • Defn: A political system which emphasizes the needs of the state over the needs of the individual • Wanted no conflict by class or party and held only a single national purpose • Use fear and police surveillance to keep control

3. Italy • Pre-conditions: Although Italy had been victorious in WW I they still had many issues (lack of industry and education, poverty, cheated out of land?) • Had an active socialist party

4. Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) • Began the party in 1919 along with others who were resentful that Italy had been “cheated” in Paris • Took advantage of social, economic and political unrest . Used fear of Communism and promises of peace to gain support (local goon squads to break up socialist meetings and strikes) • Local law enforcement ignored them and eventually they seized control of local government

5. The march on Rome • 1921 elections sent only 34 fascists to the chamber of deputies • October of 1922 Mussolini and the Fascists marched on Rome and King Victor Emmanuel III • Instead of using the army to stop him the King invited him to be Prime Minister • November 23 1922 king and parliament granted Mussolini dictatorial authority for one year to bring order to local government

6. Mussolini In Power • Eventually he was able to manipulate the parliamentary system so that he could rule by decree • By 1926 all other political parties were dissolved • Propaganda and intimidation (murdered rivals)

7. ADOLF HITLER (1889-1945) • Born in Austria-Hungary, moved to Munich in 1913 (art school) • Extreme Nationalist • Publishes Mein Kampf (My Struggle) while in prison • Purity of the Aryan race • Expansion of the German state (Lebensraum) • Elected Chancellor in 1933; quickly dissolves Wiemar Republic; declares the Third Reich • HOW DID THE GLOBAL DEPRESSION • HELP HITLER??? http://www.internetweekly.org/images/hitler_in_shorts.jpg http://www.mnstate.edu/shoptaug/hitler2.jpg

8. Hitler’s Rise to Power • Weimar Government was attacked from both the Left (too much authority) and the Right (too weak) • From 1919-1924 Nazi’s try to create a social and political revolution out of economic hardship (based on resentment) • Used the SA under Ernst Roehm (Brown Shirts) to intimidate • 1922 party membership way up (10x) so he decided it was time to try and seize power

9. The Beer Hall Putsch November 1923 • Inspired by Mussolini’s success Hitler and Eric Ludendorfattempted to overthrow the Bavarian government (Munich) • Badly organized and Ludendorffailed to march on Berlin • Hitler was tried for treason and sentenced to 5 years in jail (served less than 1) • The trial was great PR for his message • While in jail wrote Mein Kampf • Beer Hall video

10. Good Times, Bad Times… • The economic recovery of the Dawes Plan led to a down time for the Nazi Party, but by 1928 they had 100,000 members and held 12 seats in the Reichstag • World wide depression • The stock market crash of 1929 led to 6 million unemployed in Germany by 1932 (43% of workforce) • “Hitler Time”: Nazi promises of national recovery, exciting change and personal advancement were now very enticing

11. Nazi Party Growth • By 1932 Nazi’s are the strongest party in the Reichstag but do not have a majority • Hitler lost Presidency to Hindenburg in a close election • Hitler appointed chancellor January of 1933

12. 1933 Hitler Seizes Total Control Reichstag fire video • Feb 27th: Reichstag building mysteriously burned down • March 1933: New election returns only 43.9% Nazi’s to the Reichstag • Hitler arrested Communists giving him the majority in the Reichstag • He then issued the Enabling Act which allowed him to rule by decree • June 1933 all other parties outlawed • Propaganda minister Joseph Goebelsallows him to control German society

13. The Night of the Long Knives • June 30-July 2 1934: Hitler purges the SA and their leader Ernst Roehm • They had become too powerful (1 mil active and 2 mil reserves) and posed a threat to the regular army • 1,000 people murdered without trials (Carried out by Heinrich Himmler and the SS) • August 2,1934 Hindenburg dies and Hitler combines the positions of Chancellor and President

14. The Police State and Anti-Semitism • Anti-Semitic laws • 1933: Jews excluded from civil service and Jewish shops are boycotted • 1935: The Nuremberg Laws took away citizenship (legal exclusion and humiliation) • 1938: Kristallnacht The beginning of state sanctioned violence against the Jews. Synagogues and shops burned

15. Hitler’s inner circle • Herman Goehring (Luftwaffe) • Ernst Roehm (SA) • Heinrich Himmler (SS) • Karl Doenitz (U-Boats) • Joseph Goebbels (Propaganda minister)

16. The Spanish Civil War • After the collapse of the monarchy in 1931 Spain became a democratic republic (another weak government that pleased no one) • Elections in February of 1936 returned a victory for forces of the “left” • The right reacted in July by attacking the Republic from Spanish Morocco with an army led by General Francisco Franco • This civil war would last 3 years with the Germans and Italians supporting Franco and the USSR sending supplies to the republic (many liberals from the US and Europe joined the fight against Fascism) • Franco wins by early 1939

17. Generalisimo Francisco Franco Totalitarian dictator of Spain Spanish Civil-War 1936-1939 fought between Fascists and “Republicans” – TERRIBLE ATROCITIES ON BOTH SIDES!!! http://www.herodote.net/Dossier/Guerre_Espagne.htm